Can Quiet People Lead Effectively?

For the over half of us that identify as quiet people and wish to lead, it’s the question we keep asking ourselves. Can we inspire others and get things done? Can we do this as well as our louder, more social colleagues that better fit the stereotype of a leader? This doubt sometimes holds us back from reaching for that promotion, or starting that new organization.

I wish I could travel back in time and tell my younger self the answer to this question—“yes they can!”

I was always known as the quiet one—careful with my words, less comfortable in large groups, and never the loudest person in the room. Looking at everyone around me “in charge” that seemed to be comfortable dazzling large crowds, I thought only extraverts could lead. I felt I had two choices—don’t lead and grow in my career, or fake being an extravert. Faking it worked for a while, until people saw through the act. If I wanted to grow, I needed to think differently.

Twenty years later, I’ve found a style that works for me. I’ve since built nine biotechnology companies, run by multiple high performing teams. Through my experience, I’ve learned that quiet leaders can lead—they just need to lead differently. This realization inspired me to write Quiet Leader Loud Results. It’s a book by a quiet leader for quiet leaders who want practical advice on how to lead effectively in their own authentic style.

You don’t need to just take my word for it. We can look at the world around us. Some of the most dynamic leaders in business and politics (Bill Gates and Barack Obama for example) are quiet leaders. We can also look at the data. Research supports how quiet leaders Adam Grant and colleagues [1] followed managers at a pizza shop, finding that, for shops with motivated, proactive employees, quiet leaders drove 14% higher profits. Recent research reviewed in the Wall Street Journal [2] found that extraverts may be more likely to emerge as leaders initially, but less likely to keep a consistent set of followers over time relative to their quiet counterparts.

If you’re anything like me, you need to understand why that is, since it seems so counterintuitive.

Why might quiet folks be good leaders, even though they don’t fit the stereotype of a leader?

Ability to listen — One of the superpowers quiet people possess is the ability to listen more than they talk. Indeed, why quiet leaders often hold onto their followers for longer is that their personalities more naturally lend themselves to their colleagues feeling heard and their opinions valued. Further, an ability to listen deeply means that quiet leaders can get the most out of their interactions with others, and derive meaning from interactions that others may not.

Capacity to reflect deeply — Neuroscientific studies suggest that quiet people have more neuronal activity in the centers that control learning, planning, and information processing. [3] Quiet leaders are more apt to reflect internally as they process information and make decisions, and that tendency toward deep thought can yield better decisions, and more creative ones.

Internal locus of control — Several psychological studies have shown that quiet people are more influenced by internal consideration and reflection, and less so by external stimuli and interaction. [4] This internal locus of control lends itself to several qualities valued in leaders. First, a leader less influenced by others and outside events earns a perception of steadfastness that others look to particularly in tough times. Second, a leader who is able to access their inner thoughts amidst the noise is often able to deliver on creative ideas others may not see. Some of the most creative people in the world (Albert Einstein, for example) identify as introverts.

These elements are just some examples of the strengths quiet leaders can bring that can make them effective as they build and drive organizations forward. Of course, there are other traits quiet leaders must account for and overcome as they practice leadership. In Quiet Leader and in future blogs, we’ll review some of these limitations and how successful quiet leaders have accounted for them.

You may be at a crossroads where many quiet leaders find themselves—exhausted because you’re trying to lead in the way contemporary culture expects you to. Even worse, society tells us that quiet leaders aren’t as desirable as extraverted ones. Why not let “the naturals” do it and find another role within the organization?

It is because quiet leaders can be extremely effective leaders; they just need to lead differently.

Indeed, the fundamental premise of this book and this set of blogs is that both quiet leaders and extraverts can be equally effective leaders, and in some very important circumstances, quiet leaders can be even more effective. It’s my hope that through both Quiet Leader Loud Results and these blog posts that I can inspire you to take the first step to lead.

[1] https://hbr.org/2010/12/the-hidden-advantages-of-quiet-bosses

[2] https://www.wsj.com/articles/extrovert-leadership-challenges-11651255113?mod=hp_jr_pos1

[3] Joseph Bennington-Castro, “The Science of What Makes an Introvert and an Extrovert,” Gizmodo, September 10, 2013, https://gizmodo.com/the-science-behind-extroversion-and-introversion-1282059791.

[4] Rose Needle, “Innovative and Introverted: How Introverts Function in the Creative Workplace,” University of South Carolina (Honors College) 2019, https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1292&context=senior_theses..