FUTURE TALENT November - January 2019/2020 | Page 68

P
PERSONAL TRAINING
HOW
TO ... BE AN
INTROVERT
IN AN
EXTROVERT
WORLD
S
| Clare Grist Taylor
ince Susan Cain published her
groundbreaking book, Quiet, in
2012, awareness of how introverts
see the world differently has
grown massively. But most workplaces
and practices remain stubbornly designed
for the extrovert ‘mainstream’: think
open-plan offices, your average meeting,
brainstorming or team-building and
social events – all loaded with the kind
of sensory overload and expectations
designed to make the introverts
among us long for what Cain calls a
‘restorative niche’.
With between a third and half of
the population identifying as
introvert, this remains a diversity
challenge that deserves greater
attention. While the world catches
up, introver ts need to find
strategies to navigate the world
of work and help their extrovert
colleagues understand how
they like to operate. Here are
our top tips.
68 // Future Talent