How Being an Introvert Has Empowered Me to Succeed in the Workplace and Entrepreneurship
I’ve always been quiet; an internal processor. I feel most alive when I’m alone in my kitchen cooking and when reading a book in my room. Large crowds can be overwhelming for me and I need days to recover after being around a lot of people. For the longest time, I believed this would prevent me from doing big things. I thought it would hold me back from leadership opportunities. When I was in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, I let being an introvert prevent me from going all out. I felt as if being introverted was some kind of flaw that would deter me from achieving big things. What I’ve found is that being an introvert has actually propelled me further not only in my career but also in my entrepreneurial journey. If you’re feeling like you’re an introvert and it’s holding you back, here are a few tips on how to use being an introvert as your superpower.
Leveraging Social Media- Love it or hate it, social media when done right has the ability to uplevel your business. Whether it’s growing your network, or another form of advertising, social media can have huge benefits. It certainly has changed the game for me and allowed me to turn up the notch from an entrepreneurial standpoint. Once I started to post valuable content and use social media as a business tool rather than JUST being social, I started to open so many new doors for my business. It wasn’t until I became intentional about connecting with people via direct messenger that I fully felt the benefit of social media. At first, I would comment on a stranger’s post which felt extremely weird. Then I would ‘like’ a couple photos here and there. That turned into more people engaging on my content and eventually, I felt more comfortable starting conversations via dm. I’ve seen first hand what it can do for not only my business, but my mental capacity to network with others without physically being in their space. It would be the most terrifying task for me to approach someone in the grocery store to compliment them or ask them a question. If this sounds like you too, then leveraging social media just might be the key to help you grow your network. I promise, you’ll begin to attract new people and make friends from all around the world.
Delegating- In my job, I have been very fortunate to work with people who have been in the industry much longer than I have. I have learned to delegate really well and lean on other’s strengths. When introverts are put in places of leadership, it’s really important that we don’t exhaust ourselves by carrying out tasks that can easily be passed onto others. This will obviously take some time to learn and get to know others strengths to be able to depend on them. Once you have identified certain positions for specific people, you relieve yourself of tasks that can create extremely mundane work environments. You also make room for yourself to handle the things you know you’re good at while maintaining the energy to carry it out. One of my greatest strengths is maximizing. I am able to identify what others are great at and then connect them to other tasks or projects. I love how everyone has a role and when done right and efficiently, the workplace runs like a very well oiled machine. Don’t be afraid to let others do tasks. You don’t have to be the superhero. Setting boundaries is an introverts best friend and that’s OK.
Input Time vs Output Time- As an introvert who is also a creative, it can be daunting and draining to create content. Especially when I am not at my best. For me, this looks like wanting to binge watch reality tv after a long work day or after spending a good amount of energy pouring into someone else; ie speaking engagements or zooms. This is why it’s super important to spend just as much time receiving input as it is expressing output. I’ve learned that we as introverts have to prioritize input time. This can look like personal development, reading a good book, listening to music, working out etc. Whatever recharges you and allows you to recover could be considered your input time. We have to be fully charged in order to execute output time. For me, I would speak in front of large groups and be completely drained the rest of the day. I quickly learned how to recover so that the next time I went out, I was able to serve at greater capacities. Make a deliberate effort to schedule rest. It’s not cute to constantly be busy & overworked.
Learn Your Strengths- Becoming self aware is something that I pride myself on. I went thru a period in college when I was determined to “figure myself out”. That hunger for self knowledge has only grown over the past few years. From enneagram training, to myers briggs, to DISC training, I’ve done it all. Some of you may not even know what any of those are and that’s ok. But, I would highly suggest learning your strengths especially in the workplace. Identifying your core strengths will put all of the pieces together as to why you don’t like certain tasks at work or why you crave solo projects or maybe even why you enjoy giving presentations etc. For example, I know that one of my strengths is problem solving. I also know that learning is a strength of mine. When I am feeling overwhelmed with literally anything (introvert problems), I will dive into some new reading material and force myself to learn something new and then figure out how to apply it to my life. I love systems and efficiency. I’m a huge fan of working smart not hard. Knowing your strengths as an introvert will help you focus in on what you’re actually great at instead of forcing you into working on your weaknesses.
Remember, your introvertness is your superpower.