Warren Buffer, Quiet: The Power Of Introverts

As a young man, he found it tough to get people to believe in his ideas and took coaching classes to get over his fear of communicating, especially in groups. But he was a gifted entrepreneur and turned a profit on everything he touched.

Despite his painfully introverted nature, this young man went on to become the world’s most successful investor, and routinely features on the ‘world’s richest’ lists.

If you haven’t guessed already, we are referring to Warren Buffett, an inspiration for every introvert who wonders whether he or she can make it in the world of business and high finance.

Buffett is not the only high-profile individual you would never have described as an introvert. Featuring in Time magazine’s list of Great Introverts And

In her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain makes a powerful case for introverts. According to her, as many as one-third to half of Americans are introverts.

Cain, a self-professed introvert, believes that personality impacts our lives as deeply as gender and race do, and that one’s place on the introvert-extrovert continuum is a core aspect of one’s personality.

In fact, she goes so far as to say that introverts are treated as ‘second-class citizens’ and society needs to recognise that they contribute just as much as extroverts do, only in a different way.

Cain draws attention to the fact that society exalts the extrovert and teamwork to the exclusion of all else. Why, even ‘talkers’ are considered ‘smarter’ and employers place a premium on ‘soft skills’ and ‘people skills’, don’t they? Group learning in school and open-plan offices, designed to be interactive, all rail against the ‘quiet

She says that introverted leaders are often more successful because they allow the ideas of their co-workers and teams to flourish without instinctively feeling the need to put their own stamp on the conversation.

While extroverted leaders feel the need to ‘do all the talking’, which can thwart the creativity of the group and hold back ideas, an introverted leader is much more democratic.

“Problem-solving will need more and more team work and collaboration but we do need to give introverts the freedom to be themselves, which is how they do their best work,” says Cain, an ardent advocate for balance and inclusion of different work styles.

Busting Myths about Introverts

Cain is not the only one carrying the torch for introverts. Lisa Petrilli, author of An Introvert’s Guide to Success in Business and Leadership, too believes that different personalities excel in different ways in any business program, given the right