1. Are you more of an introverted or extraverted leader?

What can you do to leverage your

personality to be a more effective leader? (Max 300 words)

I believe I have a personality of both an extrovert and an introvert which makes me an ambivert. The
stigma of social interaction has never really hindered me from trying to express myself. I’ve always
found it very easy to express myself freely and confidently in the audience comprising of the people
I’m comfortable with or I’ve interacted with at least once.

On the other hand, I have had moments where I have found myself lacking the articulateness and
confidence it requires to be a leader. I believe such a scenario occurs when I’m out of my comfort
zone and in such cases, I end up becoming self-conscious.

Coming from an orthodox Punjabi family, I possess a frank and jovial personality. Although we are a
bit outspoken but we never shy away from speaking or sharing the things that are going on in our
mind and we tend to connect to the people we interact with.

Such kind of transparency and frank personality could be leveraged to be a more effective leader.
Since, a leader should be able to make quick and informed decisions, such kind of transparency leads
to efficient decision making. Also, the jovial personality makes a person inclusive rather than divisive
which is a characteristic of a good leader.

2. Under what conditions do you think extraverts make more effective leaders than introverts? What
unique abilities of introverts could make them more effective in some situations? (Max 500 words)

Extroverts make more effective leaders in a scenario where quick and vast multitudes of decisions
are to be made in an efficient manner. In such cases, extroverts make more effective leaders
because the thought process of extrovert leaders is action oriented, they make quick and informed
decisions, rather than seeking depth of knowledge they seek the breadth of knowledge. In most of
the cases, they don’t find it necessary to seek multiple opinions and their instinctive nature aids
them in making these quick decisions.

The extrovert leaders portray an image of a person seeking social dominance. In some of the cases,
the social dominance may lead to disorientation of the other members of the team since it is divisive
in nature. A good leader should rather be inclusive.

The ability of being inclusive and the ability of focussing on others rather than being self-focussed
make introverts unique. The Introvert leaders find it pertinent to foster other leaders rather than
demanding followers. This gives the other members of the team, a sense of recognition and
responsibility.

The sense of recognition motivates people and this motivation among people translates into hard
work and effective outcomes as the people involved in doing the work feel connected to the work
they are indulged in.

So, I believe the ability to be inclusive and to make other people connected to the work could make
introvert leaders more effective in some situations.