Dear Friends
There is a saying that it takes all sorts to make the world. We are all born different and have different types of personality. Have you been noticing around your circle of friends, colleagues, relatives or even your family members the following: some of them seem to prefer to hang out with their friends and they are not tired at all by engaging their friends with all the gossips and stories. On the other hand, some of them prefer to go to the study room to read books, listen to music or surf the internet. The first group of people wonder why the second group is not of the same type and asks “what is wrong with these people?” How many of you know what I am talking about?
Now, which type of personality do you have? Before you proceed, I would like to invite you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. I would like to invite you to recall the last time when you finished a big project, what did you do? Did you go out with your friends to a pub or a lounge to have fun? Or did you go home and turn on your iPod and listen your favorite songs? Now, you can open your eyes and continue reading the following:
So, what is your answer? At least you are aware of your preference, isn’t it?
Introversion type versus Extroversion type
Have you heard of these terms – extroversion and introversion? Before I became a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (“MBTI®“) practitioner, I had this limiting belief. Somehow, I felt that extroverts are chatty people because they just cannot stop talking and talking until someone asks them to “shut up”. So, this is their personality. On the other hand, introverts are quiet people and no matter how the rest want them to talk, they would never be the first one to participate or sometimes, you may wonder why this type of people would not even walk to talk at all. You may wonder how this limiting belief came about. I guess it is due to media influence.
What did I say that it was my limiting belief? In the past, I always thought that in order to be a successful leader in any corporate organization, he must be an extrovert or else how he could build credibility with many people who are willing to listen. So, a successful leadership to me means “speak up”. As an introvert person, I formed the belief that I would not become a leader of any organization (in other words, I am not born as that type of people), and it has become a show-stopper for me to have my own company until last year. As I am the owner of my company, I am the leader and it is only then I realize that a leader can be an “introvert”.
Now, did you recall from the trainings / workshops you attended in the past that your trainers would always be jumping on the stage and talking to the participants? I had this limiting belief too – that is all trainers have to be extroverts because they have to talk all the times. It also cost me a lot because I only started to become a trainer a few years back. In fact, I realize that a lot of trainers in my circle are “introverts” too and we all acted as if we were “extroverts”.
I believe that the Universe treats people fairly because there are both “extroverts” and “introverts” types of people in the world. Maybe the “extroverts” don’t understand why “introverts” exist. My answer is that extroverts need the introverts to strike a balance. Just imagine in a typical corporate meeting consisting of all the extroverts, it could become a very noisy meeting and unproductive. They need at least an introvert who has the ability to analyze and introspect so that a sound business decision can be made.
In fact, I chanced upon the following video a couple of days ago and the speaker, Ms. Susan Cain, talked about the power of the introverts. In case you wonder Susan’s type personality, she is an INFJ. In short, she is an introvert too. Her key point in her speech was about how in her view, the introverts would be able to bring out the talents and abilities of the extroverts to the world, and thereby proving the point that the introverts have their right fit and responsibility in this world. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yyeJ1jaGD
Would you be interested in understanding your type personality based on the popular Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)® Assessment tool? You should take a look of my popular workshops - Know Your Type Personality MBTI® Introductory Workshop and find out what my clients said about how they benefit from the workshop.
If you like what I said or have any comments, I would love to hear from you too.
To Your Success!
Jack Wong
Certified MBTI® Practitioner for Step I™ and Step II™
Certified Extended DISC® Practitioner
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jwong139
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Personal Blog: http://www.jack–wong.com
Website: http://www.empoweredrangers.com
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