Activate your Introvert

In this week’s show

• How good are French drivers?
• The airport chaos: One thing we should ALWAYS be doing, introvert, or extrovert
• Leading change:
• A discussion with Amy Rowlinson. Amy is a Life Purpose Strategist and host of the incredibly successful Focus on WHY Podcast, it’s in the top 1% of podcasts globally. It’s that focus on WHY that I’d like to chat about Amy about. Amy also helps people seek fulfilment and purpose in life. Contact Amy at https://www.amyrowlinson.com/
• Question of the week: How can you engage an introvert in small talk? To download your guide to small talk for you and your team, click here.

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• The power of understanding your purpose and using it in your business/ life. What’s your purpose, why do you do what you do?
• Start finding your purpose by looking at things you really love, or that really anger you
• The importance of long term vision in a business, so everybody understands it and how their role fits within that
• And I loved Amy’s phrase - Not a mid life crisis a midlife beginning

 

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• Leadership and introversion
• Introversial news items: A DIY store problem about unwritten, but obvious rules and and uplifting way to deal with car thieves
• A discussion with Paul Harris: Paul helps farmers to build harmonious high-performance teams
• Contact Paul at http://www.real-success.co.uk/
• Question of the week: What is the most engaging speaking style for an introvert to hear?

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• The “macho” view that leadership is about extroversion, demonstrated by speaking up and having gravitas is wrong.
• Farming has the same leadership issues as many other sectors, some may even be magnified.
• The basic assumption that people are like us, leads to communications and productivity issues, no matter how much we think it should be true.
• Good leadership means making less assumptions and going deeper into understanding people.

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• Boris, or Keir – is it an introvert, extrovert thing?
• A discussion with the introvert recruiter Carey Curry: Recruitment is interesting for two reasons: the extrovert bias where many employers look for the wrong people and because many recruitment agencies are seen as pushy, salesy and extroverted. How can you attract and bring out the best in your introverted candidates. Contact Carey on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/careycurry
• Question of the week: How can I make my interviewing more introvert friendly?
• Bottle-fed babies ‘more likely to develop fetish for rubber gimp suits’.

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• How strong the extroverted bias is in many companies and it’s often unconscious
• Changing words on your job advert can attract many more people, who are different and possibly better.
• The importance of recruiting for introverts and extroverts

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What's your question?

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

 

In this week’s show

• Draco Malfoy has imposter phenomena!
• One MP’s version of leadership: Yes, it's another partygate clip.
• A discussion with Lorna Helps: Lorna specialises in helping CEOs of small businesses thrive by identifying and implementing the best style of hybrid working for their business and employees. Ever since lockdown there’s been an ongoing debate about working location, style and personality, so I’m looking forward to learning from Lorna. Contact Lorna at https://vibrant-thinking.com
• Question of the week: On zoom / teams how to handle the camera on/ off thing with regards introverts.

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• This is so much more than introverts prefer home working and extroverts prefer the office. We all need good people contact.
• Think hard about the WHY. That’s more than a simple staff survey.
• Hybrid working isn’t just allowing people to work from home, it’s having a workforce who work in the best location for them and you, on any one day.
• If you want to be allowed to work remotely, consider the organisational benefits when discussing the issue with your manager

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• UFOs, George Bush and obesity:
• A discussion with Kate Atkin: Kate is a speaker and facilitator who specialises in imposter Syndrome. It really is a phenomenon and one which I’d love to know more about. Contact Kate at https://www.kateatkin.com/
• Question of the week: Are introverts happy that the extroverts and shouting out / answering the questions as they can then avoid the limelight?

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• It’s not a syndrome, it’s a phenomena or “imposter chatter”
• Talk about experiencing it, rather than suffering from
• Accepting we can do something is not the same as hubris and arrogance.
• And that wonderful quote “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less” (C.S. Lewis)

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

I also briefly mentioned the discussion with Derek Arden about reframing, click to listen to that episode.

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• Leaders: Do they have to attend leaving parties?
• Working from home, or the office, which is right?
• Question of the week: How to handle people who don’t want to go to drinks after work. Two articles linked to this answer are:
  • Tips for planning work social events that are introvert friendly
  • Tips for introverts to survive work social events
• A discussion with Jim Culverwell: Jim is the premises mentor. He helps businesses get the right premises on the right terms for them. He has, naturally been very involved in the working from home / working from office issues; but from a different angle which I thought it would be good to explore. Contact Jim at https://culverwellconsulting.co.uk

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• Both home working and office working have benefits, how do you get the best of both.
• The first imperative in the working from home v the office debate is what’s right for the business and the people, when doing the job they need to be doing.
• Office design is changing to allow more collaborative spaces and more quiet working spaces. Open place isn’t a good thing for many people who need to focus, especially introverts.

What were your takeaways? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• If superheroes suffer with imposter syndrome, so can your team!
• Question of the week: Do introverts suffer with more self doubt than extroverts? You might like to read more at https://introvertinbusiness.co.uk/self-doubt-and-introverts/
• A discussion with Fiona English: Fiona is a keynote speaker and coach who combines her extensive experience in global investment markets with expertise in human potential. One of her key beliefs is that the key to purpose in life is to express all of who you are and can be. Which seems so appropriate in managing people especially introverts. Contact Fiona at https://fiona-english.com

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• Focus on wholeness, not purpose. Getting people to find their purpose isn’t helpful.
• Three pillars which help are goals, values and “do I feel my life is valuable to me”
• Meaning has lost all meaning, because of how it’s been overused.

What were yours? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

 

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.

In this week’s show

• Neighbours, and I don’t mean the ones next door to you.
• Dr Who (regenerating again). 
• Too much Ego interferes with leadership
• A discussion with Alison Charles: Alison, with her team, help clients achieve Real Resilience. She helps leaders create a focus on resilience, wellbeing at work and stress Management. Contact Alison at https://real-resilience.co.uk/
• Question of the week: How should you manage introverts?

My takeaways from the discussion were:

• Resilience is more than surviving; it’s being adaptable and fit for the future
• Dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty is becoming more important
• Working from home makes managing resilience harder, you need to make more touch points
• Importance of telling people where you’re at, not just expecting them to open up
• We all need to talk to others at times, but quality is better than quantity

What were your takeaways? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

In this week's show

• Why leaders should think about mental health week
• Introversion is not a mental health issue
• Being introverted does not mean you're lonely.
• “First impressions count” in recruitment, and one of the problems with that.
• 76% of Americans are against bringing the Tyrannosaurus rex back from extinction, 10% are in favour. 

This week it's mental health week, so this show is mainly about Mental Health. Mental Health week is an opportunity for people to talk about mental health, raise its profile and lower the stigma.

Previous episodes of Activate Your Introvert (available at Activate Your Introvert.co.uk) have touched on related issues. You can listen again to episodes by Mike Pagan, Kathy Chillistone and Lisa Seagroatt. Those episodes touch on why understanding mental health is important for us as leaders, which is also a theme for today's episode.

This episode has a slightly different format to normal, I hope you enjoy it.

The survey by MaryAnn Wei called "Social Distancing and Lockdown – An Introvert’s Paradise?" is available here

In this week’s show

• Are you overly reflective, or positive like Piers Morgan?
• What’s the worst place you’ve ever dropped your mobile phone?
• A discussion with Martyn Pentecost: Martyn is a product creation strategist. He helps authors (and others) from the initial idea to a finished product range. I was recently using parts of the personality profiling system he wrote about in "The Key in Your Pocket: 9 Ways to Unlock Your Personal and Business Success". Contact Martyn on LinkedIn , click https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowr/
• Question of the week: Can you change from being an introvert?

What were your takeaways from the discussion? Add to a discussion on the Facebook page Activate Your Introvert

What question would you like answered about introversion? Visit ActivateYourIntrovert.co.uk  and let me know. I’ll answer your question on the show, and you'd be welcome to join me on the show, if you like.