This blog is part of a series on how our organization is addressing diversity and inclusion. In upcoming posts, we will also explore other dimensions of diversity and inclusion, such as female leadership and cultural backgrounds, while sharing our approaches and progress. We recognize that our organization still has steps to take in terms of diversity and inclusion. That’s why we think it’s important to focus on this topic in a series of blogs and inspire others to embark on this journey within their own organizations.
If you had to assemble a soccer team, what would it look like? I bet it wouldn’t consist of 11 forwards. Nor would it succeed with 11 defenders. You’d likely form a team with a goalkeeper and a balanced number of defenders, midfielders, and attackers: talented, motivated players each with different qualities, who together could secure a win. Why don’t we look at teams within organizations in a similar way? Just as a defender and attacker complement each other, so do employees with different personalities. Yet, this is often overlooked in the workplace. We want to do things differently. How do we accommodate diverse personalities within the Behavior Change Group?
Diversity vs. Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion within organizations are hot topics. The lack of diversity and inclusion is under scrutiny. If we take a critical look at the variety of people and profiles in the workplace, diversity is often lacking. And without diversity, you can’t work on inclusion within your organization. These terms are frequently used interchangeably, and it’s important to be clear on the difference. Inclusion means that everyone matters and has a place, regardless of differences. You can have a very diverse organization that is not inclusive. Or you could be very inclusive but lack diversity in your workforce.
For now, we delve deeper into diversity within teams. Diversity has proven to be a crucial ingredient for team performance. How does this work? People have various biases or prejudices. And a diverse team is more likely to question assumptions because not everyone follows the prevailing bias. Moreover, the brains of employees in diverse teams are being challenged more often, encouraging them to overcome their old ways of thinking (Rock & Grant, 2016). The message is clear: diversity in your team offers many benefits.
Now, diversity is a broad concept: fundamentally, it’s about a variety of employees. The term diversity is often associated with cultural diversity or gender diversity—attributes that are visible and more easily measurable. These include gender, ethnicity, age and having a physical disability. This is known as surface-level diversity. In contrast, deep-level diversity includes individual differences that are not immediately visible, such as a person’s personality, values, political beliefs, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and invisible disability (Mohammed & Angell, 2004).
The ‘Extrovert Ideal’
Personality is one of those deep-level factors that strongly influences how a team performs. How you, as an individual, react to your colleagues affects the dynamics and knowledge sharing within the group. One of the core traits of personality is whether you are extroverted or introverted (Herbert et al., 2023). As Susan Cain (2012), an expert in the field of introversion, said: ‘Your life is shaped as profoundly by your personality as it is by your gender or skin color. And the most crucial aspect of personality—the ‘north and south of temperament’ […]—is your place on the introversion-extroversion spectrum.’
What exactly does that mean? Psychologist Carl Jung introduced these terms in 1921 and described introversion as having a rich inner life, while he characterized extroversion by a greater interest in external matters. And the definitions are still not uniform. One thing scientists agree on is that people need different levels of stimulation to function well. Extroverts need a lot of stimuli and gain energy from being around many people, while introverts thrive on fewer stimuli and recharge by being alone. Almost half of the world’s population turns out to be introverted.
Yet, there is little diversity when it comes to accomodating introverted people within organizations. They are overshadowed by the extroverted majority, especially in organizations where a lot of teamwork is required (Mohammed & Angell, 2004). When forming teams, the focus often lies on how extroverted someone is, rather than seeking a balance between introverted and extroverted people.
Why is there such a strong emphasis on extroverted people? This may be due to a positive bias towards extroversion: we tend to focus on the favorable traits of this personality. Extroverts easily make their presence felt in group discussions and are quick to express their opinions. Introversion, on the other hand, is seen as ‘low extroversion’ and thus, wrongly, associated with less favorable traits (Blevins, Stackhouse & Dionne, 2021).
Susan Cain refers to this as the ‘extrovert ideal’: a value system where we believe that the ideal person is a dominant social animal. In other words: someone who likes to be among people and functions well in teams. And when organizations prioritize diversity and inclusion, they often miss the mark regarding the extroversion-introversion spectrum. The extrovert ideal still prevails in many organizations, shaping structures often tailored to extroverted people: we work in teams, design open-plan offices, and ‘social skills’ are high on leaders’ priority lists (Cain, 2012).
The Power of Introversion
It’s unfortunate, because introverted individuals have a lot to offer within teams. Their potential is particularly evident in analytical tasks where thoughtfulness and reflection are crucial for decision-making (Blevins et al., 2021). Additionally, they contribute to a diverse group dynamic. Imagine a team comprised solely of extroverts. You can envision how the dynamic changes when the team includes a significant number of introverts. This dynamic affects how problems are addressed within the team: both introverted and extroverted members are challenged to collaborate and think in different ways, bringing unique insights to light. Lastly, it appears that a team in which members participate in decision-making benefits from an introverted leader. The observant and interpretative style of introverts aligns well with the complexities of leadership, where all team members (similar or not) are involved in decision-making.
To harness this potential as an organization, it is crucial to create space for introverted employees. This is where inclusion comes into play. But how do you achieve this? The first step is hiring introverted employees. In this process, recruiters and HR staff need to move away from the extrovert ideal—the socially adept candidate at first glance. Thoughtful, introspective people might initially come across as awkward in the context of a job interview, but many positions require attention to detail and analytical skills (Blevins et al., 2021). Therefore, look beyond the open, social impression that someone may give during a first conversation.
For instance, we take this into account in the selection of our Talents. ‘We consciously look for a balance between introverted and extroverted people,’ explains Sjors van de Schoot, who recruits a new cohort of six Talents each year for the Behavior Change Group’s traineeship program. ‘Sometimes, this even determines our choice of new employees: we deliberately do not choose six extroverted people, even though all six are highly competent.’ And this approach proves effective. It’s all about the Talents performing well as a team over two years.
‘A diverse mix of personalities leads to a more interesting group dynamic,’ Sjors adds. ‘Different characters provide different perspectives. This allows them to learn more from each other and collectively deliver the best performance.’
Once you achieve a good balance between introverted and extroverted employees, it’s crucial to ensure that both types can thrive. It’s necessary to give introverted people more freedom to be themselves (Cain, 2012). At BCG, we strive hard to provide that space. Here are five key practices we’ve implemented:
- We ensure that all team members have enough preparation time. This allows everyone the opportunity to initiate their thought processes. Introverted individuals excel at developing deep strategies and solving complex problems (Herbert et al., 2023). Optionally, you can also have everyone think independently beforehand and collect these ideas before they hear each other’s thoughts (and there’s a chance that extroverted people might dominate the conversation).
- We create one-on-one moments for discussions instead of always having them in (large) groups, which can be overwhelming and intense for introverted people.
- We appoint introverted leaders to maintain a balance of extroverted and introverted managers. Research shows that proactive employees likely perform better under an introverted leader (Cain, 2012) and contribute to more effective management (Farrell, 2017).
- We have flexible workspaces, but 40% of our workplaces are in a designated quiet area, where introverted people function better.
- We provide every employee, both extroverted and introverted, with a learning and development program. In it, we pay a lot of attention to personality, and in trainings, we explore how our personalities complement each other beautifully.
And we’re not there yet. We couldn’t call ourselves behavior changers if we weren’t constantly working on change within our organization. Other key areas include not confusing assertiveness with good ideas and as leaders, being vigilant in encouraging introverted people not to adopt the behavior of extroverted colleagues (Cain, 2012). Also, don’t forget to be mindful of the roles of extroverted versus introverted employees during digital meetings, and consider how to structure them so that introverted people can thrive (Dennis, Barlow & Dennis, 2022).
So, what does your ideal soccer team look like? I think it’s time to take a critical look at the composition of your organization. Which personalities are walking around the workplace, chatting at the coffee machine, or fading into the wall during a meeting? Take a critical look at whether and how you as a leader or colleague can empower introverted people in your organization. And be mindful of the structure of your workforce. We will continue to actively work on improving diversity at BCG.
Want to learn more about personality in your organization?
Interested in gaining more insight into personality within your organization? Consider conducting a personality test, such as the HEXACO.
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The strength of this course lies in acquiring knowledge about human behavior and developing strategic leadership within organizations, while also learning how to support employees in achieving their personal goals.
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Sources
Blevins, D. P., Stackhouse, M. R. D., & Dionne, S. D. (2021). Righting the balance: Understanding introverts (and extraverts) in the workplace. International Journal of Management Reviews, 24(1), 78-98. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijmr.12268
Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. New York: Broadway Paperbacks. https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Stil/lYtxAAAAQBAJ?hl=nl&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Dennis, A. S., Barlow, J. B., & Dennis, A. R. (2022). The power of introverts: personality and intelligence in virtual teams. Journal of Management Information Systems, 39(1), 102-129.
Farrell, M. (2017). Leadership reflections: extrovert and introvert leaders. Journal of Library Administration, 57(4), 463-443.
Herbert, J., Ferri, L., Hernandez, B., Zamarripa, I., Hofer, K., Fazeli, M. S., Shnitsar, I., & Abdallah, K. (2023). Personality diversity in the workplace: a systematic literature review on introversion. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 1-23. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15555240.2023.2192504?needAccess=true&role=button
Mohammed, S., & Angell, L. C. (2004). Surface- and deep-level diversity in workgroups: examining the moderating effects of team orientation and team process on relationship conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(8), 1015-1039. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.293
Rock, D., & Grant, H. (2016). Why Diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
