Introverts are like a rechargeable battery - they need to rest to recharge. Extroverts are like a solar panel – they need the sun to recharge, says Marti Olsen Laney, author of The Introvert Advantage. In fact, 75 percent of people are extroverts; 25 percent are introverts. Introverts are outnumbered, especially in the business world.  Both introverts and extroverts have their own strengths, and the combination of both types makes for a more rich, flexible and productive work environment. Introverts provide creativity, are good listeners and have an uncanny ability to read people. Extroverts provide breadth, talk with others easily, and concentrate on results.

Our brain chemistry determines whether we are an introvert or an extrovert, so we are not going to change it, but we can learn how to manage our challenges and understand our strengths as well as our elasticity for reaching into one another’s world. 

Introverts can learn how to adapt to extroverted expectations. Managers of introverts can learn how to better manage their introvert employees. None of us is either/or, but we do have “comfort zone.” We each need to find our comfort zone. Once we have found it, we can begin to venture into the unknown area of our opposites, with a knowledge that we can return to our home base for recharging.

One of the things most uncomfortable for introverts is networking. The Chamber University session on Networking for Introverts, Wed. Feb. 25, features an introvert who will share with you the secrets she has learned about effective networking. This may be the one learning session when the focus is on introverts rather than extroverts.