HBA

Let’s Hear It For the Quiet People

Jun 5, 2014

This is a really long post I wrote a while ago. In short, it’s about introversion and how it affects my classroom experience in classes where participation counts, including Business 1220 and 2257. Participation counted between 10%-20% of my grade in certain classes in my first two years at Western. I talk about what helped me overcome my anxiety from feeling pressured to “have” to speak and being a person who identifies as one of the (very) introverted variety.

Today I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. I am super passionate about quiet people and the immense potential our society has if we all helped out our introvert friends.

I am an introvert. I am not shy, nor am I anti-social, although I hate small talk. I thrive at making one-on-one connections to people. I get my energy from being by myself. I am an excellent listener and a constant over-thinker. I may be wrong, but in my experience as an introvert, I have an easier time understanding extroverts than I can get extroverts to understand what it’s like to be an introvert. This is probably a side-effect of our cultural bias towards extroverts. (This is especially true as a university student who prefers to spend leisurely time reading novels or grabbing dinner with friends to hitting up the bars on a Friday night. I just don’t feel the need to “complete” the prescribed “university experience” you’re “suppose” to have at this age.)

We have many equality/acceptance movements and this is another – Lots of little revolutions towards a better world. (I fully realize, this isn’t violating any human rights, but it’s still an interesting perspective to look at society and culture from). Ivey has started introducing gender-neutral cases, which is awesome. Like really, truly awesome. Equality is awesome! But there are different types of bias beyond the ones that have had more time to mature in the media and in the public mind. Education is largely biased towards extroverts (or at least its current evolution towards group work and open spaces). I wanted to bring this up today because I came across an article on the Globe and Mail titled, “Is B-School any place for an introvert?”

I was scared to see what it would say. What if it says no? For me to say that an introvert has no place in business, would be like ripping apart a piece of my identity. The article brings up many points that I am already aware of, but many others might not be. I like how it talks about introversion in a business school setting because it’s something I have encountered and strongly identified with.

In the business world, things like small talk are in avoidable, I know that. It’s important to things like “networking”. (Which is a concept that I have a lot of contention with, due to my preference for getting to really know people rather than the just knowing them.) However, while I don’t like small talk, I have learned how to cope with it and the many other situations that call for me to step out of my head. I have a lot to owe to the current conversation over introversion and extroversion – many people don’t learn about this until much later in their lives, after they have gone years thinking there was something “wrong” with them for not conforming to a extrovert standards. (I would also like to note most people are not either extremes of introvert/extrovert but somewhere in the middle).

I approach different situations, with different “hats”. When I go to class and I know I need to speak, I put on my “Class Participation Hat”. I mentioned this in my last post about getting into character for presentations. I have different guises that help me tap into different aspects of my personality . Of course, I feel the most comfortable and at ease when I can just be myself, with my guard down – no “hat”. Not everyone is able to so easily switch “hats”, which is why it’s really important that we are aware of different personality types and be aware of biases against different personalities.

I really want to see more proud introverts around me. Many of us have mastered the art of chameleoning ourselves as more extroverted than we actually are, and I want to bring it to the forefront that I think that there is absolutely a place for introverts in business school and in the business world. The way the classroom and office space is set-up now is not the most conducive for an introvert’s modus operandi.

I want to talk about my experience as an introvert-person going through the business 1220 and 2257, which are two courses which require a lot of class participation.

The amount I talk in general is largely based on how familiar I am with 1) the people 2) the topic of discussion. I can talk for hours and hours about something I have had time to form an opinion on.

When I’m thrown into a group of new people, whether it be in a class or at dinner, and I don’t know most people. I will become an observer and very quiet (the whole time I’m debating in my head whether or not to offer my opinion). This isn’t something I consciously do, but I am aware of it. A shift happens when I become familiar with the people around me and I don’t stop talking.

In 1220, I was just being introduced to the business vocabulary. I had a very hard time participating in 1220. There was straight-up anxiety involved. I put a lot of pressure on myself to talk in class, but 50 minutes would go by and in that entire time, I just wouldn’t feel like I had anything worthwhile to contribute. Or if I did, I would spend too much time thinking about it. There are some people who make sense of things by saying things aloud. I am not one of those people. And that’s okay.

Right from the outset, I knew that choosing the AEO route would be a challenge for me. In Grade 12, when I went to the Ivey info session, I remember how the person at the front of the room said all this stuff about cold-calling and people needing to speak out. There was a part of the presentation where they asked “what we thought business was about”, or something of the like, and called on random people to say what they thought. I will never forget how out of my element I felt in that room of strangers. In that moment I wanted more than *anything* to duck under the desk. The physical urge to hide under the table was overwhelming.

In 2257, I did a lot better with participation. I also became a lot more comfortable talking in my other classes too. Last year, in my art history tutorials, I didn’t say a word (maaayybeeee a sentence, once within the year. Maybe.). Luckily there were other ways I could get participation grades. In a lecture class you can get away with just absorbing all the information sent your way (I can sustain this for hours and hours at a time – I am honestly having a great time and actively engaged), but in order for a case-study based classroom to be effective you need to be actively listening and contributing.

At the end of first year I looked back at my six year old self, who was more comfortable spending recess talking to the teacher on duty than playing with the other kids. My comfort with speaking to adults over other kids my age continued through high-school as well. Going into 2nd year, I made sure that I went to office hours, if not for asking questions, then for familiarizing myself with the person at the front of the room. This made it a lot easier for me to talk in class – seriously the best thing I’ve done for myself since coming to Western.

Most of my classes this year, class participation counted towards a grade. Might other people have an advantage over me? Absolutely. But as a quiet person I push myself and grow in a different way from this environment. With increased familiarity I become more comfortable. Of course, this happens faster with smaller groups of people. I just need the time to establish myself (mostly, to myself and for myself). In the long run the only true advantage will be in the grades. Is it unfair? Yes. But I’m okay with that (for now). I will get something out of being out of my comfort-zone that can’t be quantified in a grade. The grade won’t come as naturally to me as it does for others, but I know have something valuable to offer, even if it doesn’t come at the right moment to speak up. I much rather be known as the person who said insightful things rather than the one who just spoke.

Do I wish I was more extroverted? Nope, not at all. Maybe certain situations would be easier for me, but I am a proud introvert. I can bring something to the table that other people might not. I am a deep thinker by nature. I don’t see it as something that holds me back. It’s definitely something that empowers me more than holds me back. I don’t feel like I have any “shell” to break out of. I love my shell. My shell is my sanctuary.

My best advice for introverts going into business school is not to be discouraged. The best thing we can do is prepare. Prepare more and harder. I have found great comfort in knowing that if I can’t come up with something to say, I have something written down. Business school is great training for loud leaders and quiet leaders too. It’s a place where you can make mistakes, because that’s what classrooms are for.

What I hope most of all is that an extroverted someone reads this and learns just a little bit about what it’s like to be that quiet someone who sits in the middle-back. I hope that my experience lends a little bit of insight into what it’s like to have social dispositions different from what’s considered the “normal” for a teenager/uni student/young person/person.

For those of you asking, maybe there is a reason introverts don’t belong in business, that you need someone who speaks up and loud. Well, then, I encourage you to google a person named “Warren Buffet”. If not, perhaps “Bill Gates”. What happens when you put thinkers with great imaginations? JK Rowling. Not to mention Albert Einstein, Audrey Hepburn, Rosa Parks… and those are just the top names that came up on google!

So to all the fellow introverts out there, you are AWESOME. And you extroverts? You’re awesome too! And to the people who are somewhere in between, you too, are awesome.

Best wishes,

Karen

The introvert experience from other people:

Susan Cain, the person who really pushed the conversation to the forefront with her TED talk and book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts: