The plight of introverts has received a very welcome boost in recent years, due in no small part to the efforts of author and activist Susan Cain. Cain has developed the Quiet Schools Network with the aim of helping quieter students thrive in our schools.

Cain argued in her book that the world is predominantly setup with extroverts in mind, and she believes that schools are no different.  The Quiet Schools Network attempts therefore, to reframe the very notion of classroom participation towards something more akin to classroom engagement.

The idea is that once you get away from the notion that understanding is best reflected by the speed, and volume, with which a pupil responds to a query it becomes easier to craft an environment fit for all.

Extroverts get ahead

A sign of the progress still to be made comes via a recent study from the University of Missouri that looked at the relative success of introverts and extroverts in the workplace.  It found that those were are outgoing and proactive tend to have more successful careers.  Interestingly however, this is less to do with our personalities per se, and more to do with our relative willingness to seek a mentor.

“Previous research has found that mentoring plays a critical role in career success, and this study affirms that finding,” the author says. “Those who are extroverted and have a proactive personality are naturally more likely to develop mentor relationships, which can help new employees understand their company’s corporate culture and advance within a company. But, even for those of us who aren’t extroverts, there is nothing saying you can’t ‘fake it until you make it.’ “

The importance of reaching out

The researchers tracked several hundred employees across a range of occupations, with the average age of each participant being 30.  They were assessed across a range of career success metrics, such as income, promotions and happiness with ones career.  They were also tested for their personality type.

Interestingly, it wasn’t the personality per se that mattered so much as their behavior.  A number of key behavior traits emerged that were helpful in climbing the career ladder, including:

• Seeking help and support via developmental networks and mentoring
• Actively learning the norms and values of their organization
• Taking personal responsibility for learning and development, whether through training, networking or other channels

The paper underlines the importance of organizations providing the environment by which informal developmental relationships can form and continuous learning occurs. In particular, organizations should attempt to develop a climate of psychological safety, which allows employees to take risks and ask questions without fear of recrimination.