The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is considering including introversion as a determining factor for diagnosing mental disorders in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—commonly known as the DSM-5. The APA’s proposed definition of introversion is: “Withdrawal from other people, ranging from intimate relationships to the world at large; restricted affective experience and expression; limited hedonic capacity.” The definition also includes “deficit in the capacity to feel pleasure or take interest in things.”
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It can increase your attention span, sharpen your brain, and improve your performance at just about anything. It’s also free. Still not sure about meditation? The latest research credits it with “measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress,” according to a recent chart-topping article in the New York Times. What’s the rage about meditation and how can the benefits of this age-old practice include bolstering your professional profile? (more…)

Ready for a snarky little diversion? “Every single time I text LOL (laugh out loud), I feel like such an imposter,” says author Mary Hershey. “Honestly, it is rare that I laugh out loud, particularly when I’m texting,” she adds on her and R.L. La Fevers’s Shrinking Violet Promotions blog. “It’s more likely that I am LQ2M (laughing quietly to myself).”
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Body language didn’t used to get much respect. Lynne Davidson, Ph.D., a professor of business and organizational behavior at New York University, quips about an incident in the mid-1970s when she was teaching social psychology at another institution. “I submitted a description for a course called Body Language and it was turned down because it was considered too trite and not academic enough,” she says. Without changing as much as a comma in the science-based course description, Davidson, who studied with masters in the field including Albert Scheflen, MD,  got the course accepted by renaming it Kinesics and Symbolic Interactionism. (more…)

How can introverts thrive in the business world? Do you need to schmooze to get ahead? How are introverts and extroverts biologically different? Toronto magazine writer, Jasmine Budak, just interviewed me about my book, Self-Promotion for Introverts®, and a couple of Canadian businesspeople shared their insights as well. See Budak’s article, “An Introvert’s Guide to Schmoozing,” which originally appeared in Canadian Business magazine.

How competitive are you? Some of us work collaboratively with our colleagues, even if we’re vying for our share of the same bonus pool. Others one-up each another at meetings, keep valuable information to themselves, and jockey – with pointy elbows – to curry more favor with the boss or to seal the biggest deal. (more…)

Are you drowning in a sea of e-mails, text messages, and calls to return? If you’re an introvert, you can probably relate to the “fail whale” on Twitter, the seriously cute image that pops up whenever that popular social media site gets overloaded. The image, designed by Yiying Lu, depicts little red birds effortlessly lifting a whale in a net from the sea, and accompanies the message, “Twitter is over capacity.”

On this first of August, you may be overdue for some downtime. Of course, if you’re already on vacation, remember to get the quiet time you need to fully recharge. If you’re an extrovert, that could mean going from volleyball on the beach to a barbecue to drag car racing to cocktail parties until the wee hours. If you’re an introvert, it might be time to lift yourself out of the Sea of Too Many Inputs and curl up with your Kindle. Here’s to your inner fail whale!

Copyright © 2010 Nancy Ancowitz

“Consider what happens when an introvert comes home hoping to chill after a rough day at work – only to find his extrovert* partner waiting to recap every moment of her day,” according to a recent Wall Street Journal article by Elizabeth Bernstein. She continues, “The introvert gets angry; the extrovert feels hurt.” (more…)

Nancy Ancowitz, business communication coach and author of Self-Promotion for Introverts®, co-wrote this story with Laurie Helgoe, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of Introvert Power. 

 We recently celebrated the forty-first anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, when a soft spoken astronaut named Neil Armstrong made a giant leap for mankind. Isn’t it about time for other reflective, idea-oriented people to get their due? We think so. Instead, simmering under the surface of our cultural consciousness is a belief that introverts are impaired.
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Did you know that the head of the Campbell Soup Company is an introvert? Douglas Conant, president and CEO of the company, just wrote a story for his Harvard Business Review blog to help introvert bosses work better in an organization and manage perceptions about themselves. In the story, titled “Are You an Introverted Boss?” Conant shares his personal observations about navigating a leadership role as an introvert. They include finding time to think, remembering that introverts aren’t necessarily as aloof as they appear, and the benefit of touchstones that create a feeling of familiarity and comfort. (more…)