For all of those ancient platitudes when it comes to business, from “the early bird gets the worm” to “fake it ‘til you make it”, these can prove to be quite intimidating to an introverted person who wants to scale the dizzying heights of success. When making your ascent up the career mountain, you are going to hit plateaus where conflict is rife, and you have to embody some leadership skills. This isn’t an easy thing, and for most of us who struggle with shyness, we don’t have those opportunities to practice being a leader. As a result, we get passed over for promotion, and we never truly show what we’re capable of. However, there are ways to see you through this difficult period…
Find Ways To Recharge Little And Often
Because what you’re doing is very stressful on your frame of mind, you need to embrace the opportunities to recharge yourself when you can. Because you might be shy or introverted, you have to push yourself to go for those opportunities that you wouldn’t have usually. Being in this high state of anxiety is exhausting, so make sure you block sufficient time before and after potentially stressful situations so you can reflect. Meditation is one of those things that can be productive but can take some time to get right. Instead, alone time is a good start.
Interact With Your Role Models
It’s likely that there are people who have had to push themselves much harder than yourself. These people are leaders in their fields, and if you find something about a role model that just speaks to you, maybe they were once introverted themselves? Reach out to them. Are there things they did to help them get over their own introverted tendencies? Maybe going on a course or even an improv class is something that will bring you out of your shell.
Get Outside Of Your Comfort Zone
It’s vital that you get out of your comfort zone as much as you can. It’s a very simple reason, because once you’ve achieved these seemingly impossible tasks in an emotional sense, you are able to adapt to change much easier, and it becomes a hardwired habit. On the article Business Strategies of Successful EMHA’s, the key skills of a graduate in health administration include adaptability and focus, not to mention attention to detail and leadership. These are vital skills every leader should have, but they aren’t achievable until you tell yourself that the target needs to keep moving. Being restless is part of what a leader is all about.
Set Yourself Targets
You’ll never progress unless you set yourself small goals. By setting yourself small targets that are achievable, you can feel that sense of achievement, but also you are progressing in the right direction. You have made the decision that you want to be a leader, but to truly embrace the characteristics of a leader, you need to set the bar low, then a little bit higher each time.
It’s a long journey, but if you think you haven’t got what it takes, you need to follow these practices to give you the grounding to progress up the career mountain.
