05/17/2024

Understanding Ambiverts as Leaders

Ambiverts, extroverts and introverts all possess unique leadership skills

For a while, people believed that only extroverts could be highly effective leaders. Their gregariousness, outgoing nature, and take-charge manners were viewed as the preferred leadership style. However, there are equally successful qualities that introverts can bring to leadership positions that set them apart. Some of the most frequently mentioned successful introvert leaders include Bill Gates, Mother Teresa, former President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett. A tendency towards introversion did them no harm.

The key to effective leadership is the relationship a leader develops with their team. There are four basic elements that are essential to this relationship: trust, respect, support and positive communication. None of these are negatively affected by the qualities that we typically associate with introversion or extroversion. While extroverts tend to get energized by being around people, introverts, on the other hand, build up their energy in quiet, solo ways. The extroverts among us recharge through socialization while socializing tends to exhaust introverts.

What Do People Want in a Leader?

There are four frequently cited qualities that are valued in a leader. Effective leaders must be honest, competent, inspiring, and forward-looking (Kouzes & Posner, 2023). Again, introverts and extroverts can be all of these things. But each of these types does offer some unique leadership advantages over the other.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.