The document discusses how introversion has entered the mainstream through depictions in popular media like comic strips, but in a stereotypical way that misses important nuances. While introverts make up over half the population, research shows they hold only a small percentage of leadership roles. However, introverts can make excellent leaders who listen well and integrate diverse ideas. The document advocates for corporations and society to better recognize introversion and the valuable contributions of introverts rather than marginalizing them.

1. Is Introversion Main Stream at Last?
The topic of introversion has now entered the mainstream. How can I tell? This topic, which I
have championed for so many years (full disclosure: I am an introvert), has now appeared in one of
my favorite comic strips, and I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
In the Dilbert strip of July 23, an introvert appears and utters all of the stereotypes about introverts
being despairing, lonely, and avoidant of conversation. Introversion has become part of the
workplace diversity conversation, and that’s a good thing. Picking up on that trend, Dilbert, which
satirizes workplace behavior, has now made this contribution, and I know it’s satire; nevertheless, I
seem to have lost my sense of humor.
You see, I also know that introverts, no matter how skilled or
intelligent, tend to be the last-hired. I know, from studies such as that
done by Ones and Dilchert (Industrial & Organizational Psych, 2009),
that introverts constitute only 12% of supervisors, and that percentage
decreases as you go up the managerial levels, dwindling to a scant 2% at
the very top. At the same time, the presence of extreme extroverts rises to
60% at the top.
This is only natural, right? Well, no, actually introverts can make
extremely fine leaders, especially for groups of people who have good
ideas. The introvert leader will allow others speaking time, listen carefully, and be willing to
integrate other people’s ideas into the overall scheme. How do we know this? Besides assertions by
people such as Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, a study of companies and the leaders who
went from being merely good to great, research studies such as the one reported by Adam Grant et
al. affirms this.
The problem? Well, the title of that research article for one thing. “Leadership Tip: Hire the Quiet
Neurotic, Not the Impressive Extrovert” (Forbes Magazine, 2013). Neurotic? The opposite of
extrovert is neurotic?
Bendersky & Shah (Acad. Mgmt. J. 2013) reassure us that introverts not only make good team
members, but that eventually their excellent contributions are recognized over the chatter of more
outspoken but sometimes less thoughtful people. I’m glad to hear this; my only objection is their
title: “The Downfall of Extroverts and the Rise of Neurotics.”
Corporations are just now beginning to recognize introversion, which is based on a neurological
difference, as being an appropriate and even necessary topic for inclusion in their diversity
programs.
So I wonder if you could replace introverts in that comic strip with another group that is
marginalized in our society and just on the edge of being understood and valued. Would it work and
still be funny? I don’t know. I would welcome your reactions.
I just wish that our group, introverts, hadn’t leaped from being marginalized as “peculiar” to
the mainstream with no stops in between.

2. Lynette Crane is a Minneapolis-based acclaimed national speaker, author, and executive coach with
more than 30 years of experience in speaking and training.
Author of The Confident Introvert, and a life-long successful introvert, she believes that America is
overlooking and even discouraging its intellectual treasure: the 51% of the population who are
introverts, and who are highly representative of the gifted.
In addition to helping quiet people thrive in a culture that idealizes extroversion, she gives leaders
the tools to manage diverse groups in the same setting, and to develop the talent that is quietly
under their noses.
Visit her website at http://www.creativelifechanges.com to see more in-depth articles and to view
her programs.