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…)

Many introverts are word lovers. And word lovers hate seeing language butchered. Of course, none of us butcher it ourselves. Right? It’s always someone in the next cubicle. In case you have any doubts the next time you draft an award worthy memo, enter a word you suspect could be jargon into a fun and useful new tool, UNSUCKIT—and presto, out comes the term in plain English. I put UNSUCKIT through the paces for a few of my pet peeves:
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I recently had several phone conversations with high-powered leaders—all of whom sounded like high-powered leaders. It wasn’t just what they said (not a word wasted), but also how they said it. Not a frog in their collective throats. Rather than hemming and hawing, umming and erring, each of these leaders, from diverse industries and disciplines, spoke in a strong, confident voice. (more…)

Striving for perfection – rather than just plain excellence – can make you and everyone around you nuts. How can you advance in your career if you regularly spend hours on tasks – like writing a thank you note after an informational interview – that others seem to crank out in an instant?

“Whereas extraverts tend to broaden the sphere of their work, to present their products early (and often) to the world, to make themselves known to a wide circle, and to multiply relationships and activities, the introvert takes the opposite approach,” according to Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers. She continues in her book: “Going more deeply into their work, introverts are reluctant to call it finished and publish it.”
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