This is the Moment We’ve Been Waiting for. Seize It!
Are introverts "having their moment,” as we posited on a recent episode of the Thought Leadership Project podcast?
A confluence of current events, long-developing trends, and a rapidly accelerating pace toward modernization has created an environment in which the natural abilities and tendencies of introverts are suddenly competitive advantages. Things were already trending toward this “new normal” for years now, but the fallout of a global pandemic has brought them to the fore much sooner and to a far greater degree than might have otherwise been the case.
But make no mistake: Things have changed. And some of them forever.
Good News, Bad News
There may be no going back—at least not to “normal.” The normal way of doing things might never again be recognizable in the modern workplace, now and going forward. Businesses everywhere, big and small, are reevaluating everything, and making some startling discoveries and coming to some unsurprising conclusions. Is a remote workforce a competitive advantage? Are expensive real estate, office furniture, quickly depreciating hard-wired technology, and desk-tethered workforces the wisest investments of company resources? Perhaps. But perhaps a new paradigm is emerging.
Which brings us to the good news. And the bad news.
Extroverts, here is the good news: Business development, networking events, public speaking, and "winning it in the room" all come naturally to you. You are blessed to never know the discomfort of doing what comes naturally to you causes your introverted friends.
But here is the bad news: For months now, and for months ahead, and for who knows how long, these activities have been curtailed, cancelled and, in some cases, called off forever. How will you replace the activities and venues you’ve long relied upon to grow your practice and build your book?
But, here is more good news, extroverts: There is a playbook. And the introverts have it.
Introverts, here is your good news: This is your moment. All of the skills, and many of your apprehensions, are now critical skills or serendipitous attributes in the arenas of business development, networking, presenting and pitching, and marketing more generally.
But here is some bad news: It’s not enough just to be an introvert. You must practice the skills and acquire the mastery that your natural abilities afford you to excel at. Same goes for extroverts. They may even need to “practice” harder than their introverted counterparts, as, while not brain surgery nor rocket science, the skill set is not innate, though certainly attainable.
Continuing Education for Introverts and Extroverts
The skills you’ll need to compete in the modern marketplace of ideas will largely come from your “right brain,” where creativity and careful analysis generally live. Again, introverts typically have these characteristics in abundance, whereas “type-A” extroverts generally prefer persuasion, quick action and face-to-face immediacy.
Here is the toolbox for legal marketing in 2021 and beyond. Do you have mastery of these, or do you need some further practice and perhaps education?:
Writing. Introverts often prefer to make their arguments in the written word, as opposed to in person or in public verbally. Innate introversion tends to make these folks creative writers and analytical thinkers. With thought leadership content marketing coming so dramatically to the fore, this will be a tremendous asset in this modern paradigm. While extroverts can often be very creative, terrific writers, their extroversion often tempts them to pick up the phone and make the call, as opposed to conducting careful consideration and putting digital pen to paper to construct a narrative or illustrative fable, for example.
Distance Networking. When you can’t go to the cocktail party, industry conference or large networking event, how do you get out and see people to grow your network and “bird-dog” opportunities? You do what introverts have preferred all along: Networking is now almost entirely digital, largely on LinkedIn, and much more asynchronous than it was prior to COVID. You’re going to have to master social networking digitally if you want to compete in the modern version of reality. But fear not! This will actually improve your networking ability, as you’ll discover there are no geographic limitations to whom you can network with and meet online!
Not-So-Public Speaking. Introverts fear public speaking more than they do their own demise! The old joke, based on that actually true data point, is that if you’re at a funeral, chances are more people would rather be lying in the casket than delivering the eulogy! So good news for both introverts and extroverts here. Introverts: You can now deliver your content from the safety and confines of your own home, delivering only to a perfectly harmless screen. Nobody there to laugh at you, and no one to picture naked in order to overcome your fears. Extroverts: You can still apply your natural ability for presenting ideas verbally and take your public speaking skills to the small screen. Both introverts and extroverts alike can excel at modern presentation conventions: webinars, virtual conferences, podcasts, recorded videos, and so on!
The first steps are the most important: accepting the new reality, committing to lifelong learning—certainly in the short term—and taking action, which is all extroverts want to do anyways! Master the modern technologies, or at least the proficiency required for you to leverage them, and create a new business development plan that reflects the new normal.
My first steps would be:
Optimize your LinkedIn profile: If you haven’t reviewed it recently, chances are it needs updating and completion.
Learn LinkedIn: LinkedIn is not something you’re on...it’s something you do.
Develop a new content strategy: What platforms align to your interests, strengths and availability? Is it writing? Podcasting? Presenting and teaching?
Commit to a schedule: Make the time (n.b., not find the time) to commit to an achievable schedule for creating content, publishing thought leadership, and interacting with your community online.
Publish, post, participate and provide: The more active you are at the modern cocktail party, the more visible you’ll be. The more visible you are, the more recognizable you’ll be. The more recognizable you become as a thought leader, the more opportunities will “magically” start to present themselves.
In reality, this is all good news—for introverts and extroverts alike—even if the events that brought this about are tragically lamentable. But there is a proven roadmap for success, even if it takes you off course from what you’re used to doing to grow your practice. The only bad news is what will come if you don’t do anything about the good news.
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