Introverts: 5 skills you already have that can make you a great leader

If you’re an introvert but want to start a business, it can sometimes seem too demanding, too far-fetched, or too much of a stretch for your personality. However, there are skills introverts can use from their daily lives to transform their business personality so that they can become excellent leaders. As reported by Entrepreneur, there are many aspects about introverts that can easily transform into leadership skills. Even “Bill Gates. Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab” are introverts.

1) Prudent

“Introverts are prudent.” Rather than jumping to start and taking risks that may not necessarily pay off, or even put you in a worse position than when you started, introverts have a natural tendency to be more careful. “Unlike their extroverted counterparts who are more sensitive to rewards, which explains why extroverts are more pre-disposed to risk-taking, introverts take a circumspect approach to chance.” You have to be able to take risks to move a company and keep it running, to be adventurous and daring. However, there must also be a tiny voice in the back of your mind that keeps you prudent, which keeps your bottom line at the forefront of your decisions so that you do not expend your resources and waste them.

2) Listeners

You listen to what people around you are saying and this can be a transformative and incredibly important skill to utilize as a leader. Listening, rather than always speaking up, is beneficial for introverts because, “They’re not thinking about what to say while the other person is still talking, but rather listening so they can learn what to say.” This makes them more well-liked in conversations because it actually allows them to have more conversations with meaning and substantial conversations rather than just a give-and-take of storytelling.
This is also incredibly helpful when you do speak because people will listen more intently. “Introverts leverage their power of presence: they ’own’ the moment by speaking calmly and deliberately, which translates into a positive perception.” The point of speaking up is that you want people to hear you and listen. Introverts, who remain quieter longer, capture this when they speak up because the people around them realize what they are about to say is most likely significant.

3) Humble

As in most cases, remaining humble will help you further your bottom line because it breeds respect and positivity. “Not to say that extroverts aren’t humble, but introverts tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements.” This allows introverts to be realistic about where they are and where they want to go. It allows introverts to be realistic about goals, goal-setting, and achievement of goals.

4) Tenacity

“Introverts manage uncertainty… they’re more comfortable working with little information and resisting self-defeating impulses,” unlike their extroverted counterparts. Introverts think about issues longer and find paths to solutions “that aren’t initially apparent.” Entrepreneur supports this idea by pointing to a quote from Albert Einstein that reads, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.” Profound and accurate.

5) Solitude

One of the most important ways that introverts can use their own skills to excel is by capitalizing on their ability and comfort that they find in working in solitude. “Introverts prefer working in isolation because it affords the greatest opportunity to focus.” Never underestimate the importance in this focus.
“Most inventors and engineers I have met are like me – they’re shy and they live in their heads. They work best when they are alone, and can control an invention’s design.” This profound quote is from Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of a little tech company you might have heard of: Apple. “I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take: work alone. You’re going to be able to design revolutionary products and features.” He’s absolutely correct.