The extrovert/introvert dichotomy “traps us in stereotypes that affect how we interact with others. When you self-identify with one personality type, you’re at risk of ignoring behaviors you’re engaging in or needs you may have.” There are a few ways to embrace your ambiversion in an introvert/extrovert world. For starters, just “knowing your type when it comes to personality is important, because by increasing our awareness of where we stand in terms of introversion and extroversion, we can develop a better sense of our tendencies, manage our weak spots, and play to our strengths.” For further information, visit dei360 as it provides insights regarding diversity equity, inclusion, and online assessment and diversity and inclusion assessment tool.

1. Introvert or Extrovert? There’s a Third Option
Inclusion
“Sensitive fake extrovert.” That’s how Jade Lenier classifies herself. As a
performer and public speaker, you’d take her for an extrovert, but in truth, says
Lenier, “my extroverted outsides don’t match my introverted insides. Because
I do love being around people, but I become overstimulated and overwhelmed
by them and must retreat to my own corner of the world.”
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2. Is Lenier really just an introvert in the wrong career? Not exactly, says Harvard
Business School behavioral scientist and author of Sidetracked Francesca Gino.
In fact, Lenier is no outlier. “Personality traits, like introversion and extroversion,
exist along a continuum,” Gino explains. “In fact, many people fall somewhere in
between when it comes to this very personality trait.”
While this gray area is popularly known as “ambiversion,” the fact that so many
of us aren’t clear‐cut introverts or extroverts begs two important questions:
Why are we still clinging to this black‐and‐white classification in the first place?
And are there any downsides to doing so?
The Trap of “EITHER/OR”

3. According to Gino, the extrovert/introvert dichotomy “traps us in stereotypes
that affect how we interact with others. When you self‐identify with one
personality type, you’re at risk of ignoring behaviors you’re engaging in or
needs you may have.”
More problematic still is that many of us have inexact ideas about what it
actually means to be extroverted. Extroverts aren’t necessarily people who are
loud, outgoing, and the life of the party. “This personality trait is more about
where we get energy from,” Gino clarifies. “Introverts get exhausted by social
interaction and need solitude to recharge. Extroverts get anxious when left
alone and get energy from social interaction.”
So if you think you’re an extrovert because you’re a good public speaker, you’re
not necessarily wrong–it’s just being a great speaker isn’t proof that you’re an
extrovert. But if you leave every speaking engagement feeling exhausted and
find you need to spend time alone to recharge, chances are you’re closer to the
introvert side of the spectrum than you imagine. And by performing the
extroverted identity you’ve assigned yourself–for instance, by going out for
drinks with half a dozen friends after your big talk–you’ll just wind up being a
very exhausted introvert.
Not surprisingly, people’s social networks tend to be full of extroverts. In a 2015
Dartmouth study, researchers found not only that extroverts have more friends
on average than introverts, but also that “the more similar are two people’s
levels of extroversion, the more likely they are to become friends.” This leads to
a “systematic network extroversion bias,” where people’s social networks are
overpopulated with extroverts, and therefore under‐populated by introverts

4. relative to the general population.
At work, those who lean more introverted may feel disadvantaged when their
networks are crawling with extroverts all connecting to each other. But
extroverts, less likely to be exposed to introverted peers, are disadvantaged,
too–missing out on great collaborators who have different strengths and talents
than they do. In other words, while many of us fall somewhere in the middle,
those two poles tend to draw us further apart–even though we’d probably be
more creative and productive working with a more diverse range of personality
types.
So what can be done about it? There are a few ways to embrace your
ambiversion in an introvert/extrovert world.
Manage Your Weak Spots, Play To Your Strengths
For starters, says Gino, just “knowing your type when it comes to personality is
important, because by increasing our awareness of where we stand in terms of
introversion and extroversion, we can develop a better sense of our tendencies,
manage our weak spots, and play to our strengths.” If someone knows they
skew more extroverted, for instance, they can become more aware of their
tendency to dominate conversations, and work to give others the floor more
often–especially as leaders.
Maresa Friedman, founder of the Executive Cat Herder, a strategy firm, has
learned to do this herself. Like Lenier, she’s usually mistaken for a clear extrovert
despite often being “happier at home with a book, not talking to anyone.”
Sometime in her twenties, Friedman started noticing her more introverted
coworkers getting passed over for promotions and opportunities “because
dominant voices that were constantly heard were from the extroverted people.”
So she figured she could be strategic about it.
“I began taking notes of things my peers and supervisors did that got them
promoted,” Friedman recalls, and before long she wound up with a list crammed

5. full of extroverted attributes. She decided simply to imitate them–and it worked.
“I started adapting some of my behavior accordingly and, surprisingly, watched
as my career took off.”
In retrospect, Friedman realizes she was doing what Gino suggests: “I consider
the ‘extrovert’ behavior I have had to adapt for business to directly correlate to
sales and revenue growth,” Friedman explains. “I consider my ‘introvert’
behavior, like reading, listening to world music, et cetera, to be the basis of my
sanity.” She’s an effective ambivert because she knows when to lean into her
strengths on one side of the continuum ﴾and when not to﴿ and how to fill in the
gaps on the other.
The Art of Strategic Ambiversion
In 2011, Gino published research she conducted with Wharton Business School’s
Adam Grant and Dave Hofmann of UNC that found that “introverts can actually
be better leaders than extroverts,” Gino explains, particularly when their
employees willingly share input and ideas. What’s more, extroverted leaders can
struggle to manage other extroverts because they may be less likely to embrace
those who take initiative and make their voices heard. Introverts, on the other
hand are “more likely to listen to, process, and implement the ideas of an eager
team,” says Gino.
Leaders can use this information to adapt their style to the type of group they’re
leading. “With proactive employees, leaders need to be receptive to the team’s
ideas; with a more passive team, leaders need to act more demonstratively and
set a clear direction,” says Gino. In other words, the ability to adapt–similar to
the strategic ambiversion that Friedman practiced–is the real key.
When you realize that Bob isn’t speaking up in the meeting because he’s
introverted in situations like this, not because he’s devoid of ideas, you can help
him find other ways to contribute. Maybe that means talking to him one‐on‐one
before the meeting or giving him time to digest the information before sending
a follow‐up email with his input.

6. ← Previous Post Next Post →
Knowing how to adapt your behavior in the workplace first requires knowing
where we fall on the introvert‐extrovert spectrum, though–and recognizing that
it is a spectrum in the first place.
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