Entrepreneurship is
for extroverts - a person needs to be
outgoing, an expressive speaker, and an experienced networker to promote their
ideas and lead businesses. Psychologists now say that introverts have unique
skills too that make them great entrepreneurs (Association for Psychological
Science, August 24, 2015).
Introverts have the
ability to focus for long periods, use critical thinking over impulsiveness,
and can be quietly persuasive. Professor Adam Grant of the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in America found that introverted leaders
generated better performance and higher profits in the workforce than
extroverted leaders.
Researchers found that
introverted leaders were more able to channel creative talent into high
workforce performance, through their ability to listen, accept a range of ideas
and encourage employees to shine. Previous 2009 studies at Boston College in
America and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem found that extroverts sought a
happy state from everyone while completing tasks, whereas introverts preferred
to maintain a neutral emotional state. The introverts’ definition of ‘happy
place’ is a quieter space with less interruptions – i.e. less over-stimulation.
Self-admitted
introverts include people such as Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft), Steve
Wozniak (co-founder of Apple), Larry Page (co-founder of Google), Mark
Zuckerberg (co-founder of Facebook), and Marissa Mayer (president and CEO of
Yahoo). Introverts are more likely to partner with like-minded people to work together
to generate ideas and turn them into reality. Introverts emphasise the idea,
product, or outcome, rather than themselves.
An article in The Wall
Street Journal (August 24, 2015) stated that about 33% of the world’s
population are introverts. They get their energy from processing information
internally and researching deeply, whereas extroverts gain their energy from
networking and through interactions with lots of people. Introverts tend not to need
external affirmations, whereas extroverts like to bounce ideas off people.
Introverts tend not to take setbacks personally, because they focus on the
idea, whereas extroverts tend to take setbacks personally, because they
generated the idea.
Recent terminology
recognises that there is a third category of people, called ambiverts, that
fluctuate between introvert characteristics and extrovert characteristics,
depending on situations, timing, and the company they keep.
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