Denise Brouillette

Janet was a rising star in her group. She was nominated to take part in our 3-month leadership program even though she wasn't yet a director in her organization. Her leadership goals for the program were to have her work results be better known by leadership, get her opinions heard when on group conference calls, and get more comfortable contributing in large meetings with high-level staff present -- objectives that she considered a bit daunting as an introvert. And here's why.

Introverts are deep-thinking people who draw energy for life by engaging with the inner world of ideas, thoughts, and reflections. They enjoy the calm and silence of having time to themselves for solitary undertakings as well as small group events with those they know well. They prefer going deep on an issue to merely scratching the surface, listening and writing to talking and engaging, and developing well-thought-through ideas and plans in private before offering them up to the general public. They like to know in advance what a meeting's about and this gives them time to fully prepare.  When an introvert presents a proposal, you can be sure that just about all the T's have been crossed and the I's have been dotted.

Introverts are also known for preferring to work alone, listening rather than talking in larger group settings, wanting time before responding to questions and comments, going into a great deal of depth with a topic, sometimes waiting too long to take action, and being reserved which can be interpreted as lacking energy. These were precisely the issues Janet had facing her so she drew up a plan to ensure they didn't stop her from being recognized as the leader that she knew she was.

If one or more of these behaviors sound familiar, there are several actions you can take to increase your influence effectiveness.

#1 Involve Others.  Introverts are reflective and like to consider ideas on their own. But without having had discussions with others to broaden their perspective, their preparation could lack sufficient breadth. A possible additional reason for not including others in the planning process is that introverts prefer quiet and privacy and tend to respect that need in others. This makes them less likely to intrude on others' time to ask for input and support in advance from key knowledge experts.  If this is you, here's what you can do before influencing:  use your preference for reflection and contemplation to plan out your influence content and strategy. Then get on the calendar with one or two knowledge experts and review your proposal with them before influencing. When your proposal is ready, extend that planning capability of yours to pinpoint the one or two opinion leaders who could help you sway the decision makers and get on the calendar with them as well. 

#2 Get Heard.  Introverts are extraordinarily good at considering a problem before leaping to a solution.  They thoughtfully listen throughout a discussion and draw conclusions about a course of action or next steps. But they may not often voice those thoughts during the discussion. If you're one of these introverts get in the practice of contributing one or two short comments about what you've heard so far. Do that near the beginning and again in the middle of a discussion. At the end capture the two or three important points made during the discussion such as,  "These are the three issues that stood out for me." This is just an example; use any type of summary response that suits your vocabulary.  For those times when you've said nothing during the meeting itself this short summary will likely be remembered because your comments will have wrapped it up for everyone.

Also, when caught with a surprise question introverts might reflect too long before responding and quite possibly be labeled as uncertain because they couldn't come back with a quick enough reply.  To give yourself  time to think use a 'pause button' statement such as, "Let me think about that for a minute before I respond,"  or,  "I'd like to consider a thoughtful response to that question before I give you an answer.  I'll get back to you by XX" and state when XX is - at end of the presentation? in an hour? in a day? 

A final thought on getting heard. For some introverts, when they talk they may start off strong enough but trail off at the end of their comment, or remain soft spoken throughout their contribution. You could be making a brilliant statement but if you're speaking barely above a whisper or trail off at the end, your comments may get passed over. So make it a habit to start strong and stay strong, from start to finish.

#3 Demonstrate Your Interest.  Once again, the quiet and private nature of introverts occasionally leads others to wrongly assume the introverted individual lacks sufficient energy for whatever he or she is proposing. It is true that some introverts don't show a great deal of enthusiasm for their topics. The reason is not that they're not excited about their idea. It's more that their reserved nature tends to eclipse their enthusiasm and they may not display the actual passion that's behind their proposal. If this describes you, get in touch with what originally inspired you about your idea. Set aside time in advance of a discussion to engage your passion for the topic before presenting so that your  high interest is evident to the decision makers. In addition and if appropriate, enroll an extraverted supporter to attend the presentation with you to inject her or his enthusiasm into the discussion. That alone will help elevate your own. 

#4 Practice Brevity. Whereas extroverts must learn to talk less because of their propensity to fill the silent moments and occasionally digress from the main topic, introverts need to limit themselves as well, but for different reasons. Some introverts have a tendency to go into too much depth or over-explain things. They've gathered the data and they want to present it. But that might just be too much for some audiences. You can stop yourself from over-explaining by being short and to the point. The same advice holds for an introvert as for an extravert here:  answer only the question asked, and limit your response to 15 seconds tops. Don't dilute your own good argument with extra words. If the decision maker wants more, he or she will ask for it. Get your comments and opinions down to 1 or 2 sentences that contain only the high points of what you want to convey, and do it crisply. 

#5 Take Action.  Introverts like to think before they act, gathering a host of details and developing plans and alternate scenarios sometimes to the point of inaction or not acting soon enough.  In an effort to have a solid, well-thought-through product or proposal the introvert's ideas may miss their window of opportunity or be brought to leadership's attention faster by someone else.  Don't get passed by. Decide what your first step should be to get the word out there and just take it. After that's accomplished plan your next step and take that one as well.

#6 Get Known.  Introverts prefer operating behind the scenes and therefore tend to shy away from being in the limelight. Your capacity to be influential is greatly increased when you and the results you deliver are known. And while you may be keeping your manager and those around you apprised of the priority projects you're working on, leadership may be totally in the dark on who you are and what you do.  Get known. Increase the number of higher-level connections you have. Put your planning skills to work - target up to three people to become acquainted with over the next six months and create a strategy for how you'll do that. Also, refer to Get Noticed at Work to learn a methodology for making the most of the occasional chance encounters you may have with leaders in your organization. 

As an extrovert or introvert you may exhibit some or all of the characteristics described above for your particular personality preference. But your preferences are just that - preferences. You always have access your opposite preference. And although acting out of preference may cause discomfort and initially you may not feel like yourself, the end result may be worth the effort when you achieve success as an influencer.