The Unbearable Lightness Of Being An Introvert

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don't. Without a doubt Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, were the first kind. In fact, they invented the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test, which categorize character traits into two separate boxes, introvert and extrovert.

Have you ever heard about this online personality test? I casually bumped into an article, where a cognitive psychologist was explaining the validity of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator for career alignment purpose. Specifically, this 16-personalities indicator, is an introspective self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. Basically, it applies the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung to people's lives. Jung's theory argues that human beings are either introverts or extraverts, and their behaviour arise from these inborn psychological types. He also considered that people perceive and process information in different ways, based on their personality traits.

Ok, this sounds very pretentious - and if I may say something - also a little bit weird. How can a stressful 93 forced-choice questions predict your actual future career? But, after all, I firmly believe that having an in depth understanding of yourself is essential so that you can find a career path that is rewarding and satisfying.

Nevertheless important, it is also used by Fortune 500 companies in self-improvement seminars and career development workshops, so who am I to judge?

The results of Myer Briggs Type Indicator test revealed that I have an Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling and Judging (INFJ) personality. According to my MBTI personality outcome, INFJs personalities "tend to be idealists, they are generally doers as well as dreamers". Further INFJ personality are also described as visionary, creative, idealistic and enjoy helping others. In this regard, the Emotional Intelligence test, revealed a high EQ score, which support my creative character. Emotional intelligence is "the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour, and manage or adjust emotions to adapt to environments". Actually, this aspect reveals a great contradiction in my personality: I am in tune with other people’s emotions, but often I cannot understand my own. Moreover, despite the fact that I feel my Myers Briggs profile extremely precise in depicting and assessing my identity attributes, I disagree introverts are perceived as shy, quiet and socially anxious. Even if I am an introvert, I played a significant role in contributing to new ideas which were considered appropriate by many feedbacks I received through the years.

Again, this could seem a contradiction. In fact, generally speaking, we tend to categorize introverts as those people who like to be alone. This is the classic stereotype about introverts, perceived as socially awkward misfits who abhor crowded throng and don't like people very much.

Well, it’s not like that. I don't like to be alone (it's more that I enjoy staying with myself) and I find the art of group brainstorming a valuable resource to build better ideas, but I also use solitude to let ideas incubate and expand on those incubated ideas in a team later on. It is important to bear in mind that an introvert personality has a creative streak, in which 'think-out-the-box’, openness and curiosity are key factors to succeed. Despite being an Introvert, I am mindful of the need to develop relationships with other team member and be participative in group settings in a constructive way.

So, I think that at the end of the day it’s not important in which category you fall into, but to truly understand which sort of personality you have and how it affects the way you do your job and interact with other people.

And always remember: first rule of introvert club: there is no introvert club. Thank goodness.