There are often common misperceptions about the meaning of the term “introvert”.  I hear people referring to a quiet and shy person as an introvert, failing to recognize that introversion and extroversion are measures of energy lost or energy gained by interacting with people.

For example, you can have two leaders who, through the course of their day, may interact with the exact same number of people, both can be equally energetic and outgoing, high-energy and personable, but at the end of the day the extrovert will want to go out for drinks with more people and the introvert will need some alone time.

We don’t often think of leadership in terms of introversion, however many charismatic leaders actually ARE introverts.   Jennifer Kahnweiler wrote an article in Forbes about why introverts make some of the best leaders. Here are a few excerpts, and you can read the entire article here.

“It has been reported that a full 40% of executives describe themselves as introverts, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, the über-investors Warren Buffett and Charles Schwab, Avon’s chief executive, Andrea Jung, and the late publishing giant Katharine Graham.”

“Introverted leaders think before they speak. Even in casual conversations, they consider others’ comments carefully, and they stop and reflect before responding.”

“Learning by listening, not talking, is a trait that introverts consistently demonstrate.”

“Introverted leaders seek depth over breadth. They like to dig deep, delving into issues and ideas before moving on to new ones. They are drawn to meaningful conversations, not superficial chitchat, and they know how to ask great questions and really listen to the answers.”

“In times of crisis, they project a reassuring, calm confidence–think President Obama–and they speak softly and slowly regardless of the heat of the conversation or circumstances. Whenever they get ready for a meeting, a speech or a special event, their secret to success can be summed up in one word: preparation.”

“Introverted leaders are energized by spending time alone. They suffer from people exhaustion and need to retreat to recharge their batteries frequently. These regular timeouts actually fuel their thinking, creativity and decision-making and, when the pressure is on, help them be responsive, not reactive. When introverts honor that inner pull, they can do their best work. In managing interruptions, they also manage people’s expectations.”

Full article here

Have you ever had an issue at work and felt paralyzed to speak up about it because you might look stupid or just because you didn’t know how to address it in the moment?

Or, do you feel like a deer in the headlights when someone has treated you badly at work and you know you should say something about it but you’re afraid you’ll lose your job or lose friends, or lose credibility?

Are you like me in that you never know what to say in the moment to confront someone in a respectful business communication, but you walk away angry and frustrated only to think of the perfect retort hours later?

You’re not alone!  Most of us hate confrontation, but Laurie Weiss, Ph.D. has just launched a new self-study course that teaches us the critical business communication skills we need to speak up with integrity and feel like a winner, not like a victim!

She teaches us how to use integrity-based business communications to stand up for ourselves, own our power, and turn potentially difficult conversations we’d otherwise avoid into amazing opportunities for cooperation and success. Check out her guest post below to get a sense of the wisdom and brilliance she has to offer!

What Is Integrity, Anyway?

Guest post by Dr. Laurie Weiss

Integrity is about wholeness.

Integrity is about values — it is about thoughtfully choosing your values and holding on to them despite the pressure you feel to compromise them.

Integrity is about using your values to guide your actions.

Integrity is about being willing to reexamine your values in the face of new information and to make a conscious decision about whether change is warranted.

Integrity is about respect. It is about self-respect and respecting others.

Integrity is about understanding differences.

Integrity is about believing in the basic, sound, underlying pattern of goodness, of wholeness in the world and in other people.

Integrity is about seeking that wholeness. It is about conversations that get through the surface junk and get to what is really important when we are together.

Integrity is about facing each other and listening to each other and really hearing each other and taking the actions we know are necessary.

Integrity is the bedrock on which trust is built.

Integrity is the hidden key to your success!

If you enjoyed this blog  post, The Integrity Course will provide much more information I believe will be useful to you. Included in this course are stories of how over 25 people confronted issues about integrity in the workplace. Learn more here.

I’ve been devastated by the recent news reports of the horrible impact the latest Earthquake had on Haiti and the people who live there. Besides the donation our family has made, I wanted to do something more and came up with this idea.

If you buy any of my business building products on Friday, the 22nd, I will donate 100% of the profits to help the victims of the Haitian Earthquake.  Of course, you can just donate directly to help Haiti yourself (see links below), but wouldn’t it be great if you could help Haiti while also helping your business?

ALL PRODUCTS IN THE COACHES’ STORE WILL HELP YOU WHILE YOU HELP THE PEOPLE OF HAITI

Help your business to grow by purchasing any of the products in The Coaches’ Store anytime on Friday, January 22nd, and we will donate 100% of the profits to Haiti.

• E-book on how to connect with leaders in the age of social media:  $9.97
• Rainmaking Made Easy Audio course (4 hours of training) on how to Seal the Deal: $14.95
• For Top Executive Coaches Only:  Membership in the Leading Coaches’ Clubhouse: $27
• Twitter for Business Coaches audio course and e-book:  $47

Thank you for your generous purchases that will not only help you grow your business, but will help those who need it most in Haiti.

You can also Donate to Victims in Haiti Directly:

White House Information on Donating
http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake

Red Cross Donation Page
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yep4fl6

Please pass this information along to anyone with a heart!

Do you or someone you coach need a promotion?

Ever wonder how to create and leverage your personal brand at work so that you can influence the decision-makers, whether it’s about implementing your ideas, promoting you, or garnering resources for your programs?

A lot of the executives I coach face challenges navigating internal politics. There are specific, strategic actions you can take to increase your visibility and get yourself known as your intended brand rather than the accidental brand created without your conscious intent.

Take a walk down the A.I.S.L.E.

A. Align
I. Influence
S. Socialize
L. Lobby, Listen
E. Engage, Educate, Enroll

Align your behaviors, actions, and language with your intended brand. First, determine how you want to be perceived and what you want to be known for. What are you the go-to person for? What feels effortless to you but is a strength?

Influence is dependent on your relationships. Who is in your direct sphere of influence and what is important to them?

Socialize your plans, your agenda, your intentions, and your goals with key players in the organization. Seek their buy-in and determine which of them can strategically serve as a champion for you with regard to your intended brand.

Lobby for support from those who are influencers who may not be aligned with you. What would it take for them to buy into your plan and support it? What do they want your vocal support about in exchange? Listen to the most vocal dissenters and objectors. Knowing their arguments and commitments allows you to anticipate road blocks and prepare your response/request.

Educate those who could be influential on your behalf about what you are doing. Engage targeted individuals who have influential reach beyond your spheres. Enroll champions to support your promotion, brand, or ideas.

I’d like to compile a list of the best, most valuable online resources for executive coaches, but I don’t want to presume that I know what they all are, hence I’m seeking your input.

What is your favorite online resource that supports what you’re doing as a coach for leaders?

Please comment below.

Thanks!

Do you spend your life in front of your computer screen?  Check out this hilarious video!  Some days I feel just like this!

My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Jim Goldstein, has a new video out to promote his upcoming Powerful Partnerships Couples Course that I wanted to share with you.  What does this have to do with Leadership and Business Development you ask?  EVERYTHING!  If you don’t feel safe in your primary relationship, it doesn’t offer you a safe foundation from which to step into your role as a leader, an executive, a coach, or a marketer.  Your sales suffer, your revenues suffer, your results suffer when your relationship is not supporting you. One of the most fundamental aspects of an intimate relationship is the ability to feel safe with your partner.  Ironically, we often feel unsafe around the person who is supposed to love us more than anyone else.  We may not feel completely free to be who we are or to express how we feel.  It shouldn’t be that way and with some coaching it doesn’t have to be. Check it out Jim’s new video:

P.S The next Couples Course begin on January 7, 2010.  It guarantees to improve your relationship no matter how long you have been together and what your current situation is. There is a $100 discount for early enrollment.

Good heavens, no wonder I’m tired!  Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• New store opened:  The Coaches’ Store
• New e-book is out: Seal the Deal Networking: How Coaches Connect with Leaders in the Age of Social Media
• Launch of the Leading Coaches’ Center! (193 members and counting!)
• Build-out of The Clubhouse (the doors are now open for charter members while we continue our buildout)
• The Library of Professional Coaching officially launched!
• We got 2 new awards!  #1 on Twitter and Best of Business
• A few speaking engagements
• New published articles (IAC Voice)
• The Big Question Seminar was a success.  Access the results here.
• Welcome to our newest coaching client organizations:  NIH and Turner Construction.

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Leadership gravity.  What’s that?  A leader’s ability to let go of and drop what’s in the way or limiting progress rather than carry it around too long.

This post was taken from Leading Coach Meredith Kimbell’s fabulous newsletter: Corporate Adventure Leadership Coaching Notes, reprinted here with her blessing.

12 things leaders can release to create more joy (with the help of gravity and some practice.)

1. Drop your need to know. Increase your genuine sense of “wonder” and invite new relaxation, creativity, enthusiasm and possibilities you will never discover without it.
2. Drop your over-exaggerated sense of importance. If you think you are the only one who “gets it” or can do “it,” you’ve mis-stepped as a leader.  Stop overburdening yourself, overlooking others who want to help and causing everyone more stress than needed. Use the time you find to develop and leverage others more effectively.
3. Let go of any hope of being perfect. Put it down.  Your people won’t be perfect and neither will you.  Dropping this impossible standard will release you to relax, laugh and delegate more.
4. Put down your seriousness. Laugh at yourself and your mistakes as an awesome way to keep perspective, loosen up and invite others to see you as a person they can approach with ease.
5. Surrender your sense of being indispensible. Go home.  Take breaks.  Use all your vacation days, unplugged.  Invest in your vitality to keep yourself at your best and set a great example for others.
6. Drop being the first and most dominant voice. Listen more.  Shrink your airtime and you will connect with others, show you care, and learn things you’ll never discover any other way.
7. Let go of pre-judging. Hold history like a swordsman holds a sword…not to tight and not too loose.  If you hold on to history too tightly, your prejudices will only guarantee more history.  If you relax and welcome a fresh start, for yourself and others, you will set the stage for creating an adventure worth living.
8. Release self criticism. Ok, let go of criticizing of others too, but start with yourself.  Substitute self reflection and learning for obsessively dumping on yourself.  Contrary to what you may have learned, you really will be brilliant without keeping your foot on the back of your neck.
9. Drop the chatter. Whether the chatter is in your head, on TV, radio, or social media, turn it off.  Art starts from blank paper, music from silence and your most authentic knowing and creative ideas from a place of relaxed “flow.”  Learn to relax deeply.  It takes practice, but start with even, deep breathing during meetings and on your commute.
10. Disengage from so much “how”. Getting consumed with “how will we ….,” puts you on the hamster wheel of urgency, overwhelm and stress.  Get off by focusing yourself and others first on “why” something is worth doing and “what” you can contribute.  Once everyone is clear about why and what, the how’s will flow far more easily.
11. Drop contracting. Anytime you feel tight, let it go.  Move, exhale fully, talk it out, and let gravity pull down every cell.  Your health, creativity and effectiveness will thank you for it.
12. Release boredom. Let go of the disengagement that causes boredom.  Reconnect with what is most important to you and contribute what fulfills you so you engage enthusiastically, at your best.

Meredith Kimbell, Award-winning Executive Coach, Co-author of Create the Business Breakthrough You Want can be reached at mkimbell@corporateadventure.com