buying a book ( which I ’ m sure many of us are aware of ) called , “ Why You Act the Way You Do ” by Tim LaHaye . That book unfortunately I believe landed in the hands of one of my classmates ultimately but fortunately I did read through it and got a better understanding of my personality as well as the personality of others .
On to university , I came across an even more complex personality test as I was trying to determine which would be the best career path for me called the Myers Briggs Personality test . Whereas in high school the personality test I did focused on two dimensions this focuses on four that is introvertedextroverted , sensing-intuition , thinking-feeling , and judgingperceiving .
To affirm my discovery in high school , the first letter of my results in the Myers-Briggs test showed that I am an ‘ I ’ for introvert . The result in its entirety led to the advice that I should choose a career that would really engage my creativity . That explained my aversion to careers the likes of accounting which is more analytical than creative ( even though both propensities are attached to introversion ). I ended up choosing marketing interestingly enough because marketing is a discipline that combined the scientific hard facts ( like sales figures ) and the artistic ( like the psychology behind purchase decisions ).
The fact that my background is in marketing - coupled of course with highly attuned social skills – has led many people to believe that I am an extrovert . Generally when I try to argue that I ’ m an introvert , I ’ m dismissed . But I am truly . When I saw Susan Cain ’ s book , “ Quiet ”, I got the same rush of excitement that I had when I saw Tim LaHaye ’ s book . Last year
‘‘ The fact that introverts have fewer close-tie relationships is a definite benefit to the after-sale . Introverts are very interested in helping customers over time and as such take the time to understand their customers . This is very beneficial to repeat sales ; we ’ re all aware that it ’ s always easier to retain a customer than to attain a new one .’’
was the second time I read the book but unlike previously I really dug , what my mother likes to call , ‘ reading in-depth .’ A lot of the recommendations in this article will be drawn from her research ( which is pretty accurate by the way ).
An introverted marketing practitioner may seem an oxymoron to most . The marketing practice requires relating to people including suppliers , co-workers , supervisors , agencies , etc . An introvert ’ s natural inclination is reticence , seclusion , privacy , reclusion , and all other related terms . So how exactly can an introvert be a successful marketing practitioner considering these seemingly very opposite traits ?
It ’ s important first to understand that none of us is perfectly introverted or extroverted . We all have degrees of both , which brings me to my first point . Introverts are not misanthropes ( yep you can google that ); we do like people but unlike our extroverted counterparts we prefer one-on-one and close tie relationships . Our amygdala - the part of the brain that is responsible for the fight or flight response - is much more excitable than our fellow extroverts and thus we feel vigilant when meeting new people .
Needless to say there are a number of other behaviors that introverts generally display that may seem mysterious but it ’ s really not that hard to understand introverts if you take the time . Below is what I believe the introverted personality brings to the marketing profession .
When it comes to Creativity
Research conducted by the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research between 1956 and 1962 showed that very creative people tended to be socially poised introverts , interpersonally skilled but “ not of an especially sociable or participative temperament .” This doesn ’ t mean that introverts are always more creative than extroverts , however in a group of people who have been extremely creative throughout their lives , there ’ s likely to be a lot of introverts .
Does this mean that introverts are more creative than extroverts - or better yet have some sort of creative halo atop their heads ? The answer to this is an obvious NO . Introverts creative advantage is drawn from the fact that they prefer to work alone and solitude is a catalyst to creativity . If solitude is a key component to creativity we ought to embrace it more than we currently do .
Brilliant ideas strike individuals when alone , take for example Archimedes ’ eureka moment when taking a bath or Isaac Newton ’ s
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