My Review of THE INTROVERTED LEADER by Jennifer Kahnweiler

As many people with introverted personalities have discovered, it can be really difficult sometimes to be an introvert in a clearly extroverted world. Overall, being outgoing is viewed as an asset, and being quiet and introspective is viewed as a weakness. Extroverts are often viewed as the natural leaders, and introverts don’t often show up on the radar of someone considering someone for a leadership position. Not to mention that introverts are often misjudged as antisocial. I love people, I love being around people, and I love investing in people, but I can’t say it comes naturally for me or that I’m at ease being around people. Often, my introverted personality causes me to be very self-conscious, and the things I want to communicate to people I genuinely care about become very difficult to verbalize. The frustration for me, as I’m sure it is for a lot of introverts, is that I care deeply about people, I’m very interested in people and what makes them tick, but introversion often feels like a force fighting against that. After reading Susan Cain’s groundbreaking book on introverts QUIET, I became interested in another book called THE INTROVERTED LEADER by Jennifer Kahnweiler.

THE INTROVERTED LEADER is ironically written by an extrovert, but an extrovert who has gone to extra care to understand the introvert personality and discover methods for introverted personalities to express what’s inside more effectively. Kahnweiler takes a look at some common challenges that introverts face in a workplace world, nearly all of which I resonated with. Not all introverts struggle in the same ways with living in an extroverted world, so Kahnweiler gives a quiz to help isolate specific areas an introvert might want to engage in becoming more comfortable in, thus producing results.

The book focuses on a four-step process introverts can put into practice. The four steps are:
1. Prepare
2. Presence
3. Push
4. Practice

Essentially, in several different areas, such as public speaking or managing people, where introverts may struggle with being effective, Kahnweiler walks them through a process of creating lasting and effective habits through the four steps.

THE INTROVERTED LEADER is empowering and practical in a way that will hopefully allow introverts to contribute more effectively their inherent giftedness as leaders.

I received this book for review from Berrett-Koehler Publishers