Quiet Confidence: Follow the Introverted Leader | Nikki Ling | TEDxYouth@ISBangkok

[Applause] be a leader not a follower this is 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]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 58,508

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Education, Leadership

Id: NPQcgs2uoso

Length: 9min 21sec (561 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 23 2018