Introverts can be effective leaders, researcher says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For Andrew Jetter, it was a matter of eye contact. Inclined to be an introvert, the bank president had to force himself to look others in the eyes.

“Making small talk … I had to practice that,” said the chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, Kan. “I have to force myself to greet new people. The hardest thing is to go to a big conference where there are 150 there and I know three or four, maybe. It’s a challenge.”

Jetter worked hard and made it to the top of his profession without having the natural gregariousness – or what psychologists call extroversion – usually associated with leadership. It’s a journey taken by many shy or introverted people, who represent anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent of the population.

But a new academic study shoots holes in the theory that you have to be an extrovert to be a good leader. It turns out that introverts, or shy people, can be great leaders, too.

A recently published analysis by Adam Grant, an associate professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, looked at 73 previous studies that found extroversion was “the most consistent predictor of leadership emergence.”

But Grant wrote: “In contrast to popular wisdom, our work suggests that extroversion can be a liability for leaders.”

Stripped to its most basic, Grant’s research concluded that extroverted leaders – who may be big talkers comfortable with sharing opinions and, often, orders – are very good with subordinates who tend to be more passive or comfortable with being told what to do.

But in organizations where subordinates are more dynamic or aggressive, extroverted leaders may clash or fail to listen to the input that they should from others.

In workplaces with confident, self-starting workers, introverted leaders shine. They listen better, and they’re more receptive to good ideas from their subordinates, Grant found.