For the longest time I confused being an introvert with being shy. I thought introverts avoided being around people and as a natural consequence were not necessarily good public speakers. Being an extrovert I thought was a mandatory requirement for being successful in a public role.
Till one of my professors explained the difference between introverts and extroverts with a brilliant analogy. As per him, we should look at introverts as people born with battery packs – that is where they derive their energy from. When they wake up in the morning, their battery is fully charged and they are ready to face the new day and any challenge it might bring. They can be good speakers or bad, shy or friendly – characteristics independent of an introvert nature. As the day goes by, interactions with another people depletes their battery, till there is hardly any energy left after a long day of interactions. When the battery is running low, an introvert must withdraw from public (even well meaning individuals) and wait for batteries to recharge.
An extrovert on the other hand can be looked at as a person with solar panels. So when an extrovert wakes up, they open up their solar panels and eagerly look for people. They need human interaction to get energy. With every interaction, their energy increases so after a full day of interactions, they are raring to go! Again, just because they get their energy from interactions with other people does not in any way guarantee that they are great speakers - so a myth broken.
As part of our company’s recruitment process, we evaluate an individual on many parameters including how the person reacts to people – introvert or extrovert. This awareness is important. Because if we use our intrinsic nature as reasons for not doing certain things, they become stumbling blocks. However, if we are aware and understand our intrinsic nature, it doesn’t need to become a constraint leaving us free to be as we choose.
Sapna Moudgil
NIIT Foundation
