The Introvert's Edge®

Modern life seems geared to benefit the extrovert. Rewards seem to flow to those who embrace social interaction, and introverts are too often regarded as scared to speak up, trying to avoid attention. What many people don’t realize, however, is that introverts can and do achieve amazing success – not only in the quieter realms like creative or intellectual work (J.K Rowling, Albert Einstein), but in areas traditionally thought of as extroverted territory, such as business, sales, entertainment, and many more. Take the business world, for example. It’s often assumed that industry titans must be extroverted – after all, they are constantly in the public eye, they regularly appear on TV, and at speaking engagements, they lead meetings, they’re master networkers and salespeople, and they have to be the face of their companies. But Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft), Ivan Misner (founder of BNI, the largest networking organization in the world), Zig Ziglar (one of the best-known salespeople of all time), Judy Robinett (author of the INC top-10 book, How to be a Power Connector), Jaime Masters (host of the top-ranked Eventual Millionaire podcast) and Brian Smith (founder of billion-dollar brand UGG Footwear) – they’re all self-proclaimed introverts. And that only scratches the surface. Guy Kawasaki, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg – all introverts who have changed the world. And in the entertainment industry, we have Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, and Emma Watson, just to name a few. The point is clear: Introverts can and do achieve incredible success; it’s a mistake to simply think of them as withdrawn, reserved, and hiding in the background. Achievement is not a matter of personality or sociability; it comes down to an introvert’s ability to discover and master the strategies to harness their inherent strengths.