Introvert Hangover: How To Overcome Social Exhaustion?

1. It’s exhausted to keep presenting themselves

With a calm personality and enjoy their own company while working or their close groups only, introverts often have difficulty expressing themselves in the workplace. It is even more difficult for them to stand out from other extroverted candidates when applying for a job.

Khánh Linh (27 years old) shared: “I was rejected many times because of my personality – being shy in front of strangers. Also, the lack of extracurricular activities and volunteers makes my CV becomes unattractive to the recruiters. I was doubting my ability and stressed out for quite a long time.”

According to Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler – author of “The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength”, it takes introverts longer to understand a problem compared to extroverts, leading to frequent silence during meetings. This makes the introverts often seen as incompetent and difficult to work with because not everyone is willing to patiently get to know them.

Many introverts realize these shortcomings and force themselves to be extroverted. In the long term, this may lead to exhaustion, identity crisis, and the lack of ability to reach their full potential.

2. “Rescue” the introverts

According to PsychCentral – a prestigious American website about mental health, many employers value classic introvert approaches — a calm, measured, and thoughtful attitude both toward work projects and interactions with colleagues. Introverts will often observe and analyze the performance and opinions of others. They develop opinions independently and not easily be influenced by others.

Ms. Nguyễn Thị An Hà – Head of Marketing and Strategic Partnership of Talentnet Corporation shared: “As an introvert, I understand more than anyone else the pressures they face in modern society, which equates to success with extroversion, communication, and relationships. However, introversion or extroversion is just a personality type, not a determining factor of a person’s ability. Instead of trying to be someone else, introverts can take advantage of their uniqueness or values. For example, instead of processing information independently and remaining silent during the meeting, they can ask the leader to express their opinions later via email or at the one-on-one session. Communication is a skill that both extroverts and introverts can improve with effort.”

With leadership experience in managing a team with diverse personalities and ages, Ms. An Hà suggests 03 key highlights for businesses to manage these “quiet” employees:

2.1. Understanding

Leaders need to identify and understand the personality of each individual in their team to adjust communication and management approaches for different personalities. For example, prioritizing and giving them the chance to speak up is also a way to prevent introverts to feel left out among extroverted colleagues.

2.2. Openness

Leaders need to create an environment in which everyone feels comfortable speaking up and sharing, and in which all communication styles are respected. In addition, businesses also need to encourage this afraid-to-speak-up type of employee to express their ideas as well as make a conscious effort to notice and respect them.

2.3. Equality

Fairly recognizing every employee’s efforts and contributions is a prerequisite for managing a diverse team. Leaders need to have an objective evaluation to avoid focusing only on outstanding personnel and forgetting the silent contributions of others. Applying KPIs will prevent subjective assessments, as well as create transparency and equality for all employees.

In the modern world, introversion is not a disadvantage but a unique trait that will bring many benefits to introverts themselves and the business. Businesses need to create an open environment, and more importantly, introverts also need to develop slightly more traits that can help them stand their ground in busy crowds of people.

Source: Cafebiz