Two unconventional strengths in leading a team as an introvert
‘Wow, what a ride!’
As I reminisce the past 4 months serving as the Project Manager of the MSBA Practicum Team, those were the first words that came to mind. Indeed, there are no better words to summarize the journey partnering with the Mondavi Performing Arts Center. This is my first stint as a project manager, where I am still actively learning the ropes of project management. However, I am proud of the strides I have made thus far, especially in growing my leadership and communication skills, which are challenges that I have been dealing with since childhood. As I am growing increasingly comfortable under my own skin, I felt that this is a good time to share what I think are the two unconventional strengths introverts may develop to successfully lead a team.
Inspiring a shared vision with leadership
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”— Max DePree
Vision:
The first key element to successful team management is to outline a vision that motivates the team. As a firm believer in continuous self-improvements and coaching-style leadership, I am keen to witness the growth of both myself and each team member. Hence, one of the visions I have for the team is for each team member to develop in the areas of expertise and weaknesses.
Playing to one’s strength:
To accomplish that, it is important to match individual strengths to job responsibilities. Working with a small team of 4 is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it is easier for us to build better team cohesion. But it is also challenging as I found it difficult lining the personality strength with the right position with a small team, and be fair and just in task allocation at the same time. Hence, my first job as a project manager is to consult each team member on their desired goals from the program. I tried my best to allocate the roles to match those goals while maximizing the strength of individual team members. Each of us would assume the full responsibility of the smaller projects to have a full understanding of the project, but the others would get a chance to learn from the project owner as the project owner make progress. In this way, I feel it is a good way to learn from each other, maximizing individual strength simultaneously.
Lead by examples:
To spur my team into identifying this common vision and goal, I believe it is important for me to lead by example. As the project manager, I tend to lead the budding stages of the projects to potentially paves a path for others to follow and encourage them to actively contribute. I also try to prepare thoroughly for meetings, so I feel confident in speaking up and try my best to ask at least one thoughtful question during each meeting. While it may be a struggle to lead all the time as an introvert, the impact it has to everyone in the team could be profound.
Communication
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” — H.E. Luccock
Communication:
Mastery in communication is quintessential to successful team management and building strong relationships. In my past job and internships, I always forged strong bonds with my team members, many of whom last till today. I attribute that success to the ability to be empathetic, and the unheralded skill of active listening as an introvert. In setting the team’s culture, I encouraged speaking freely with a positive and relaxed mindset. In celebrating each other’s happiness and supporting one another’s struggles, we enjoyed our day-to-day non-work conversations, which also made our work much more enjoyable.
Give credit where credit is due:
Giving recognition is key to motivating team members. A natural way to empower team members is to forget the ‘I’ and embrace the ‘we’. During a presentation delivery, I always try my best to attribute the team effort to project successes. I am also fond of building my teammates up after they put across a great point in meetings and classes, I believe that could help in creating a positive reinforcing loop so they feel more confident to speak up in the future. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, two of the most valuable psychological needs we have as human beings are the feeling of accomplishment and a sense of belonging. In building positive interpersonal relationships, our team has mostly worked in unison, overcoming any inevitable dissidence that have come along the way.
The past four-month has been a blast for me. While there are many challenges to the projects themselves, I felt that I have come a long way in terms of personal growth. A famous Chinese proverb by Lao Tsu states that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”; this has a good step towards achieving my long-term aspiration as a charismatic leader in my field.
