I ran a leadership program with a group of Public Affairs pros today. One introverted leader shared how his team had learned from a recent situation. Because they didn’t include an important stakeholder in the beginning, when it came time to sign off on the project, she had multiple questions. They had to scramble in crisis mode to respond because of this omission.
Lesson learned? He said they will look at who needs to be looped in earlier. Looking back and course correcting will be the key to their future success. He said that he is learning to be a better “observer” of the process. Observing and analyzing are natural strengths of the introvert btw.
I also talked with one participant about ending meetings with a plus – delta round robin. What worked and what do we need to improve? As a team lead, act on those changes when you can and you are bound to improve meeting effectiveness.
What are you doing to look back and learn?
Actors like Streep prepare extensively to take us into the world of that character. Likewise, introverts often emphasize how much they prepare for meetings, calls, presentations, etc. so that they perform at their best ( a side note: Meryl Streep is an introvert like many actors). Yet, despite careful preparation, you can’t always anticipate what is thrown at you. Handling the moment sometimes trumps preparation. Continue reading the rest of this article...
The sort of coaching that fosters effective innovation and judgment, not merely the replication of technique, may not be so easy to cultivate. Yet modern society increasingly depends on ordinary people taking responsibility for doing extraordinary things: operating inside people’s bodies, teaching eighth graders algebraic concepts that Euclid would have struggled with, building a highway through a mountain, constructing a wireless computer network across a state, running a factory, reducing a city’s crime rate. In the absence of guidance, how many people can do such complex tasks at the level we require? With a diploma, a few will achieve sustained mastery; with a good coach, many could. We treat guidance for professionals as a luxury—you can guess what gets cut first when school-district budgets are slashed. But coaching may prove essential to the success of modern society. Continue reading the rest of this article...
Introverts are so often mischaracterized and even blamed for the woes of the world. Now government workers seem to be taking the hit. Continue reading the rest of this article...
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