I am more than delighted to feature this guest post by my friend and colleague, Becky Robinson, author of the terrific new book Reach, Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book or Cause, launching on Tuesday, April 19th. Becky and her team have launched over 150 books and in this insightful post she helps introverts and extroverts cut through the noise.  Self-Promotion: How to Create Reach–Whether You Identify As an Introvert or Extrovert By Becky Robinson, Founder and CEO of Weaving Influence  “I’m not comfortable promoting myself,” is the most common phrase I hear ..read more

I am so pleased to host this guest blog post about human connection by my friend and colleague, Ryan Jenkins. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this timely topic of loneliness and connection.  As an introvert, I recently wrote a book about human connection. It’s called, Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams from Isolated to All In and is about overcoming loneliness in a world of growing isolation. It’s said that authors often write the books they themselves need to read. That was true for me. Though I don’t suffer from chronic loneliness, during the pandemic I found it incre ..read more

“I love remote working, and now wouldn’t take a role that had me in the office every day… I think more companies need to implement flexible work weeks.” We uncovered this comment and many like it about remote work in a survey of 200 introverts for Creating Introvert-Friendly Workplaces. This was before the pandemic hit. Little did we know that circumstances would shift millions of jobs to our homes, where many of them will now remain for the foreseeable future. About a year into the pandemic, we conducted another survey focusing on introverts. It revealed that remote work was a hands down winn ..read more

It’s been almost 2 years since I gave a live presentation in front of an audience! Last week, I eagerly drove up the road to the University of Georgia where I presented to a group of Ph.D. students and professors committed to innovation. They were hungry to learn about entrepreneurship and how to better understand introverted leadership. They wanted to know how to get the best out of all our talent and were super ready to engage! I had convinced myself that the time spent delivering speeches, conducting interviews, and facilitating classes virtually over 2020-2021 was “just as good” as the rea ..read more

Accel5, is a microlearning solution company for employees looking to improve critical soft skills like leadership, teamwork, communication, innovation, and many others. They offer best practices from world-class business authors and executives in three formats: videos, summaries of business books, and articles. I recently sat down with them for a Q&A where they asked for advice on creating an inclusive workplace for introverts and extroverts and strategies for both types of people to succeed. Q: Your books and videos that appear on Accel5® focus on the management s ..read more

I was so glad to enter the pandemic with some years of virtual presenting under my belt. I felt like I had seen it all in virtual learning – lost internet connections, slide show fiascos, and dead silence. And I knew I could manage through all those mini crises. Through these courses, workshops, and panel presentations one theme did emerge. Introverts, those folks who are prone to think before talking, and who are not afraid to embrace silence, really seemed to blossom on these platforms. So, when the pandemic suddenly forced all of us into virtual meeting and learning modes, I wasn’t afraid t ..read more

Last year I decided that I wanted to go deeper with some of the terrific introverted leaders I have encountered in my work. I started an interview series called “Introverted Leaders Around the World.” And I am so glad I did! These leaders are consultants, executives, and entrepreneurs. They identify as introverts, but sometimes aren’t sure about where they fall on a given day. Most are also introvert advocates. In these short talks we connected on many levels, despite our different personality styles, nationalities, gender, and sometimes age. What were some of their key lessons? We discus ..read more

Recently I learned that my favorite boss, Sue Recko, passed away. Her passing caused me to reflect on my transformative experience with her over 20 years ago. In a bittersweet vein, one of the legacies Sue left behind was the four members of the team she led. We remain friends and still meet regularly for lunch all these years later. Sue was a great leader in every sense of the word.  How We Connected I felt there was a gap in my career path. I had already worked in consulting, higher education and government but it was time to see what it was like to actually be an employee in corporate ..read more

Remote work has moved from an experiment to the norm for millions of office workers around the world. Are the assumptions correct about introverts finding their true bliss at home? What are introverts loving and what are they challenged by? Do they thrive in quiet and solitude or are they feeling disconnected and lonely? We set out to learn more. Our company conducted a survey to discover how introverts have been responding to working from home full time. Within 5 days we had almost 200 responses!  I wanted to share a summary of our discoveries for leaders and teams as they plan for a ne ..read more

I am very pleased that my friend and colleague, Kevin Eikenberry offered to write a guest blog post this week. Kevin is the co-author with Wayne Turmel of the terrific and timely new book, The Long Distance Teammate. The two have collaborated before on another one of my favorites, The Long Distance Leader. Many introverts struggle with networking. They know it is essential for career success but are loathe to jump in for so many reasons. This piece illustrates some ways in which we all – introverts and extroverts – can achieve visibility and learn and grow in the process. Many things chan ..read more