Why Introverts Have a Hidden Advantage in the Workplace

This essay was co-authored by Gary Klein and Nii Codjoe.

It’s commonly believed that extraverts hold an unfair advantage in business.

A 2016 research study by de Vries and Rentfrow titled, “A Winning Personality,” revealed that extraverts have a 25 percent higher chance of being in a high-earning job than introverts.

Further, a study by Duffy and Chartrand (2015) found that extraverts excel more than introverts at building rapport with other people, a critical skill in making friends and influencing others, especially if you’re an entrepreneur.

Sounding pretty grim for introverts.

Close your eyes. Imagine in your mind's eye an entrepreneur. You might picture a businessperson standing on a stage, perhaps, or in a meeting, puncturing their points with bold, decisive gestures.

Their talking points are a pathway to a grand vision. This person talks as quickly as they think — clearly, an extravert: an assertive and dynamic speaker who’s not afraid to “push back” or ‘think out loud.”

But what’s missing? Those extraverts who are so forceful at presenting their ideas, on stage or one-on-one, may not be listening to your ideas. While you’re talking, they may be thinking about what they’re going to say next.

They can be fun because they are so entertaining, energetic, and engaging. We like to be around them. Except when they suck the air out of the room and make us feel somewhat overlooked.

Looking back at a previous essay on illuminators versus diminishers, we would not classify many extraverts as illuminators because they don’t usually make us feel more alive and productive. Sometimes, they leave us feeling less inadequate.

However, our concern in this essay is not about interpersonal dynamics. It is about business relationships that foster innovation and success.

Researchers have found that introverts are better listeners (Cain, 2012; Flynn and colleagues, 2022), and this attribute is important to innovation because listening is essential for diagnosing your customer’s needs. Listeners focus on you, not on themselves.

Research suggests that introverts are more observant than their extraverted counterparts, and this attribute is important to innovation because they can size up your felt needs and frustrations more adequately, as opposed to announcing how great their products are.

Research further indicates that introverts are more reflective, and this attribute is important to innovation because we can’t keep beating the same drum — we have to diagnose why we are running into resistance.

We have to diagnose why a product or service may be failing. We have to be sensitive to opportunities to improve a product or service or to take a radically different path.

We have to be reflective, or at least to have reflective colleagues, colleagues who are introverts.

These attributes — being good listeners, being observant, being reflective — are critical to uncovering insights and perspectives that become the seeds of innovation and new ideas. They are also critical for effective leadership (Dennison, 2024; Grant and colleagues, 2010).

Conclusions

Some caveats: Of course, extraverts can have these introspective traits, too. And just because someone is an introvert, it doesn’t mean they’re automatically observant or reflective. As we examine a simple framework, extraverts versus introverts, we are aware that this model is an over-simplification.

We think the general principles about the differences between extraverts and introverts are important, but we cannot expect to see those differences in every individual case.

And we are aware that many, probably most, people cannot be readily classified as extraverts or introverts across all settings. It’s a continuum, with only a few people at the extremes.

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Further, being an active listener, observant, and reflective are skills anyone can learn—whether we’re introverts, extraverts, or ambiverts. Still, we suggest that introverts will find it easier to acquire these skills, and will likely achieve greater proficiency in them.

Our major point is that we should not automatically fall for the confidence and enthusiasm of extraverts. We should appreciate the strengths of the introverts.

Maybe, in the decades to come, when we close our eyes and imagine a CEO or an entrepreneur, we might picture a leader quietly sitting still in a chair, thinking about what their customers have been experiencing and needing, and discovering ways to make them more successful. A CEO who is an illuminator and makes their subordinates and their customers feel valued and productive.