Invisible & The Silent In The Workplace

Over the years I've worked with a variety of personalities.

I am sure you can also think of all the people you've worked with who had different personalities. Some people possess strong obvious traits, such as charming, charismatic and highly engaging. Then there are the others who are invisible, preferring to never be heard, as they silence their voice, cautiously choosing to be quiet, reserved and quite content going unnoticed.

As an ambivert I like to hire a mix of personalities. What's worked for me is stacking a team like a well balanced diet. A healthy even mix of extroverts and introverts, build the best teams. I’ve overheard all the biased beliefs from people who think extroverts make the best sales people. I would argue that neither one is better than the other as they each have qualities that make them highly valuable to any team, even in sales. People seem to think in sales you have to be an extrovert to be successful, I disagree.

In my own experience, I love working with both, and see the benefits in being an introvert and in being an Extrovert.

Introverts tend to be deep thinkers and are great listeners making their clients and prospects feel heard and important. Extroverts possess an incredible amount of energy and do well in social settings as their charm and energy is contagious. They both can be very successful in sales.

But I am not talking about introverts or extroverts.

I want to talk about the people on your team who are the "Invisible and Silent" members of your team. We all know someone like that on our team or worked with someone from our past who fit this profile. They never speak up in team meetings, they rarely ever offer input unless it's solicited or they or called on to provide feedback.

Have you ever wondered why they are this way? It's not because they are lazy, or disengaged. It's not because they aren't interested in what's being discussed. It's not because they don't care. It's not because they aren't listening or being disrespectful.

The silent or invisible person on your team is often that way because they have purposely created a protective shield.

When a person shields an inner wound of self-negativity, they are doing things in life in order to not take further hits or risks of being humiliated or embarrassed.  When someone has an inner voice which is strongly self-negative, it is like having an emotional wound deep within them, which hurts, a lot, and yet they cannot stop poking at it, and this is what keeps it raw, unhealed and painful.

This kind of shield that is very commonly used is invisibility. This is the act of “making oneself invisible” dressing in a plain and inconspicuous way, and acting quietly and passively so as not to draw any attention to themselves at work.

A person on your team who suffers from self-negativity should be supported, but often their peers or manager fails to see the signs. A person who lives with self-negativity is almost always paired with silence keeping quiet and self-censoring one’s remarks in team meetings or with their boss, to avoid drawing any attention. They are afraid of the attention even if it could possibly be "good or positive" attention.

Invisibility and silence are a huge problem in the work place, because they deprive your team and your organization of the value of their input, ideas, experience and wisdom, and suppress the full expression of their gifts and talents to the team.

Invisibility and silence are more like camouflage for them. They are hoping to minimize any attention so that no one will notice them. This is why people who use this kind of shield are often very anxious as well and they are anxious for good reason, because they feel self-negative and exposed, and that even with their careful camouflage, they feel they can still be attacked at any time, from any direction.

If you know of someone in your team who you feel fits this profile of the "Invisible and the Silent", you can actually help them. If you are in a leadership role your organization likely has a form of employee confidential counselling services. You can offer these services to the people in your team who you recognize are the Invisible and the Silent.

They way to help someone with self negativity is not by fighting it or forcing it, but by rescuing it. You can't make the people in your team seek help with their struggles but you can certainly have the conversation in supporting them seek help. 

Do more, Be More