When I tell people I’m an introvert, they often don’t believe me or try to disagree. But being an introvert doesn’t mean I should be less friendly or have stage fright or be scared of calling up the doctor’s office. It just means that after a few hours of social interaction, I’m in need of a quiet and peaceful evening alone where I don’t have to speak to anyone and have the chance to recharge.
Despite how little representation introverts seem to get, Verywell Mind reports that they make up nearly half of the population. And they might not want to be social all the time, but they can still have a wonderful time finding communities online and bonding with fellow introverts through pages like Introvert Planet on Instagram. This account, which has been around since 2016, has amassed an impressive 52.9k followers and shared nearly 2k posts. Introverts may be quiet sometimes, but we are mighty!
To gain more insight into what it’s like to be an introvert, we reached out to Introvert Advocate and founder of Flourishing Introverts, Joanna Rawbone, MSc. Joanna is passionate about “rattling cages to shake out the extraversion bias in business” and was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what being an introvert means to her.
“[It] simply means I get energy from solo or quieter activities. Regular recharging and pre-charging are essential for my well being and ability to function,” Joanna explained. “It does not mean that I hate people, although some introverts are also misanthropes. It does not mean that I’m anti-social; I’m selectively social as it depends on the company and my social and emotional capacity at the time. It does not mean that I’m a boring, lonely person, as introverts are very happy with their own company.”
Joanna also shared about what her favorite aspects of being an introvert are. “I love how resourceful and independent I am. I don’t need others to validate me, to entertain me or to make my life complete,” she told Bored Panda. “I can get my head down and do great work as long as the environment is conducive to quiet work. Noisy open-plan offices can be a real challenge. Introverts account for about 50% of any population, but we are all so different.”
You can learn more about your own introvert type on Joanna’s website right here.
Joanna also addressed some common misconceptions people have about introverts. “Managers and leaders often think that because we get on with our work quietly, we lack ambition,” she shared. “People also think that because we don’t answer questions immediately or contribute much in meetings, that we have no opinion or don’t know our stuff.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth! We have a think-say-think communication process (opposite to extraverts) which means we like to take our time to be sure that what we’re saying accurately reflects our views,” the expert explained. “And, meetings dominated by the overly vocal don’t usually give us space to contribute.”
“As an advocate for introverts, I’m on a mission to shift the extraversion bias that exists in education, business and society at large,” Joanna went on to share. “I spoke about this in my 2019 TEDx talk. Any leader serious about DEI cannot ignore the bias that negatively impacts up to 50% of any population. This is not about creating further division but about valuing differences.”
If you’d like to learn more about Joanna and her work, be sure to visit Flourishing Introverts!
Being an introvert is no better and no worse than being an extrovert; we need both to make the world go round! But according to Time, there are a few key benefits of being introverted. First, they’re often great listeners. Because they typically take time to consider what they’re going to say before actually vocalizing, they’re usually able to listen closely and be present while someone else is sharing with them. And we all love a great listener! Someone who will remember things you’ve only told them once and ask how your dog’s birthday was over the weekend is a keeper.
