Most people wrongly believe that introverts are antisocial and unfriendly people, who have little chances to build an outstanding career. But the truth is that introverts have everything to achieve success in life. Famous introverts such as Bill Gates, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, Michael Jordan, and Elon Musk have already proved it.
Are you an introvert? Here is a list of advantages of your shy personality.
Good listening skills
Introverts don’t like to talk; they prefer to listen. They never interrupt others. Do you wonder how this skill helps them to become highly-paid specialists in their fields?
The trick is that excellent listening skills help introverts to understand other people and their ideas much better. When an introvert discusses a project with a boss or with a client, he is extremely attentive to details. This is a reason why introverts usually deliver the solutions that meet or exceed expectations.
In contrast to introverts, extraverts lack listening skills. Instead of listening to the client, they impose their own opinions and ideas. Unsurprisingly, extraverts tend to fail to provide well-designed personalized solutions to their clients.
Conflict avoidance
Introverts avoid not only talks but also conflicts and scandals. They think twice before saying something. They never start conflicts in the workplace. It’s unlikely that you will ever see an introvert arguing with someone for no reason.
As you know, people who don’t make scandals, have more chances to build a successful career. They are able to keep friendly or neutral relationships with coworkers, bosses, and clients. So, in contrast to extraverts, introverts have no enemies at the workplace.
Fewer Distractions
Introverts avoid water cooler chit-chats at the office. They also never start small talks in an elevator. They don’t like to waste their time and energy on things like that.
So it’s not a surprise that introverts get distracted from work less often. This is one of the reasons why they are more productive than extraverts.
A group of employees, which consists of extraverts, can discuss the last episode of Game of Thrones for hours. An introvert will never join the discussion even if he is a great fan of this fantasy drama. He will keep working without paying attention to what other employees talk about.
Problem-solving skills
Scientists proved that introverts and extraverts have different brain’s structure. Introverts have a thicker gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, which means that they have better abstract thinking and decision making skills.
So it’s not a surprise that they are more creative in problem-solving. Introverts are able to think out of the box and come up with innovative ideas. They are those people who move the industry forward and surprise the world with new products and solutions.
Also, introverts don’t make snap decisions. They always weigh the pros and cons and analyze the situation in more details. Therefore, they make fewer tactical and strategically mistakes than extraverts.
Thoughtful networking
Here is one more interesting fact about the introverts. They are thoughtful networkers and don’t try to make as many connections as possible. They understand that quality, not the quantity is the only thing that matters.
Yes, introverts don’t like to visit noisy parties. And yes, they are afraid of public speaking. But they feel comfortable when it comes to one-on-one meetings with the right people.
The truth is that a person doesn’t need to have lots of friends. Two of three friends are more than enough to live a long and happy life.
The same rule works in the world of business. You don’t need to make a million connections to make your business stay afloat. You just need to choose a few reliable partners, a few trustworthy suppliers, and a few worthy clients.
Weak dependence on the opinions of others
Extroverts always want to know what other people think about their work while introverts don’t. You may be surprised, but this is what helps introverts to succeed.
Let’s imagine the following situation. A designer, an extravert, has just created a logo. He wants to know the opinions of his peers and friends about his work.
He shows the logo to everyone in the room and receives lots of feedback. His colleague recommends him to choose another color. His brother says that it would be better to change the background.
How do you think, will recommendations like these help the extravert to create a better logo? It’s highly unlikely. Trying to meet everyone’s expectations, he will only worsen the current design.
Now let’s talk about an introvert and his behavior in this situation. If an introvert has created a fabulous logo and truly likes his work, he will not be interested in others’ people opinions.
In other words, introverts are more persistent and dedicated to their work. They don’t depend on the opinions of others that much. If introverts truly believe in what they do, nothing can stop them from achieving their career goals.
Independence and self-sufficiency
Introverts don’t like to ask for help. They don’t like to interact with others when there is no urgency.
For instance, if an introvert writer crafts an article, he will not ask his colleague to do him a favor and to proofread the text. He will solve this task differently. It’s more likely that he will utilize writing services to get his article edited online.
Independence makes introverts extremely productive. They don’t wait until someone will come and help them with this or that task. They always have an idea on how to solve their problems right here and right now.
Solopreneurship
When introverts want to startup business, they don’t look for partners or team. They require neither support nor attention to bring their ideas to life. They see no barriers to become solopreneurs.
The point is that introverts get their entrepreneurial energy from spending time alone. They don’t suffer from being lonely. They enjoy peace and quiet.
This is why most solopreneurs are introverts, not extraverts. The extraverts are afraid to take a risk if they feel no support. It’s challenging for them to accept the fact that they can handle everything by themselves.
Lower stress level
Both introverts and extraverts experience work-related stress. But the point is that they employ different coping strategies.
Introverts use passive modes of coping. They are focused on experiencing real emotions. They don’t try to hide or fake their feelings, and it helps them to decrease stress.
It is worth to be mentioned that introverts experience less stress than extraverts because they avoid interaction with other people. They avoid conversations with annoying colleagues. They don’t discuss rumors, and they don’t fight with their bosses. Introverts tend to keep calm most of the time.
In conclusion
As you can see, there is nothing wrong about being a shy person. It’s not a curse, but a blessing. If you are an introvert, you should understand that you have all the skills necessary to build a great career.
Don’t be afraid to take advantage of your personality traits. Work hard toward your goals. Once, on a wonderful day, you will accomplish all the dreams you have ever had.
