The Introverts’ Unknown Potential

By Laura Buckler

More than 30% of us are introverts, this means that many people will concur with me when I say I hated answering in front of the class during school. I remember when the teacher from my Arts class was calling me in front of the class. Because she knew I was an introvert, she was asking me to do different activities. From acting and singing to painting my favorite fictional character on the blackboard.

Those were one of the most agonizing moments for me because I had to do all this in front of my colleagues. They were talking loudly, laughing. Even though they might’ve been talking about something else or laughing at their own jokes, I was still thinking that they were talking about me and they were laughing at my acting, singing or drawing skills.

Apart from these embarrassing situations, introverts have some very powerful skills. I discovered a few along the way, here are some examples.

Think ten times and say it once
You have a brilliant idea, but you are an introvert, you won’t tell anyone about it. So, in order to be sure that is a great one, you start thinking about all the possibilities. You think about everything that could happen if your idea is put into practice. Even though at first, you are being very evasive, you start asking around for professional advice regarding your idea. You offer your idea to others only when you are 100% sure that your idea is a very good one. By doing this, you will have a great success rate. People will know that every idea that you come up with is a top-notch one.

A while ago, I was working at a tech company and they had this CRM software. They used it for 10 years before my arrival. They were considering it a vital part of the company’s results and everything. Honestly, I considered it to be very slow and useless because every action we did it took around 1 or 2 days to be updated into the CRM.

One weekend, after having enough of it, I started searching for other CRM software. It took me one day to find 3 decent CRMs that would fit my needs. I paid, out of my own money, for a short-term subscription and I started using them the next week. My overall results improved over the course of the week. I was a newbie in the company and my manager invited me into his office to congratulate me. Once I told him what’s the main cause of my improvement, he started investigating. After less than 2 weeks everyone was using the CRM I recommended. So, here’s a newbie introvert changing a CRM software that was used for 10 years in a corporation.

They pay attention to details
An introvert, unlike other people, is very quiet. This means instead of speaking he has a lot more time to look around, listen and think. Here are a few things the introverts prefer:

• Staying outside the ring while examining the people around them.
• Listening to what others have to say and drawing conclusions only when they have all the information they need.
• Allocate the time needed to create a holistic image of the situation they are in.

This habit was a very useful one during my time as a real estate agent because I was able to better understand the needs and requirements of my clients. Unlike others, I was asking questions more than expressing opinions. This way, my clients were talking most of the time and I was able to find out as much information as possible about what their needs. Once I was finding the perfect property for my clients, I was starting to talk more about their needs and the benefits of the property. This way, my success rate was higher than my other colleagues’ and my clients were very pleased with my services.

Learn by Observing
A good artist comes up with ideas, a great artist will steal the existing ideas and take them to another lever. This is what introverts are good at, they can learn the tricks of the trade by observing the best in the business. If you are an introvert, chances are that you will become better than your mentor in a very short amount of time. That’s because introverts are very good at stealing information, observing, and learning the tricks of the trade.

My brother is a chef and, honestly, I like cooking also, it relaxes me. I watched him a lot, I studied the way he was cutting the vegetables and meat. I’ve learned lots of things about the drink you should accompany your food with. I also stole a few of his recipes and every now and then I cook for my friends. When there are new persons in my group of friends they always think I’m a chef because of the way I behave in the kitchen and the knowledge I have.

You should use the extra time you have to study and learn new things, this way you’ll become better than others and you will always have the upper hand.

Conclusion
Many people consider being an introvert as a burden. They consider this because they don’t know the benefits of being like this. Even though it might have some harmful consequences, your social activities have a smaller signification, you don’t have a lot of friends, it has a lot of benefits also. You have more time to think about important ideas, research them thoroughly and implement them. You are great at paying attention and you can draw objective conclusions easier. By being very attentive you are able to improve a lot easier than other people and you can get better than others.