something we’ve been told our entire
lives but what does a leader supposed to
be we see a leader as someone who is
charismatic sociable and outspoken we
live in a world where we revere those
who are talkative and outgoing also
known as extroverts our society has
built up a belief that if we are quiet
and an introvert we will always only be
a follower growing up one of my biggest
fears was parent-teacher conferences no
it wasn’t because I was afraid that my
teachers would complain about my bad
grades rather it was because I dreaded
hearing the phrase your daughter needs
to talk more or she’s too quiet over and
over again I always felt like something
was wrong with me just because I prefer
to listen instead of talk just because I
am an introvert in school we are told
that our introversion is something we
must overcome a weakness an obstacle
that is standing in our way of becoming
a great leader but recently I’ve been
wondering why approximately 50% of the
world’s population are introverts are we
telling 3.5 billion people in the world
that if they want to be a great leader
they must change who they are this is a
belief that is widely based on our
misconceptions of what an introvert is
the dictionary describes an introvert to
be a shy reticent person but in reality
an introvert is not always shy and a shy
person is not always an introvert be
an introvert just means that you
appreciate your time alone and lose
energy when being around others for too
long it also means that you may be
relatively quieter or more reserved this
leads to the notion that introverts
cannot be leaders and that extroverts
are the ideal leaders of the world right
now there is a cultural bias against
introverts in a survey conducted by USA
Today in 2006 65% of senior corporate
executives viewed introversion as a
barrier to leadership only six percent
believe that introversion could actually
be an advantage additionally statistics
show that while only 50% of the world’s
population are extroverts 96% of all
leadership positions in the world are
held by extroverts if we choose to
believe this extrovert ideal but
extroverts are somehow better leaders
been introverts we are saying that
people like Mahatma Gandhi leader of the
movement for India’s independence from
Great Britain was not fit to be a leader
that Douglas Conan Bill Gates Steven
Spielberg and Abraham Lincoln were not
fit to be leaders because every single
person up there on this screen is an
introvert and yet every single one of
them was able to lead others and achieve
something that changed our world for the
better we tend to think of these people
as exceptions to the extrovert ideal
people that were somehow able to
overcome this so-called obstacle of
introversion and achieve greatness for
what we should do is see them as pie
years of the community of introverts who
are paving their way towards becoming
great leaders and breaking the
misconception that extroverts make the
best leaders in fact there are many
qualities of introverts that may make
them even better leaders than extroverts
first according to the frontiers of
human neuroscience Journal introverts
are more responsible and prudent
introverts tend to think through their
decisions more clearly instead of
jumping to rash conclusions extroverts
have a different way of processing
information their brains are more
sensitive to rewards which pushes them
to be more hasty when making decisions
their extraversion pushes them to seek
risks however as a leader it isn’t some
time unfortunately before taking action
because you are not only everyone who is
following you on July 2nd contrary to
popular belief introverts work very well
in groups because they are great
listeners a study by Harvard Business
Review showed that introverted leaders
are better for proactive groups the
researchers studied managers and
employees from a hundred and thirty
pizza companies the results showed that
when a proactive group had an
extroverted leader their profits were
14% lower than average on the other hand
when a proactive group had an
introverted leader their profits were
16% higher than average in this case
having an extroverted leader actually
damaged the success of the pizza
franchise this is because the
introverted leader was able to do
something that the extroverted leader
couldn’t which is to listen
listen to the ideas of the people around
them and listen to improve the success
of the pizza franchise the introverted
leader could then analyze all these
different ideas and thoughts and turn it
into something productive and beneficial
furthermore initial rooms and braiding
solitude and extra credit tend to go and
uncomfortable when being alone for too
long and in seize the company of a large
group of people however according to the
susan mccain author of a quiet a power
of introverts she’s dazed but solitude
is a catalyst to innovation and in the
words of Picasso without great solitude
no serious work can be done because
introverts are comfortable working alone
in addition to working with others this
flexibility in work environment allows
them to think both productively and
creatively in different situations so my
question to you today is why do we
continue believing that extroverts make
the best leaders because that’s the way
it’s always been
it isn’t because that’s what society has
taught us well it’s time to change that
it’s time that we recognize the
strengths of introverts instead of
pushing them to be something they’re not
next time when you’re looking for a
leader don’t look for the loudest voice
look for the person who has the best
ideas and the most level-headed mind and
this may be the quietest person in the
room but it’s time we acknowledge that
leaders come in many different forms
some may be the extroverted leaders we
have known for so long but they may also
be the ones you just labelled a follower
simply because they were more quiet
to the introverts in the room if we join
the whole world in talking who will
listen the world must be a balance of
those who listen and those who talk or
else we would just be a chaos of noise
without understanding and like Gandhi
once said in a gentle way you can shake
the world thank you [Applause]