Heres why introverts bypass on leadership opportunities at work

Heres why introverts bypass on leadership opportunities at workHeres why introverts bypass on leadership opportunities at workDoes your introversion hold you back from going for it at work sometimes? As it turns out, science may know why.A new study in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found that introverts fail to emerge as leaders as often as extraverts because they engage in higher levels of forecasted negative affect and that these forecasts impede their emergent leadership potential.FollowLadders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard coveringHappiness,Productivity,Job Satisfaction,Neuroscience, andmoraIn other words, they tend to predict that group experiences will be harder for them than they might actually be, so they dont try to take control during informal leadership opportunities, according to a writeup in theThe British Psychological Society Research Digest.Putting things in simpler terms, the writeup breaks down what the researchers mean by em ergent leadership in the study, writing that its when someone takes charge in a team without a formal hierarchy.Here are some of the findings from the research, plus what you can do to feel more empowered as an office introvert.What the researchers foundThe researchers took a look athow much184 business students acted like leaders during an unstructured group task.According to the writeup, beforedoing the group activity(developed by NASA), participants described how they thought theyd fare. Then they assessed others leadership wertzuwachs afterward.Its clear that introverts can express their personal leadershipthrough things like personal branding, but in the study, they reportedly didnt demonstrate their leaderships skills as frequently as theextraverts during the activity - and also predicted it being more unpleasant beforehand.Although the research couldnt conclusively prove that introverts predictions prevented them from being leaders, the evidence seemed in line with his conce pt These two factors seemed to be related when fully accounting for any differences in participants negative expectations, introversion was no longer associated with less emergent leadership.It looks like introverts who experience this have an opportunity to change on their hands.Introverts may like taking control more than they expect toWe know that introverts have the power to get ahead and express themselves at work, but heres abedrngnisher possible way to do so.The research saysthat if introverts can develop strategies to more accurately forecast their enjoyment of behavior more conducive to emergent leadership, then it is possible that such individuals will be on a level playing field with extraverts in relevant social situations.Other researchshows that when introverts act extraverted, they like it more than they predicted.Heres how introverts can take the plunge at workYou dont always have to be the office wallflowerThink about why you youre tempted to opt outDo some hard thi nking about why, and youll figure out how to move forward.Stephanie Peterson, co-founder of free profile photo testing tool PhotoFeeler.com, offers her perspective on this in The Muse, writing that next time youre thinking of saying no to an opportunity under the guise of being an introvert, pause and think about the real reasons behind your decision. If its all dread or disinterest, then youre probably right to skip out. But if fear is suggesting you run away from something with clear potential to enrich your career, consider rising to the challenge.Speak up at the beginning of meetingsBeing an introvert doesnt mean you have no insight to offer.Readers Digest features advice from communications expert, author, and coach Kristi Hedges.It can benefit introverts to think ahead and have a plan. Challenge yourself to put your ideas on the table in the first few minutes, and at a minimum, get your voice in the room. The vibe of the meeting is set early, and by contributing then, youre es tablishing yourself as an active participant. As an added bonus, people may refer back to your comments and offer additional ways for you to get heard, she told the publication.Readers Digest goes on to suggest that if that doesnt work for you, start speakingthese calming phrases to yourself before meetings.Draw on your strengthsRey Castellanos, Founder and CEO of Feed Your wundsein and host of the podcast We Fail Forward (presented by the company), told Forbes about how introverts can do this.Introverts have a knack for going deep quickly, so you should leverage this strength to build deep lasting relationships with the people in your world. Learn to work smarter, not harder. Focus on what you are good at and build meaningful relationships everywhere you go, even if its only one at a time. We all crave deep and authentic connections, and introverts excel in this arena, he told the publication.Introverts, you have more power at work than you might think. After all, you do bring a lo t to the table.Heres why introverts bypass on leadership opportunities at workDoes your introversion hold you back from going for it at work sometimes? As it turns out, science may know why.A new study in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found that introverts fail to emerge as leaders as often as extraverts because they engage in higher levels of forecasted negative affect and that these forecasts impede their emergent leadership potential.In other words, they tend to predict that group experiences will be harder for them than they might actually be, so they dont try to take control during informal leadership opportunities, according to a writeup in theThe British Psychological Society Research Digest.Putting things in simpler terms, the writeup breaks down what the researchers mean by emergent leadership in the study, writing that its when someone takes charge in a team without a formal hierarchy.Here are some of the findings from the research, plus what you can d o to feel more empowered as an office introvert.What the researchers foundThe researchers took a look athow much184 business students acted like leaders during an unstructured group task.According to the writeup, beforedoing the group activity(developed by NASA), participants described how they thought theyd fare. Then they assessed others leadership performance afterward.Its clear that introverts can express their personal leadershipthrough things like personal branding, but in the study, they reportedly didnt demonstrate their leaderships skills as frequently as theextraverts during the activity - and also predicted it being more unpleasant beforehand.Although the research couldnt conclusively prove that introverts predictions prevented them from being leaders, the evidence seemed in line with his concept These two factors seemed to be related when fully accounting for any differences in participants negative expectations, introversion was no longer associated with less emergent leadership.It looks like introverts who experience this have an opportunity to change on their hands.Introverts may like taking control more than they expect toWe know that introverts have the power to get ahead and express themselves at work, but heres another possible way to do so.The research saysthat if introverts can develop strategies to more accurately forecast their enjoyment of behavior more conducive to emergent leadership, then it is possible that such individuals will be on a level playing field with extraverts in relevant social situations.Other researchshows that when introverts act extraverted, they like it more than they predicted.Heres how introverts can take the plunge at workYou dont always have to be the office wallflowerThink about why you youre tempted to opt outDo some hard thinking about why, and youll figure out how to move forward.Stephanie Peterson, co-founder of free profile photo testing tool PhotoFeeler.com, offers her perspective on this in The Muse, w riting that next time youre thinking of saying no to an opportunity under the guise of being an introvert, pause and think about the real reasons behind your decision. If its all dread or disinterest, then youre probably right to skip out. But if fear is suggesting you run away from something with clear potential to enrich your career, consider rising to the challenge.Speak up at the beginning of meetingsBeing an introvert doesnt mean you have no insight to offer.Readers Digest features advice from communications expert, author, and coach Kristi Hedges.It can benefit introverts to think ahead and have a plan. Challenge yourself to put your ideas on the table in the first few minutes, and at a minimum, get your voice in the room. The vibe of the meeting is set early, and by contributing then, youre establishing yourself as an active participant. As an added bonus, people may refer back to your comments and offer additional ways for you to get heard, she told the publication.Readers D igest goes on to suggest that if that doesnt work for you, start speakingthese calming phrases to yourself before meetings.Draw on your strengthsRey Castellanos, Founder and CEO of Feed Your Wolf and host of the podcast We Fail Forward (presented by the company), told Forbes about how introverts can do this.Introverts have a knack for going deep quickly, so you should leverage this strength to build deep lasting relationships with the people in your world. Learn to work smarter, not harder. Focus on what you are good at and build meaningful relationships everywhere you go, even if its only one at a time. We all crave deep and authentic connections, and introverts excel in this arena, he told the publication.Introverts, you have more power at work than you might think. After all, you do bring a lot to the table.