Introverts need to trust their gut and share their ideas as powerfully as they can. This does not mean aping extroverts; ideas can be shared quietly, they can be communicated in writing, they can be packaged into highly produced lectures, they can be advanced by allies. The trick for introverts is to honor their own styles instead of allowing themselves to be swept up by prevailing norms.
Susan CainShyness is inherently uncomfortable; introversion is not. The traits do overlap, though psychologists debate to what degree.
Susan CainShould we become so proficient at self-presentation that we can dissemble without anyone suspecting?
Susan CainAny time people come together in a meeting, we're not necessarily getting the best ideas; we're just getting the ideas of the best talkers.
Susan CainSchwartz's research suggests something important: we can stretch our personalities, but only up to a point. Our inborn temperaments influence us, regardless of the lives we lead. A sizeable part of who we are is ordained by our genes, by our brains, by our nervous systems. And yet the elasticity that Schwartz found in some of the high-reactive teens also suggests the converse: we have free will and can use it to shape our personalities.
Susan CainRemember that introverts react not only to new people, but also to new places and events. So donโt mistake a childโs caution in new situations for an inability to relate to others. Heโs recoiling from novelty or overstimulation, not from human contact. Introverts are just as likely as the next kid to seek othersโ company, though often in smaller doses
Susan Cain