Introduction
Introverts and highly sensitive people are, unfortunately, still widely misunderstood and undervalued in North American society–and especially in the workplace. Seen and judged as unsociable, shy, overly reserved and risk-adverse, their traits fly in the face of the extraverted, risk-taking, boisterous business person achieving financial success, seniority in a company and general adoration.
Introverted and highly sensitive people often either gravitate towards work more suited to their personalities or, like me, find ways to either hide or compensate for their introversion and sensitivity. In either case, the workplace can be an exhausting environment for us as many of the social and collaborative environments need us to participate in ways that aren’t natural or comfortable for us.
But as people like Susan Cain explore the power of introverts or Dr. Elaine Aron talk about being highly sensitive, we are starting to better understand these sets of personality traits beyond their Jungian origins. For example, we now are better understanding the four types of introversion:
Social Introvert
This is considered the “classic introvert”. Social Introverts prefer small groups or one-on-one interactions to large groups and need quiet time to recharge.
In the workplace, they’re more likely to:
- Prefer to express themselves in one-on-one meetings instead of group discussions
- Be exhausted by Zoom calls with a lot of people
- Seek breaks alone to recharge
What a Social Introvert needs to thrive in a corporate environment:
- Small breakout groups (2-4 people) or one-on-one meetings where they can provide input
- Breaks between meetings to recharge
- An in-office space that has some privacy
Restrained Introvert
Restrained introverts can often be misjudged as being unadventurous and slow. This is because of their preference to think things over before making a decision or taking action, and preferring predictable activities (even if they’re new activities).
In the workplace, a Restrained Introvert will likely:
- Choose activities that are predictable or have clear instructions and/or expectations spelled out beforehand
- Need more time to make a decision, sometimes even exacerbating their coworkers because of it
- Be extremely thorough in their thought process
To thrive in a corporate environment, a Restrained Introvert needs:
- Time to review information to make a decision
- Agendas for meetings and events well in advance
- To be understood that not showing emotion doesn’t mean they don’t care
Anxious Introvert
An Anxious Introvert can be misunderstood as someone with high anxiety, while their anxiety is usually specific to social interactions. They can feel shy or awkward when socializing with new people, and ruminate on social interactions that have already happened–or haven’t happened yet. Because their anxiety could run high, they can also be misjudged as being rude or cold because they’re avoiding social interaction.
In the workplace, Anxious Introverts can find themselves:
- Saying yes to social events, only to find a reason to show up late, leave early or not attend at all
- Over analyse social interactions or worry about what might happen
- Self-criticise for not speaking up or not expressing themselves perfectly
Anxious Introverts will be more successful in a workplace that:
- Doesn’t give them direct or indirect pressure to attend social events
- Encourages open and direct communication
- Has a culture of supporting people showing vulnerability
Thinking Introvert
Possibly the most tolerated introvert is the Thinking Introvert. Because they are creative and have active imaginations, they can be seen as valuable to a company. They can often get lost in thought or take a long time to respond to something, but are more accepted than the other types of introverts because they have lower aversions to social interactions.
At work, you can find a Thinking Introvert:
- Asking for time to reflect before responding
- Staring into space while a conversation continues around them
- Blocking “thinking time” in their calendar
In a corporate environment, Thinking Introverts thrive when they:
- Aren’t expected to respond immediately or on-the-spot
- Feel safe with revisiting a topic after they’ve had time to reflect
- Can indulge in exploring creative solutions or proposals
High Sensitivity
More recently, we are hearing discussions of highly sensitive people. For example, Dr Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, summarizes some common signs. Introversion and high sensitivity share many common traits, including:
- Being bothered by too much social stimulation
- Preferring small groups to large ones
- Needing downtime
- Having feelings of anxiety
- Having a rich inner life (and often getting lost in thought)
- Being very uncomfortable with time pressures
However, highly sensitive people also:
- Are overwhelmed by violence, even in movies and tv shows
- Get overwhelmed by bright lights and loud noises
- Can be super aware of uncomfortable clothing (textures, fit, etc)
- Easily enjoy the beauty in life
- Feel pain more deeply
- Can be overstimulated in new environments
Similar to anxious or social introverts, in the work environment, highly sensitive people can often:
- Need time to recharge and get away from external stimuli
- Seek out social interactions in small groups or one-on-one
- Block time in their calendars for themselves
- Be exhausted by Zoom calls with a lot of people
Support for Introverts and Highly Sensitive People at Work
Sadly, support mechanisms for introverts and highly sensitive people are sparse in the North American corporate space. Although well-meaning, a lot of advice and training seeks to have introverts and highly sensitive people become more extroverted or less sensitive. Since these are innate character traits, not only are the attempts exhausting, but they simply don’t work in the long run.
What does work is leveraging our natural tendencies and preferences while setting expectations and boundaries so that others understand what to expect–and to lower the chance of being misjudged or misinterpreted. It requires creating an environment where you can thrive in any role (even ones traditionally held by loud extraverts) and being comfortable with negotiating success for yourself.
