By John Riedel
What does a room full of introverts sound like? A lot louder than you might expect. Dozens of employees filled the seats on the Vermont campus for a panel discussion titled “Being Introverted in an Extrovert’s world.”
The panel was led by Beth Rusnock of Corporate Marketing and Communications on understanding what “introverted” and “extroverted” mean and how the two function in the workplace.
The workshop was part of a new series of discussions on varying topics in the workplace. Panelists were Ken Welizcka of Sentinel’s Credit Research division; Rebecca Noyes from Corporate Actuarial; Colin Pomer of FMG; and Stephanie Burmester in Product Pricing and Filing. Every panelist identified as being introverted one way or another.
The discussion tackled the definitions and misconceptions around the terms “introvert” and “extrovert.” In reality, very few people are total introverts or extroverts and many of us are on a scale. The terms refer to where we get our energy from as opposed to how shy or outgoing we are. Introverts may get their energy from having some time alone or with close ones, while extroverts get their energy from being around crowds of people.
As the discussion began, the audience was asked how many considered themselves introverted. An overwhelming majority raised their hands.
“I was impressed with how many people showed up,” Pomer said. “It’s nice to see there are other people like you that are introverted and you didn’t know that about them.” Since then, more than a dozen people came to him saying how much they enjoyed the discussion and they had no idea he considers himself an introvert.
A similar discussion on the same topic will be held on the Texas campus shortly. The discussion will start with the panel speaking for about a half hour, followed by another half hour of open questions. “I think it would be good to go just for the questions and listening to that open discussion,” Pomer said.
Both Noyes and Welizcka also noted how many people have come to them saying they enjoyed the discussion. “It’s really good that National Life is bringing these discussions back up and people were really excited,” Welizcka said. He believes the discussion was a success, and encourages more extroverts to attend the next discussion in Texas. “I think a lot of the ideas that were shared would’ve been great for extroverts to hear and to learn about co-workers they may not know are introverts,” he said.
So extroverts in Texas, don’t be shy when the next discussion takes place in your neck of the woods. This series of discussions will continue for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned for updates on the next topic.