by Gitte Randrup
G I T T E RANDRUP
HR BUSINESS PARTNER, CONSULTANT/ RECRUITER, BLOGGER
Copyrighted by Gitte Randrup
I use the cards I have in the best way possible.
I am an introvert. This means that I get energy and recharge my batteries at home–not among other people. Though I enjoy talking to and being inspired by other people, I need to limit my time around them, as this interaction takes away my energy.
As a consequence, I stay for only about 1½ to 2 hours at larger networking meetings and other events. I have accepted that, as a consequence, I may miss out on meeting new and interesting people.
“It also means that I have a quiet side, and I listen a lot. For years, I was ashamed of that. In school, the quiet, listening type was not popular with teachers in the oral courses. Countless times, Iwastoldto raise my hand and show my abilities to the class.”
The teachers thought that it was a pity that someone so skilled would not show it. This had a negative effect on my oral grades. In my recent study a couple of years ago, I was told that it would be beneficial for me to attend a course on presentation skills so that I would be better at presenting oral exams.
When I was in school, I would have loved to change this aspect of myself, but I didn’t know-how. At the time, I didn’t realize that I’m a person who loves to listen. Now, at this point in my life, I have learned to cherish what my introverted side offers me.
In the field of HR, it is an advantage to be a good listener because it gives you the opportunity to hear what is being said between the lines and to help people accordingly. Part of being introverted is doing better in one-on-one relationships. This means that while I don’t know everyone on the planet, I have deep, close, and high-quality relationships with fewer people.
For me, one of the advantages of knowing fewer people is that those relationships are stronger. I have an advantage because people don’t expect me to remember a lot of details about their lives. ” To me, small talk is ok. A few words about this and that the coffee machine is ok. However, if it turns into a large conversation around the table, I start getting bored. I’d rather talk with individuals about how they’re doing.”
Another side of my introversion is that I love to immerse myself in tasks and crack a tough nut within a given subject. When I do this, I feel so happy inside. I’m able to acquire a high degree of knowledge in the subjects that I work with and that interests me.
Our society pays homage to extroversion. The ability to present, be articulate, and open –that is a success. However, according to research, there is a good reason to appreciate introverts’ features –for example, at work. The traditional mindset is that leaders do best if they are extroverts.
In the study “Servant leaders inspire servant followers,” researchers found that introverted features can create effective leaders –also called servant leaders. A servant leader is a person who is good at focusing on the team’s wellbeing as a means of achieving good performance. Moreover, introverted features such as the ability to listen and to think analytically are assets for leaders.
So, I call out to every introvert! I sincerely hope that you will accept the fact that you are an introvert and focus on its advantages. It’s said that between one-third and one-half of us are introverts, so let’s start by standing up for ourselves and getting a louder voice in society. It’s far better than hiding or pretending to be someone other than who you are.
Gitte Randup http://grconsult.dk/en/
She is an advisor and HR Business Partner to managers on a wide range of HR subjects, such as recruiting, onboarding and organization and management.
Her vision is to create mutually satisfactory long-term working relationships between employers and employees combining business needs and strategy with the wants of the employees.
Nordea. Gitte holds university degrees within HR, Organization & Management, and Languages. She has worked with HR in companies, such as GEA and Nordea.
She is also an HR expert blogger on the Danish online debate forum Amino with more than 100,000 debaters and readers. http://grconsult.dk/en/ LinkedIn: Gitterandrup FB: @Gitterandrup
http://grconsult.dk/
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