The Introvert Advantage

Recommended Reading

from NEA Staff

"The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World" by Marti Olsen Laney Workman Publishing Company (February 1, 2002) Buy It

Imagine you are holding a strategic planning session in a local and there is a participant who sometimes seems about to join in, but who then sits back and keeps silent. Then, at the end of the meeting, the participant comes forward and offers an insight that would have been of tremendous help to you twenty minutes ago when you were struggling to get the group to move. Don't get annoyed, you've just met an introvert.

Imagine you've just taken a Myers-Briggs test and found out that you're an introvert. But you're not shy, you like people, it's just that sometimes you need to go into your office, put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, and breathe deeply.

How do you work with the 25% of the population who are introverts? How do you survive as an introvert? In staff or organizing work you might find you need to deal with both introvert colleagues and your own introversion. Learning how to deal with both will add an extra richness to your work and will help you survive in an often high stress job. Pick and chose what you need from "The Introvert Advantage" to help you thrive with or as an introvert. You may be interested in the acetylcholine vs. dopamine pathways (why introverts take a little longer to respond to a question or have better long term memory than extroverts). You might find the chapter on "Working: Hazards from 9 to 5" especially helpful in dealing with colleagues or members who are introverts. You might find a way to recharge your own introvert batteries. Take it from a raging introvert, there's some good stuff in this book — for outies as well as innies.