Thesis: In the field of business and politics, Introverts are as good

leaders as extroverts are

The personality theory of introversion and extroversion was

popularized by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. (Personality
32) Introversion means a person whose interest is generally directed
inward toward his inner side; whereas extraversion means a person
whose feeling and interest is generally directed to other people and
the outer world. (Introvert and Extrovert 1) The topic about
introverted and extroverted leader has always been brought up by
American people. There are certain debates and articles about who
is the better leader; especially in the field of politic and business.
Most American believe that extroverts are better leader in the
political and business field because extroverts have assertive
attitude and outgoing personality. (Cain 68) However, Mahatma
Gandhi once said In a gentle way, you can shake the world. (Cain
181) Introverts are as good leaders as extroverts are in the field of
business and politics.
American considers extroversion as an appealing personality trait,
but introversion as a problem. This kind of bias has started since the
mid-century, and the bias still remains in the 21 st century.(Cain 40)
Mid-century American parents believe that introversion is not a
positive things and they try to cure their children by sending them
to schools that teaches how to socialize.( Cain 27) According to the
book, Quiet, the author Susan Cain described that the idea of

silence was not acceptable and socializing was necessary for

children was believed by the midcentury family.(27) Mid-century
families disagreed hobbies that could make their children isolated
from the normal children, such as classical music.( Cain 27) These
children were sent to the school at early stage of their life, and the
school was focused on social skill. (27) However, people cannot
blame parents to do such things because they just want their
children to have better futures. (Cain 27) The problem is that
American (including these parents) have the wrong concept of
extroversion and leadership. (Cain 3) Americans are raised in a
culture that is inclined to connected leadership with extroversion,
and people in the United State seem to believe that vision,
judgment and mettle are less important compared to extroversion.
(Cain Must Great Leader Be Gregarious) We're told that to be
great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves
as a nation of extroverts-which means that we've lost sight of who
we really are. The author of

Quiet,

Susan Cain, said these. (3)

American culture also likes to reward leaders who like to talk more.
(Cain 3) Obviously, America is a country that favors extroversion.
Susan Cain expressed in the book that the large companies prefer to
employ extroverted staff. The staff knows it is important to be an
extrovert. (48) Moreover, most American people have a wrong
understanding of introvert. (Kahnweiler 4) Introvert does not mean
that they are afraid of speaking or they are not able to take action,
they are just unwilling to be surrounded by people everyday.

(Kahnweiler

4)

Although

the

American

culture

admires

the

extroversion, it does not necessary means that extroverts are better

leaders than introverts.
Introverts and extroverts are both equally good business leader,
because both of them seem match some of the necessary qualities
of a successful business leader. Most American thinks that most of
the business leader should be extrovert. (Cain 40) In the Harvard
business school where the most well-known business leaders are
from, its students believe it is impossible to find any introverts in the
whole campus because they think that all of the students love to
talk and socialize. (Cain 43) But the truth is, there are introverted
students in HBS. (Cain 43) There are world-famous business leaders
who are introvert as well; such as Bill Gates, CEO of Sarah Lee,
Charles Schwab, Brenda Barnes. (Cain 53) There are numerous good
business leader, and they must share some similar qualities. What
qualities do these excellent business leaders have? Ruth trait
teaches people that a business leader should has the following
characteristic: vision, people skill, Ambition, integrity. (1) People
skills is believed to be the basic thing of leadership. (Trait 1)
Extroverts definitely satisfy the quality of people skill. They are
energized by and seek out people and they are enthusiastic.
(Kahnweiler 2) They freely share their personal data with friends and
stranger. (Kahnweiler 2) With these qualities, extroverts leave good
impressions on other people. (Kahnweiler 2) They will be able to get
along with their staffs and to establish a good relationship with their

cooperator. These abilities might help them to become a better

leader. Extroverts are able to deal with people easily, but for
introvert, it might not be that easy. Introvert are energized by time
along and they are rather reserved than enthusiastic. (Kahnweiler 2)
They do not like talking; especially to someone whom they are not
familiar with. (Kahnweiler 2) It is hard for them to socialize with
people since they do not like to be with people. Introverts needs for
loneliness may cause the misconception of their followers. Staff of
introvert may think that they are arrogant and hostile. (Sherman 1)
Their reserved personality might even leave an aloof impression on
their cooperator which could indirectly affect their cooperation.
(Sherman 1) Nevertheless, if they try communicate more with other
people, they can still be able to learn the communication skill.
(Sherman 1) Vision is another important criterion for a business
leader. (Trait 1) There is another word that can described introvert.
Thinker. Since they spend less time at talking with others, they have
more time at thinking by themselves. Introvert focus on depth.
(Kahnweiler 2) They have eyes that can see things more thoroughly.
They are easier and faster to see the big picture than extroverts.
(Kahnweiler 3) On the contrary, extrovert spend more time at
talking. (Cain 56)) It might be harder for them to see picture since
they spend more time at communication. But extrovert can have the
vision, if they leave more time for themselves to think.(Cain 56)
Both introvert and extrovert can have integrity and ambition,
because these two things are depend on each person instead of a

personality

group.

Some business

leaders

may be good

at

communicating with others which might be extrovert, whereas the

others may be good at seeing big picture which might be introvert,
but this does not change the fact that they are both equally good
business leaders.
When it comes to the field of politic, introverts still appear to be a
good leader like the way extroverts appear to be. According to the
Gallagher and Black stone, Extraversion are one of the big five
personality trait that a political leader should has (226) Does this
fact make introvert a bad leader? Not necessarily. Barak Obama, the
president of the United States, is an introvert. (Cain Must Great
Leader Be Gregarious) Moreover, the remaining four personalities
traits

are:

openness

conscientiousness,

and

to

experience,

neuroticism-stability.

agreeableness,
(Gallagher

and

Blackstone 226) Introverted might not satisfy the first quality, but
they do seem to match the second and fifth qualities which are the
openness to experience and neuroticism-stability. Introvert are more
open and receptive to different ideas and experience (Cain 57)
When their followers propose new ideas, introverted leader tend to
listen and embrace their ideas. (Cain 57) Their openness to their
followers experience and ideas motivated them to work harder.
(Cain 57) Introverted leaders do not only satisfy the quality of
openness to experience, they also satisfy the quality of neuroticism.
Neuroticism-stability equals to emotional stability. (Gallagher and
Blackstone 228) Extroverts are easier to get excited than introvert.

(Cain 158) Extroverts are willing to take more risks because of their
excitements. (Cain 160) However, that is pretty dangerous for a
political leader to do that. (Gallagher and Blackstone 228) Different
that extroverts, introverts are more stable at their emotion because
their medial orbitofrontal cortex (an essential component of the
brains

dopamine-driven

reward

system)

is

smaller

that

the

extroverts medial orbitofrontal cortex. (Cain 160) Therefore, people

who are introverted will not get excited or overreacted when they
face unexpected situations. (Cain 160) Extroverted political leader
have the quality of extraversion because extroverts are extroverted.
Extraversion means outgoing, assertive, and makes friend easily.
(Gallagher and Blackstone) Extrovert are outgoing and assertive and
talkative. (Kahnweiler 3) These qualities help them to gain the favor
of their people. Gartner said the winner of the presidential election
was always the man who was more assertive, energetic, and
confident. (3) These qualities all match with the quality of
extraversion. (Gartner 3) Beside the big five qualities, there are
some other important criterions that a good political leader should
has. For example, Kahnweiler pointed out in her book that be able to
hold ones tongue is also a important quality of a political leader.(6)
Introverts are more capable of keeping their mouth closed when
they are not supposed to be talking than extroverts; because they
are less talkative than extroverts (7) Although Introverted political
leaders lack the criterion of extraversion, they do have the qualities
of openness to experience and neuroticism-stability which make

them as excellent as extroverted political leaders are.

Based on the research, introverted and extroverted leader are
equally good in the field of politics and business in the 21 st century
America. This statement does not only apply to the field of politic
and business, but also applies to the field of nursing. (Sherman 1)
Introverted leaders do have some drawbacks; however, no leader is
perfect. They will be able to become better leader after they
improve their problem.

I pledge that I had neither nor receive aid in this research paper.

Works Cited
Bradley, John H., and Frederic J. Hebert. "The Effect of Personality Type on Team
Performance." Journal of Management Development: n. pag. Gale. Web. 7
Jan. 2016. This article contains information about personality of team leaders
which include a leader, and it also has information about how their
personalities will affect their performance. Since my research paper involve
with the personality and leader, I can learn more things about the influence
that people's personalities bring to their behaviour.
Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. New
York: Broadway Paperback, 2013. Print. The book "Quiet: the Power of

Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking", has quite a bit of information
about introverts which is part of my research topic. There are even some
examples in the books that might be helpful to me. By reading this book, I
believe I will have a better understanding of introverts, and thusly do a better
research.
Gartner, John D. "How to Choose a President." Psychology Today: n. pag. ProQuest.
Web.

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Jan.

2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/1752065826?

accountid=12222>. This article is a really helpful to me because I do not have

information about personality and quality of political leaders. This article
provides me information about political leaders such as Barack Obama, Bill
Clinton and so on...
Introvert and Extrovert. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
This article contain information about introvert and extrovert. It talks about the
definition of extroverts and introverts and what are they and how does that
affect our daily life. This reference provide a basic foundation for my research
paper by telling me the definition of introverts and extroverts.
"Introvert Can Be a Nurse Leader." American Nurse Today: n. pag. Gale. Web. 10 Jan.
2016.

<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-

SORT&docType=Article&tabID=T002&prodId=GPS&searchId=R6&resultLi
stType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&contentSegment=&c
urrentPosition=1&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupNam
e=va_p_madeira_sc&docId=GALE%7CA347165454&contentSet=GALE
%7CA347165454>. This article tells me that introverts can be nurse leaders.
This articles provide me specific informations about how introverts become
nurse leaders. It contains useful information about introverted and a leader.

Therefore, I think it will be helpful for me to choose this article as a reference.

Jung, C. G. Psychological Types. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1976. Print. The book
"Psychological Types", contains quite a bit information about personality types
such as introverts and extroverts. Moreover, this article is written by the author
who is the first man in the world that proposed the idea of introverts and
extroverts. Thus, I think his book will tell me more about what are introverts
and extroverts.
Kahnweiler, Jennifer B. The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength. San
Francisco: Berret-Koehler, n.d. Print. I find this book through a book review in
the Gale database. I believe this book can support my essay by telling me
more information about the introverted leader.
"Must Great Leaders Be Gregarious?" The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan.
2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/opinion/sunday/introverts-makegreat-leaders-too.html?_r=0>. This website will be a great help for me
because it is involved with introvert and leader which are both my topic of the
research paper. I believe that most people think that leaders should be
extrovert because they like to social, but this website give me another
perspective about introverts can be good leaders as well.
Personality. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 7 Jan. 2016. This article
talks about variety kinds of personality. For example, introverts and extroverts.
Because personality is involved with my research paper, it is a helpful article
for my research paper.
Presidential Studies Quarterly. Gale. Web. 3 Feb. 2016. The article is really for me
because it provide supportive information about the top five qualities that a
president should have. My research is about introverted and extroverted leader

in the field of politic and business. Therefore, I can use this piece of
information to compare with the qualities of introvert and extrovert to see
which one of them is the better political leader.
Trait, Ruth. "The Attributes of Leadership." Leadership & Organisation Development
Journal:

n.

pag.

Gale.

Web.

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<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DASORT&docType=Article&tabID=T002&prodId=GPS&searchId=R10&result
ListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&contentSegment=
&currentPosition=14&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroup
Name=va_p_madeira_sc&docId=GALE%7CA18293137&contentSet=GALE
%7CA18293137>. This article contain information about the kinds of key
qualities of being a leader. It lists all the quality that a leader should have and
tells the reader why that a leader should have that certain kind of quality, so it
is really clear. I believe this article will be a big help for me