What Is A Dynamic Introvert?
“What is a dynamic introvert?” “What does the title of your book mean?” I was taken by surprise by Colleen’s questions. I thought about them for a moment and then I mumbled something unintelligible. As the author of The Dynamic Introvert: Leading Quietly with Passion and Purpose and an introvert myself I should have had the answers on the tip of my tongue.
Colleen’s questions were spot on and my subconcious must have been on overdrive because shortly after I returned home, it hit me. The title of my book The Dynamic Introvert is a play on words. Perhaps not in the truest sense–according to Wikipedia a play on words is a literary technique, a form of wit, in which the words that are used become the main focus of the book.
I certainly didn’t intend for The Dynamic Introvert to be a comedy (and there is nothing funny about how introverts are compared with extroverts and seen as wanting) when you feel overlooked and undervalued.
What I did intend though was to grab the reader’s attention; to have them think about what it means to be an introvert and how our understanding of introverts and, in particular, introverted leaders, is changing.
If I have learned one thing while researching and writing The Dynamic Introvert it is that we are all very different and none of us can be pigeon-holed. Of course there are introverts who are quiet and reserved. These introverts may prefer their own company to the company of others.
But most of the introverts I’ve met along the way defy how introverts are typically portrayed.
One of the most brilliant descriptons of a dynamic introvert comes from Judy Curson, a physician and educator in the U.K. who wrote,
“I think many of us are dynamic. We just make less fuss and noise about being dynamic than some extraverts. Our energy and enthusiasm is often hidden from the external world.”
Many of us are dynamic in the way that Dr. Curson describes. We can be social and dynamic the same way extroverts can be dynamic. Words such as gregarious, outgoing, fun, interesting and energetic could be used in place of dynamic here.
These are words that I would use to describe the many dynamic introverts who I know and who could easily be mistaken for extroverts. Unlike extroverts who recharge by being with other people; dynamic introverts need down time to recharge their batteries.
- The above is an excerpt from an earlier blog post.
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