I went out for drinks with some other classmates of mine last week following a PR event and we got to talking about my introversion. When I described my blog and proclaimed myself to be an introvert, they were surprised.
Trying to understand how someone could still socialize seemingly comfortably and describe themselves as an introvert, one of my classmates even asked “Are you enjoying yourself right now?”
This was hilarious to me, but it also triggered me to look further into the social behaviors of introverts and extroverts, particularly as adults.
What I learned from my continuing read of Susan Cain’s Quiet, is that several studies have determined that once introverts are confident in our social skills in certain situations the conversation can flow smoothly. However, if we are in an unfamiliar situation, faced with new people – Boom! Our introverted genes kick in and our minds snap like an elastic right back to the nervousness we naturally experienced as children.
Maybe introverts need to understand ourselves better before we can expect extroverts to understand us? I came across this Globeandmail.com article that explains a little about what introverts need to function successfully in the workplace.
It also includes a few important vows introverts can make to ourselves to own who we are (with pride!) and to work well alongside extroverts.
I like the idea of making a personal vow or goal to stick to, and so, as a start: I vow to be braver when pushing the “post” button on my blog going forward!
Quiet Girl, LOUD WORLD 