The psychologist Jung asserted that there are essentially two types of personality: introvert and extrovert. One way to describe introverts and extroverts is that an introvert expends energy in social or communicative situations whereas an extrovert gets energy from social or communicative situations.
It’s important to understand that these two essential personality types aren’t set in stone. On the one hand, psychologists assert that most people fall somewhere halfway between introvert and extravert, and like any psychological condition one can become more introvert or extravert due to personal experience or even therapy or training.
Generally speaking, modern day corporate environments are geared towards the extravert. A good example if this is the growing trend for open plan offices. For the extrovert these are great, and allow for more channels for communication and social interaction; however for the introvert these can be stressful, pressurized spaces. The Solution
Without changing the environment there are ways to improve the situation for introverts. One effective way is with a treatment like NLP, Neuro-linguistic Programming, which is a form of training that addresses the link between communication and personal reality. In other words, it’s about management development focusing on communication skills.
Business communication courses can’t solve every problem, but they can better equip more introverted employees to meet their potential. Introverts have value too, and are often very apt workers who excel on their own. With better communication training they can overcome any difficulties that may be holding them back, and meet their potential.
