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Why Being Introverted is Good for Your Business
“A wise man once said nothing” — unknown
Open-plan offices. Management politics. Staff parties and office chit chat. Team meetings about team meetings.
The nightmares of introverts.
Early on in my career, following a project meeting with a client, I recall my manager taking me aside to tell me I needed to “work on my small talk.”
Excuse me?
Small talk is not something I partake in. I do not enjoy it, nor do I condone it. I do not wish to exchange vague, meaningless pleasantries just to pass the time — I’d much rather retreat into my own head. I fantasize about a world where small talk does not exist.
Even though I am apparently an extroverted introvert, small talk is and will forever be a firm no. But this distinction in preferences for working styles or even different personalities had not yet made it through to my manager. In fact, I wonder how many managers it has made it through to?
To cut a long and boring and painful story short, it wasn’t long before I knew I had to leave — something inside me clicked and I knew that working for myself would be a hell of a lot more rewarding for a number of reasons.