Does it matter to your business success whether you are an introvert or an extrovert?
According to Susan Cain, author of the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, there is not really a truly definitive answer to this question or other similar questions.
There are tasks, roles and functions of every business that may favour one personality type over the other, but except for extremely rare instances, even the most severe introvert is capable of extroverted behaviour and the most gregarious extrovert who has ever walked the earth will occasionally need some alone time to rest and recharge.
Cain’s book devotes quite a bit of space to the concept that societies all over the world encourage and reward the extrovert. Young children carry home from school teacher evaluations that encourage parents to prod their quiet child to be “more outgoing.”
Regardless of where you fall on the introvert/extrovert scale, awareness of your preferences will be very valuable in guiding you on your route toward being your own boss.
If you exhibit more introverted tendencies, you will find that you might be able to focus for long periods of time on business tasks that require a single-minded dedication to completion, such as building a website, but the idea of attending a networking meeting with a group of peers creates a state of anxiety, even though you know that the meeting will supply tangible business benefits.
Conversely, a more extroverted personality may enjoy networking events so much that it is easily possible to procrastinate regarding completion of critical administrative tasks.
Large corporations deal with the issue of strengths and weaknesses, or personality types, by hiring individuals who are adept at performing roles that are best done by one or the other personality type, but a small, one-person operation does not have that luxury.
A simple system of delayed gratification is highly effective for surmounting this issue.
The extrovert would say something along the lines of, “As a reward for editing the text of a webpage, I will spend the evening at that conference that was so productive the last time I went.”
An introvert, on the other hand, might say, “As an incentive to attend and make some contacts from the industry group meeting, I will return to my office and devote as much time as I want to creating the graphics for my homepage.”
Being predominantly an extrovert or an introvert can create some challenges for the sole proprietor, but a simple system for recognizing and adapting will help overcome many of those challenges.