Welcome to the Intentional Leaders Podcast with Cyndi Wentland. Where we’re all about creating confident, successful, and focused leaders who manage with purpose and impact. I’m Cyndi Wentland, the founder of Intentionaleaders. And I’m passionate about learning, teaching, and coaching on all things leadership related. My purpose is to equip leaders like you with the tools, resources, and support to accomplish your goals. To learn when you want, how you want. So, if you’re an aspiring leader, first-time manager, experienced executive, or you just want to make a bigger impact in your role as an individual contributor—this podcast is for you. Because each week we’ll focus on relevant, applicable, and easy to implement skills and practices—to create focus and a deliberate path to employee engagement and business results. I know that leadership has its challenges but learning to lead shouldn’t be one of them.
Discover the untapped potential of introverted leaders and transform your perception of leadership with our latest episode. Introverts often face misconceptions of being too quiet or uninspiring, but we promise to change that narrative by highlighting their remarkable strengths. You'll learn how introverts excel through their exceptional listening skills, authenticity, and strategic thinking. We challenge traditional leadership stereotypes and share personal anecdotes and strategies that help introverted leaders not just survive but thrive in leadership roles.
Join us as we celebrate introverted leadership and encourage leaders to embrace their nature as a formidable strength. We delve into practical strategies for introverts, such as preparing for interactions, setting boundaries for recharging, and collaborating effectively with extroverts. Our goal is to inspire leaders to see introversion not as a limitation but as a tool that can enhance leadership effectiveness and leave a lasting impact on teams and organizations. Tune in and be part of this empowering conversation, and don't miss the chance to share these insights with others to broaden the appreciation of introverted leadership strengths.
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Hello and welcome to the Intentional Leaders Podcast. Today we're tackling a topic that challenges common perceptions of leadership and that has to do with the strengths of introverted leaders, because when many of us think of great leaders, we sometimes picture people that are charismatic or outspoken or commanding, but leadership isn't a one-size-fits-all role. Introverted leaders bring unique and powerful strengths to the table, often overlooked but undeniably impactful, and today we're going to explore the key advantages, bust myths and share actionable strategy for introverts to thrive in leadership roles. Let's start this episode by debunking some myths about introverted leaders, because there's a lot of misconceptions about introverts and their ability to lead. Myth number one they're too quiet. No, in truth, introverts are often very excellent listeners, which is a great skill for understanding and motivating their teams. Myth number two introverts aren't inspiring. But inspiration doesn't come from loud speeches. It often comes from authenticity, thoughtful action and meaningful connections. Myth number three introverts they avoid social interaction. Well, while the truth is that introverts may prefer smaller, more meaningful interactions and get their energy from those more one-on-one relationships, they are more than capable of connecting with their teams and with their stakeholders.
Speaker 1:
When we look at those three myths, let's talk about some of the unique strengths that introverts bring to a leadership role. Number one is their deep listening and thoughtful communication. They tend to excel at listening more than they speak, which helps them understand their team's needs and concerns. They tend to think before they respond, ensuring their words are impactful. One of the more wonderful leaders I had was quite reserved and she led us during a time of significant change and challenge in the organization. She inspired us through that attention to detail, attentive listening and really making each one of us feel heard and understood. I didn't think of her as someone you rah, rah and out there in terms of her personality and style, but her quiet, authenticity and leadership had a powerful impact on us, on me and on our team. Number two is a lot of introverts really excel at strategic thinking and problem solving because they prefer reflection and analysis. They enjoy thinking deeply about challenges and opportunities before making decisions. That is part of the experience, part of the process of thinking before acting.
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Number three building strong, trust-based relationships. Introverts tend to value meaningful connections, which helps them foster trust and loyalty. And number four leading with calm and composure. Typically, in high pressure situations, introverted leaders are less likely to react impulsively. Their steady approach can actually provide a lot of stability and reassurance to their team.
Speaker 1:
When you look at these strengths and I know I'm going to make some generalizations here in this episode but when you think about maybe this is you as an introverted leader, maybe someone you respect is an introverted leader, to what extent do they do those four things Deeply listen, strategic thinking, trust, building strong, trust-based relationships and leading with calm and composure. Do you see that in yourselves? Do you see that in others? Those things are essential for relationship building and leadership impact, and introverts tend to be really good at those things and that is strong and powerful. When we think about introverted leaders thriving and I know some of you know me very, very well and some in presenting heck and even doing a podcast but at the heart of my heart, at the end of the day, I am more reserved than extroverted. When we think about strategies for introverted leaders to thrive, I know you can thrive because I've been able to utilize some of these exact strategies to get more comfortable at both harnessing my strengths but also showing up in a deliberate and intentional way to get the impact and the results that were needed. Leaning into listening skills is going to be incredibly helpful A natural ability to listen and build trust is going to be significant, no matter what kind of situation you're in, and I think, as introverts, that strategy can be leveraged every single day and preparation for introverts tends to be their superpower. Most introverts want to show up very prepared, whether it's a meeting, a presentation, a one-on-one. It allows us to feel more confident and deliver effectively. So leaning into listening skills, preparing for key interactions those two things jumpstart the confidence that introverts need to show up in a powerful way.
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Setting boundaries to recharge is also important to notice and that's where I really leaned into early on in my career when I had to be in front of the room when I had to do a lot of training. I also knew that I had to power it down. I had to protect my energy. I had to set aside time to recharge. My family knew like hey, don't call Cindy. Or they talk about like how many words we have a day and did I use all my words and they know they don't take it personally and they just know that that quiet time is needed to regroup and recharge and that's okay. Know that and know that that is all right and, in fact, important.
Speaker 1:
Another really fun thing is collaborating with extroverts. When I think about that complementary dynamic of someone who is very energetic. They're very visible, they're very verbal. They bring all that energy to an interaction or discussion. Probably sometimes earlier in my career I would have been more annoyed by that or I would have been probably not as respectful of the value of that. And once I learned that that complementary dynamic was powerful and important and I needed it, then I grasped onto the value and really fully felt the power of that kind of dynamic. So if you are one of those introverted leaders and you think about your strengths, think about how to lean into, listening, preparation for those interactions knowing can't prepare for everything, strengths will carry you through Then setting those boundaries to recharge and allowing yourself the opportunity to collaborate with and partner with extroverts can be super awesome. As we think about famous introverted leaders, there are so many of them Bill Gates, rosa Park, mahatma Gandhi there's so many of them that demonstrate that introversion is not a limitation. It's a very powerful style in its own right and in fact it is such a powerful style that Susan Cain wrote a book all about it.
Speaker 1:
If you have not heard of the book Quiet by Susan Cain, pick that up. It's called Quiet, the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, and she talks about the value and strengths of introverts in a society that tends to celebrate extroversion. She challenges the cultural biases that favor that kind of outgoing high-energy personalities and really leans into the unique contributions of those of us that prefer to be more quiet. She gives some great approaches to leaning on the natural strengths that introverts have. She also talks about listening skills, leading through those relationships, communication focusing on strength, creating environments that foster collaboration, being a role model for thoughtful leadership. She has so many actionable strategies that I think help us to understand the power and the strengths of the foundation of introversion, while also recognizing that we, as introverts and I'm right there with you we have to make it a priority to show up and highlight our point of view. There are a lot of quiet leaders and emerging leaders and first-time leaders that I work with, managers who want to listen rather than speak. They want to hold back and have that thoughtful approach that is not going to help establish a leadership legacy and a leadership brand.
Speaker 1:
As an introvert, you must also be willing to step out of your comfort zone and embrace how to communicate effectively and engage with others, how to get that inspiration and how to do it your way, not losing your authenticity, but increasing your comfort level and putting yourself out there as you think about yourself or perhaps you're coaching someone who is an introverted leader think about some of these questions. How can you use your natural listening skills and communication skills to better support the team? What might that look like and what situations might you better prepare for, intentionally to boost your confidence? Because confidence is not just about preparation. It is also about your mindset, understanding your strengths and understanding your unique and authentic contributions. And number three, think about how can you embrace introversion as a strength rather than considering it a limitation.
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I know I have. So take one of these strategies and implement it this week, whether it's setting aside time to recharge, using your listening skills and embracing the strategies that make you unique as a leader, you can have a significant impact on the people around you. I know it, I've seen it, you can live it. Thank you for joining me today on the Intentional Leaders Podcast. Remember that leadership comes in so many forms and introversion is not a barrier. It's a strength. If you found this episode valuable, please share it with others and lead a review to help more people discover the podcast. Until next time, keep leading with intention, authenticity and maybe introversion.
