Introverted Analytic Leadership

I disagree with a YouTube video and I’m all fired up.? I won’t say which video it is, as it this is not a rebuttal.? At its core, it claims that introverted people make poor leaders.? Not just for the people they are attempting to lead, but also for the introverts themselves as intense work with others, as an introvert, is draining.

I agree with many of the video’s points – but I disagree with the conclusion.? As I think the time is right for a new leadership style based on how introverted analytic leaders lead data science teams.

What Doesn’t Work

This is not a new topic – one of the best voices on it is Susan Cain with her book Quiet:? The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking.

I know that introverted leaders do not do well in the traditional leader sense – that of the stuffy bureaucratic environment in which being seen and heard determines your value.? The loud leader, using a cheerleading or yelling style, needs the team to physically gather around them.? This is the style that wants to bring everyone back to the office – even if it doesn’t make sense.

Times have changed.? We are a global workforce of knowledge workers.? The best ideas no longer come from sitting in an office chair – they may arrive during a daydream or a walk around the block.? Yelling at me doesn’t make me think better.? “1-2-3 Teamwork!” is not a chant that will help me figure out the variable transformations I need to invent to improve my model.

Production Supervisor Work

I know this all too well.? Decades ago, I was a production supervisor in a union sawmill.? I just graduated with my degree in forestry, which was a great choice for someone who enjoys backpacking deep in the woods.? I worked for a small, local mill and started my career as a knowledge worker.? I built Excel macros to automate the daily production report.? I helped with studies to optimize cutting logs into lumber.? I developed new techniques to collect data on incoming logs.? I was a data scientist before it was even a thing.

Times became tough and the mill needed to be smarter and my analytic skills helped only so much.? So, when a production supervisor job became available, they put me in the slot.? When the whistle blew, everyone had to be in place as the machines fired up.?? Each person's role had rules that went with it.

My personal leadership style quickly showed up.? I smiled at those who were 30 seconds late and were able to jump in place without impacting the team – I should have written them up.? Rather than yelling, I trusted them.? I visited each worker at their post; getting to know them and figuring out what motivates them.? I asked their opinions on improvements and experimented with most of them.

In an 8-hour shift, the crew’s entertainment was messing with me – I totally missed that at the time.? Once, we had a stellar production shift with minimal down time.? I celebrated with the team.? My boss yelled at me since the crew slowed the machines down:? less work – less troubles – more uptime.?

I was meant to be the yelling production supervisor.? Instead, I was me.? The crew loved me.? The bosses – not so much.? I didn’t last that long – I don’t even think I made 6 months.

Yes, the video is absolutely right.? Introverts are likely poor traditional leaders.? But that’s not the world we live in anymore.? Transfer my sawmill leadership experiments to a data science team and I’m successful.? Our knowledge work is not governed by strict rules – being flexible and clever about when and how things happen is the opposite of what I did in the mill.

The yelling leader can only work when teams are physically together (and then it may not work).? It is hard to thump someone with a pointer finger on a video call – it just doesn’t work (and it can backfire).? As we aspire to automate more work with AI – what changes happen when you yell and finger thump ChatGPT?

Furthermore, it doesn’t scale.? In our global work environments, you can’t yell at people spread out across multiple time zones.? You need to sleep a little bit, eh?

Analytic Introverted Leadership

I believe the time is ripe for a new style of leadership – that of the introverted analytic leader.? How many videos have you seen about wasting people’s time with unneeded meetings?? It is definitely a trendy thing.? How do you lead without having team meetings?? Ask an introverted leader.

Everyone has their own style.? They are awesome in their own way.? Some people are vampires and craft creative code in the middle of the night.? Some people get up before the birds and get stuff done.? How do you make an individual connection with different people?? Ask an introverted leader.

How do you understand team effectiveness?? What measures do you monitor to ensure the team is working well and each team member – spread across multiple time zones – is operating optimally?? Ask an analytic leader.

Leaders receive a dizzying amount of inputs.? Reports, emails, chats, documents.? How do you make sense of it all?? How do you transform all these data sources into something powerful and useful?? Ask a data science leader.

What type of teams do executives crave? A smart run, cutting-edge global team of unique individuals that work together to build amazing value.? How is that not a call for analytic leadership techniques built from managing data science teams?

Analytic Introverted Leadership Challenges

Of course, this all assumes that introverts want to lead.? Dealing with people all the time and having difficult conversations.? Conquering conflict and being inspirational.? These leadership requirements repel and repulse people from leadership positions.

Leadership is no longer only being loud and proud.? What’s needed is to rethink the leadership role.? Transforming connections with all the new ways of communicating.? Inspiring teams in what is now considered novel ways.? Being able to organize and absorb the overwhelming amount of inputs and transforming them into leadership clarity.? These are the siren calls to the data science leaders to expand their horizons.

The video is right – analytic introverted leadership is not the leadership of old.? I’m fired up for the leadership of tomorrow.? It is an opportunity for you.? We need you to lead – in your way – to make a difference.

?Carl Brenner, 2024 - All Rights Reserved