Understanding your Adaptability Character: Extraversion

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Definitions

Within the adaptability framework, five character traits are important to understand in order to be as adaptable as possible, both as an individual, at a team level, and at the organization level.

One of the things that AQai measures is the character trait of extraversion. Any of you involved in personality profiling, whether that’s Myers Briggs, DISC, or Insights, will be familiar with the distinction between introversion and extraversion. Sometimes, the way those two things are defined varies a little bit. In popular culture, the introverted person is quiet in the corner. By contrast, the extroverted person is the person out there, being the life and soul of the party. This may not be the best way to think of the two extremes. Instead, consider what most energizes you. An extrovert will be energized by interaction with others. Introverts will be energized by being on their own. Like many things that AQAI looks at, there is a spectrum here. A spectrum between very extroverted and very introverted. As an individual, you will be assessed as somewhere on the spectrum.

Why this matters for individuals

I think there are three reasons why it matters in terms of adaptability. At the individual level, when there’s a lot of change, if you’re introverted, you will need to draw more of your energy from being away from people. But change often demands you engage more with people, so adapting to change is draining. As an introvert, you need to be intentional about finding space on your own to re-energize.

If you’re an extrovert, change may energize you because change often involves more meetings, interaction with others, and excitement around being with people. Typically, most people trying to create change within an organization seek to implement that change by bringing people together and having more meetings, workshops, and team interaction. You may feel that you’re thriving as an extrovert in this environment, but you may not be taking the best account of more introverted people and creating space for them to adapt and re-energize during the change.

Why this matters for teams

At a team level, you need to understand the balance of extroverts and introverts in your team. You need to create space for both extroverts and introverts to have the opportunity to be re-energized. Introverts may prefer to reflect on detailed information and capture their response in writing. Meanwhile, extroverts can be keen to externally process in group settings. As a leader, you’re more likely to be operating in an extroverted mode and may be tempted to respond to team anxiety with more and more meetings.

Why this matters at the organization level

At an organizational level, you want to understand the balance you have between extraversion and introversion in different departments and teams across the whole organization. As you plan your communication strategy, plan the way that implements change, and seek to increase your adaptability organization-wide, you will need to recognize that different people will move at different paces and adapt through different modes of engaging with the change agenda you’ve got.

In summary

Extroversion versus introversion is an important character trait for you to understand in yourself, in your team, and across the organization as more and more change comes towards you, and you have to become more effective at adapting to that change.