How to manage an introverted boss

- One of the first and best things that you can do to manage up is to learn whether your boss is an introvert or an extrovert. Introversion and extroversion are two core personality traits that have a lot of influence on two important dynamics in the workplace. One is our source of energy. Two is our communication preferences. You want to make sure that you are the person that is boosting your bosses energy and not draining your bosses energy. When people drain our energy, we avoid them like the plague. Two, you want to make sure you clearly understand your bosses communication preferences so that you can align your style to theirs. Let's review some key characteristics of introversion. First and foremost, introverts are energized from within. Introverts also prefer what we call internal processing. Meaning that we like to think about things before we speak about them. Introverts are going to spend a lot of time alone or one-on-one. We prefer smaller groups as opposed to big team meetings or networking events. So if you have an introverted boss, I'm going to give you a few key strategies that I promise will help you work better with them. Number one, find out their communication preferences. Many introverts do prefer being emailed as opposed to be the pop-in. I know with my team, we have a little rule that they need to text me before they call me. Number two, be proactive about communicating with them. This means if you're going to wait for them to get on your calendar, you're going to be waiting for a long time. Instead, get on their calendar. Take the lead scheduled time with them. If you want to know what your introvert is thinking about, you're going to have to ask them. Sometimes it might feel like you're pulling teeth a little bit, but that's okay. Introverts will share once they know you want to know something. Also give them time to respond. Introverts don't do well with like thinking on the top of their head. They prefer a beat or two to think about something. So if you're going to meet with an introvert boss, tell them ahead of time, even it's just five minutes, what you want to talk about. And finally, if you're working with an introvert, you want to be really aware of excessive social chatting, which means, remember the word wait. And the word wait stands for why am I talking? Because if you're just talking to fill up all that space, you can stop. All that excessive chatting is pushing your introverted boss away. Introverts can and do make great bosses, as long as you understand how to connect with them and work with their energy. Remember, just because you're introverted boss isn't all warm and fuzzy or super communicative, doesn't mean they don't care about you. They do.