BALANCING INTROVERSION AND EXTROVERSION

Where would you put yourself on the introversion-extroversion continuum?

And how does that influence the way you live your life?

Broadly speaking I would class myself as an extrovert in that:

• I tend to talk first then reflect later

• I'm often seeking out new experiences

• I tend to enjoy breadth and variety more than depth in one topic

• I connect easily with lots of people and stay in touch with them regularly

But if I go too far along the extroversion continuum putting too much energy out into the world then my internal world starts to suffer. The first indicators of that are usually when I'm grumpy with those closest to me! And then if I'm not careful it can show up in my work by me trying to squeeze too much in, becoming more directive in coaching sessions or work feeling repetitive and unfulfilling.

Friends who identify as more introverted tell me they can get imbalanced too. For example, by going round in circles thinking too much and for too long on their own. Or putting off connecting with people unless they have a very specific goal and feel fully prepared for an in-depth conversation.

One of my intentions for this year is to make more space for my introverted self to flourish. Not time that is squeezed in at the end of the day when I've done all my jobs. But quality time when I have energy to think, write, process, reflect and create. For me this currently looks like:

• Keeping a day free a week without any meetings

• Writing something every day (work and creative writing)

• Reading during the day not just at bedtime

• Delaying or saying no to some work and passing it onto colleagues rather than squeezing everything in

So, where are you at on the extrovert-introvert continuum? How do you make conscious space for the other side of yourself? (btw this isn't about being a different person, just allowing space for different parts of yourself to flourish)

You've seen some examples of what I'm doing to honour my introverted side. If you need to honour your extroverted side more then perhaps try:

• Scheduling in weekly calls with your network to explore ideas and challenges without an agenda

• Getting the ball rolling by speaking first in meetings

• Giving yourself a time limit for thinking about something before you take action or speak to someone

And if you're a leader of teams, how do you enable your people to honour both sides of themselves? Work is very much wired to extroversion with lots of discussion, action, pace, so how can you create time and space for the other side to flourish?