If I’m going to call this blog “The Silent Extrovert” it makes sense to clarify what an Extrovert is, doesn’t it?
VeryWellMind developed this list called “5 Personality Traits of Extroverts.” According to this expert, you are an Extrovert if:
- You love to talk
- Socializing energizes you
- You solve problems by talking
- You are friendly & approachable
- You are open & easy to get to know
Back when I was training to become a coach, part of my formal coach training involved taking multiple assessments. The rationale behind having us wanna-be-coaches take all these assessments was (a) to familiarize us with some of the ways to help our clients become more self-aware (b) to give us the same experience our clients would have and (c) to teach us enough about ourselves to keep us out of the way of our clients’ development.
One of the assessments we took, is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a very common tool used in corporate leadership development. The purpose the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is to measure/define how people perceive the world around them and and how they make decisions.
Using 4 pairs of basic preferences, MBTI identifies a person’s personality type. The first preference (or category) is sometimes called “Favorite World.” It answers the question, “Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world?” If you are an Extrovert, your answer is “I prefer to focus on the outer world.” There is also a spectrum that measures the intensity of a person’s preferences.
I would like to share my MBTI results to demonstrate this idea of intensity. If you look at the red arrow, you will notice that Extroversion & Thinking (for me) appear at the maxium level of intensity. Simply stated:
I like to talk.
I like to think.
And I really like to think while I am talking.
I’m an Extrovert.
Wonder if you are an Extrovert? Or curious to learn about your MBTI Type?
Here’s a link to a free MBTI assessment: Click Here
Perhaps you should look into one of those devices that you type into and it “talks” for you over a speaker. It might provide more satisfaction to be able to “hear” yourself.
As an INFP – I would appreciate the opportunity to be in silence for a couple of weeks. As an ESTJ, it must be kind of scary.