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Look at the leaders around you.
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What do you see?
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Calm, reasoned individuals, who listen, and make considered judgements?
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Or something very different?
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Great leaders are often seen as classic confident, extroverts who can speak without thinking,
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react rapidly and change tack pretty frequently.
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It's what best-selling author Susan Cain calls "The Extrovert Ideal."
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But is this really what we need right now?
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I'd argue that the crises of our time need a more considered approach.
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A quieter one.
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Let's look at the status quo.
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Extroverts are over-represented in senior leadership positions.
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One study found an incredible 98% of top executives scoring "very high" or "above average" on the extrovert scale.
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But people aren't on the whole satisfied with their leaders.
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Could there be a connection between the two?
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There are lots of examples through history of successful leaders who have taken that quieter approach.
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For example, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, or Bill Gates.
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Research shows that introverts often bring a great deal to the table.
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They're more likely to listen and process the ideas of their team, and consider those ideas deeply before acting on them.
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They may be humble and more likely to credit their team for ideas and performance.
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And because their motivation generally comes from within, they're less likely to compromise themselves chasing rewards like money or power.
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I think we need to re-examine the way our society views effective leadership, and whether we really are allowing the space for all team members to thrive.
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Research suggests that between 40 and 60% of employees tend to the quieter, more introverted, side of things.
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They can often feel invisible in meetings, because their thoughtful approach means they have difficulty responding to those common on the spot questions.
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Many leadership courses can tend to focus on extroverted team activities,
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such as networking and presentations, leaving quieter people perhaps mistakenly believing they just don't have the qualities of a "good" leader.
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An approach that fails to bring out the best in around half of us is not just bad for quieter people, it's a disservice to us all.
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Leadership is complex, but in a world of soundbites, sledgehammer tactics and black-and-white thinking,
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perhaps standing back and listening can be empowering to leaders and their followers.
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As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu puts it,
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the best leaders are those that "talk little" and when their work is done and their aims fulfilled,
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their followers will say, "We did it ourselves."
