Networking for Introverts
Sometimes things just whack you over the head — more eloquent people call this serendipity. I was recently reading a book about gifted children that mentioned Marti Laney’s The Introvert Advantage as a side note to her newer book about the hidden gifts of introverted children. So I grab it from the library, am merrily reading along, and all of a sudden Bloglines starts flinging link after link at me stemming from How to Network: For Introverts over at Businesspundit. (I particularly like 9 Keys to Networking via Blogs for Introverts at LexBlog and Marketing to Introverts at Spare Change.)
I appreciate the distinction Laney makes between being shy and being introverted — which Businesspundit also speaks to:
“I have a problem. I’m an introvert. I’m not shy. I’m not afraid of being in public. But I am horrible at chit-chat and gossip. If I spend an evening at a social function with people I don’t know or don’t like, I get home and feel like I’ve spent all day at the ocean. It’s that fighting-the-waves and drained-by-the-sun kind of tired. I would rather spend four hours with my head stapled to the carpet. I would be more comfortable that way.”
As for me, I’m working on the shyness thing, but I think sometimes we tend to conflate the two — no matter how many articles we read about Meyers-Briggs. So, this recent writing highlighting the advantages of introversion and the ways to thrive in an extroverted world is more than welcome. Making this distinction also makes it less surprising that librarians as a group trend more toward the “I” end of the spectrum, and more apparent that our introverted natures can serve us as well in our online interactions as in our more traditional pursuits.
Iris:
I just finished the Introvert Advantage and it was SUCH fun to see all my quirks and their genetic causes laid out in black and why. It’s changed the way I see myself and my behaviors, and I look forward to social situations more now that I understand what’s going on in my brain. My whole family had fun taking the quiz to see who was the most introverted… I won.
19 December 2006, 2:25 amRachel:
I appreciated the part on how people “charge their batteries” — the idea that extroverts do it by interactions w/ other people and introverts by quietness/solitude/things like reading struck a chord.
19 December 2006, 3:00 amSarah:
*nods* I remember when we all took the myers briggs at work–I’m by far the most “outgoing” person in my office, and everyone was surprised I came out as an I (but just barely). I do prefer solitary pursuits to socializing, but that said I still need something of a social life, and the goals I’ve set for myself in my career and other areas require that I “put on a happy face” and network.
Going to professional events is not my favorite thing to do, but I just remind myself it’s a neccessary evil, like flossing. And as I do it more, I get more comfortable in those settings and have even (grudgingly) started to like that sort of thing…a little.
19 December 2006, 2:38 pmMohamed Taher:
Hi Rachel
27 December 2006, 11:33 pmTo introduce myself, I am a librarian by profession.
I am happy that I found your post on the subject of introverts.
I added a link in my post on: Introvert and Looking for a Job – You are not alone