Quiet Leadership with Rachel Robertson

#### Introvert, extrovert, ambivert: how real are these labels? And how can we use them to do a better job of making space for more types of people—without pigeonholing anyone?

We’re joined this week by Rachel Robertson, a designer and UX lead at Shopify. We first heard about Rachel when we stumbled on an article she wrote called “[An Introvert’s Guide to Collaboration](https://ux.shopify.com/an-introverts-guide-to-collaboration-67717d8e03eb).” In it, she talks about how she used to carve out work she could do independently—but realized this was keeping her from growing, because she wasn’t exposing herself to different perspectives that could improve her work.

> I love when people share their experiences and their perspectives… and I always benefit so much from that. So there was a point in time recently where I wanted to participate more in that conversation, and not just be a consumer of everyone else’s points of view.

> —Rachel Robertson, UX lead at Shopify

We ask Rachel more about her experience as an introverted person, how that’s changed her approach to leading a team, and what companies can do to make themselves more inclusive to people like her.

Also in this episode, we:

- Discuss the mixed feelings people had about [these introvert/extrovert lounge signs](https://twitter.com/mspowahs/status/999390594500890625) at [Confab](https://www.confabevents.com/), a conference Sara recently attended.

- Look at the roots of the seemingly innocuous term “[grandfather clause](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/21/239081586/the-racial-history-of-the-grandfather-clause)”

- Give a big _fuck yeah_ to deleting apps, consider the [Time Well Spent](https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/17/16903844/time-well-spent-facebook-tristan-harris-mark-zuckerberg) movement, and promise to really actually close the Twitter tab this time (any second now)

## Sponsors

This episode of NYG is brought to you by:


_[Shopify](https://www.shopify.com/careers), a leading global commerce platform that’s building a world-class team to define the future of entrepreneurship. Visit [shopify.com/careers](https://www.shopify.com/careers) to see what they’re talking about._


_[WordPress](https://wordpress.com/noyougo)—the place to build your personal blog, business site, or anything else you want on the web. WordPress helps others find you, remember you, and connect with you._