The Power Of The Introvert
Picture: Stephen Hawking From www.playbuzz.com
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I AM WHAT I AM, and His grace toward me was not in vain … (NKJV).
Have you ever wondered why you are the way you are? You may have discovered that you’re a quiet person, or a loud person. And it may have worried you that you’re “not like other people”.
If you’re quiet, you might have wondered that you should be more out there, louder, more the life of the party. If you’re loud, you might have wondered what’s wrong with all those quiet people.
The truth is (baring hurt, character flaws or sin), that is how God made us. “I AM WHAT I AM“ is an amazing revelation I have had in recent times. I’ve come to accept the way God has made me, and I can now say “I AM WHAT I AM“,by the grace and plan of God. And that – is not in vain!
In this Brief Word I want to encourage and empower those readers who are introverts. And I also want to enlighten extrovert readers about what an introvert is.
Susan Cain who wrote that amazing best-seller, “The Quiet Revolution – Unlocking The Power of Introverts”, says this:
“Shyness is about the fear of social judgement – at a job interview or a party you might be excessively worried about what people think of you. Whereas an introvert might not feel any of those things at all, they simply have the preference to be ion a quieter setting”.
Steve Wozniak, the Apple co-founder says this:
“I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone. Not on a committee. Not on a team.”
Some of the greatest leaders in history and in the modern era are introverts. Albert Einstein. Bill Gates. Steven Spielberg. Sir Isaac Newton. Eleanor Roosevelt. Mark Zuckerberg. Al Gore. Abraham Lincoln. JK Rowling. Warren Buffett. Mahatma Gandhi. Hillary Clinton. Michael Jordan. Charles Darwin. Meryl Streep. Dr. Seuss. Frederic Chopin. Steve Wozniak. Barack Obama.
Can introverts be in church leadership? Absolutely. The reality is that introverts are in church leadership. It is estimated that anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of Protestant pastors are introverted. Interestingly, it seems that the larger churches are, the higher is the percentage of introverts leading them.
A recent survey reports that 45% of mega churches are led by introverted pastors. Erwin McManus, Dan Kimball, and Mark Driscoll, among many others, are self-confessed introverts.
For example here’s some characteristics of Introverts:
- Are territorial – desire private space and time.
- Are happy to be alone – they can be lonely in a crowd.
- Become drained around large groups of people; dislike attending parties.
- Need time alone to recharge.
- Prefer to work on own rather than do group work.
- Act cautiously in meeting people.
- Are reserved, quiet and deliberate.
- Do not enjoy being the centre of attention.
- Do not share private thoughts with just anyone.
- Form a few deep attachments.
- Think carefully before speaking (practice in their head before speaking).
- See reflection as very important.
- Concentrate well and deeply.
- Become absorbed and thoughts and ideas.
- Limit their interests but explore deeply.
- Communicate best one-on-one.
- Get agitated and irritated without enough time alone or undisturbed.
- Select activities carefully and thoughtfully.
And here’s some characteristics of Extrovert’s:
- Are social – they need other people.
- Demonstrate high energy and noise.
- Communicate with excitement and enthusiasm with almost anyone in the vicinity.
- Draw in energy from people; love parties.
- Are lonely and restless when not with people.
- Establish multiple fluid relationships.
- Engage in lots of activities and have many interest areas.
- Have many best friends and talk to them for long periods of time.
- Are interested in external events not internal ones.
- Prefer face-to-face verbal communication rather than written communication.
- Share personal information easily.
- Respond quickly.
From www.sengifted.org
If you ask an introvert a question, wait until he or she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, (not through speaking as extroverts tend to). If you want to get to the good stuff, you need to slow down.
As Flannery O’Connor said, ‘I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say’”. I like that. I like to write to find out what I want to say. Some people speak thousands and thousands of words and somewhere in there are the few they want to say!
So you’re an introvert? Be proud of that! After all, “YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE“ by the grace of God. Your introversion is a gift of God’s grace, given to you to serve and make a difference with the other gifts He’s given to you.
From www.fastcompany.com
From www.fastcompany.com
