Since I started mentoring engineers and scientists in gaining management skills, one of the common patterns I observed is the self-doubt among people with introverted personalities in becoming a leader.
Introverts usually tend to be quiet in large meetings and prefer 1:1 or favor meetings with a small number of participants. This preference makes them believe that they cannot lead; In other words, they think being outspoken in a large crowd is a necessity of being a good leader.
Whenever I hear this, my go-to reference is this study from Harvard business school that shows people with introverted personalities are better leaders when their reports are proactive. Generally speaking, engineers in the tech industry, specifically in big tech companies, are proactive. Therefore, introverts are as good (if not better) a leader as extroverts. Leaders in big tech companies are expected to be caring, good listeners, and maintain effective 1:1s with the reports, skills that are common among introverts.
Having said that, good leaders often need to support/advocate for their team works in large groups meeting which might seem difficult for introverted personalities. For this, I have developed two simple solutions that I always suggest to my introvert mentees:
- Offline follow-up: In tech companies, the majority of decisions happen made offline. Large meetings are usually a place to kick-start offline discussions and follow-ups. Rarely, big decisions are made in large meetings. Therefore, good leaders always ask for offline follow-up and then start a follow-up through email or chat.
- Ask for a clear agenda and pre-read: You can always ask for agenda and a pre-read. This will help you to anticipate the discussions in the meeting. Then you can write up your points and practice what you want to say.