Self-Promotion for Introverts

Career advancement tips, quips, and insights for the quieter crowd

by Nancy Ancowitz

Get Ahead by Targeting Different Personality Types

In her new book, "Personality Power," Shoya Zichy shares an idea that ultimately increased business with her clients by 60 percent during her private banking days. She targeted them using four distinct, color-coded categories, an approach she calls Color Q. Read More

Managing Your Impostor Syndrome

I'm endlessly amazed at how many of my clients and continuing education students share that they feel like impostors. No matter how many degrees and awards they've earned, what level they’ve reached in society’s pecking order, and how "together" they appear, right beneath their perfectly-pressed Prada exteriors, many don't believe they're as big a deal as you might think. Read More

Intimate Peek Into Introverts' Brains

Fellow Psychology Today introvert blogger and "The Introvert's Way" author Sophia Dembling and I chat on Twitter about fun, flâneurs, phones, and feeling good for introverts, even if life around you is, in Dembling's words, "a Mountain Dew commercial." Read More

An Introvert's Secrets to Setting Up Shop

Many of my clients fantasize about striking out on their own—saying toodles to the boss, office politics, and confines of company life. Along with that comes kissing their paycheck good-bye. Beth Buelow, the coach, author, and popular blogger who runs The Introvert Entrepreneur, shares insights for introverts who want to succeed at starting and running their own show. Read More

The Inner Lives of Introverts

Learn about the importance of hiding places for introverts, how we perceive solitude versus loneliness, and some surprises about how we can benefit from studying acting in Nancy Ancowitz's interview with Laurie Helgoe, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and author of Introvert Power which just came out in a second edition. Read More

Bill Clinton's Innie

Inauguration Week gets me thinking of a different US President I had the pleasure of meeting—Bill Clinton. Late one night when I arrived at my favorite hideout to work, I was surprised to find Clinton there, holding court. As an introvert, I would normally "stick to my knitting," however.... Read More

The Public Face of a Private Person

I first met Susan Cain a half a dozen years ago when she took a Self-Promotion for Introverts® workshop I gave at New York University. She is with us today, on the first anniversary of her bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, to answer my questions about what it’s like for a card-carrying introvert to be thrust into the limelight. Read More

Presenting Your Best Self to an Audience

Building your skill and confidence at public speaking using your introverted strengths is totally doable. Read More

Presenting to Clients: To Know Them is to Wow Them

12 public speaking tips to rivet your audiences Read More

An Introvert’s Look—A Strategic Career Decision

Every day we’re subject to snap judgments just based on how we look. What conclusions do people jump to when they set eyes on you? Read More

APA Gains Sanity: Introverts Not Nuts

Over the past year, our readers vociferously objected to the inclusion of introversion in the DSM. An anonymous one wrote: "The only time I feel my introversion is a problem is when I read stuff like this...." Beth Buelow, The Introvert Entrepreneur, added: "The word 'introvert' should not appear anywhere near descriptions of disorders or diseases." Read More

Social Media: Welcome to Hotel California

You may enjoy LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Or maybe it's a love-hate thing with the ever-expanding options, the need to keep all your profiles up to date, and all the strangers angling to be your "friend." Brings to mind the line from Hotel California that the '70s pop band The Eagles made famous: "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave." Read More

Listen Your Way Up the Ladder

“We think we listen, but we don’t,” says Nancy Kline in her book Time to Think. “We finish each other’s sentences, we interrupt each other, we moan together, we fill in the pauses with our own stories, we look at our watches, we sigh, frown, tap our finger, read the newspaper or walk away. We give advice, give advice, give advice.” Read More

Quiet Guide to Small Biz Success

Is it time for you to run your own business? If you're an introvert, you may be depleted from the open office environment that has long been in vogue. Why not create your own enterprise, complete with your own workspace, hours, and a mission that so excites you that you can't wait to get to work each day? Read More

Blame Throwers, Credit Grabbers, and You

From cubicle to corner office, workplaces are crawling with what Ben Dattner, Ph.D., author of The Blame Game: How the Hidden Rules of Credit and Blame Determine Our Success or Failure, calls credit grabbers and blame throwers. Read More

Expand Your Network and Land Your Dream Job

Whether or not you're currently looking for a job in this sluggish job market, it's always a good time to build your professional network. If you haven't gone on an informational interview lately, why not set one up today? This time tested tactic will help you land your next job, take your career to the next level, and get new clients. Read More

Hit Your Treadmill's Big Red Button

It was the best career move I ever made. Ten years ago I took time off from my job as a marketing vice president at a major Wall Street firm. The corporate culture of constantly being "on" during back-to-back meetings was particularly exhausting for me as an introvert. After some serious snooze time - a year to be exact - I chose a new career path. Read More

Sound Like a Boss, Not a Bossypants

If you're an introvert, despite the advantages of quietly contemplating your thoughts before sharing them, you are missing opportunities to get heard if you don't speak in your best voice. Read More

How to Compete With Your Frenemies

"Annoying people can be helpful to you. Ask an adversary to coffee or lunch," advises Kathryn Mayer, a leadership development consultant and author of Collaborative Competition. What do you do if an adversary is threatened by your gifts or accomplishments? “If you get good enough, someone will be threatened by you,” she says. Read More

How to Find Your Inner Cary Grant

“As a former FBI agent and police officer, I had to act un-scared even though at times I was scared. I had to act sure of myself, even though many times I was confronted with things that were destabilizing. I had to act the part because that is what is required,” according to Joe Navarro, author of Louder Than Words and other books on nonverbal intelligence. Read More

You Can’t Spell Self-Promotion Without the Om

It can increase your attention span, sharpen your brain, and improve your performance at just about anything. What’s the rage about meditation and how can the benefits of this age-old practice include bolstering your professional profile? Read More

A Dream and the Thing with Feathers

Once a single mother on Welfare, Charlotte Rinderknecht now runs Studio Kinate, the first woman-run animation studio. Apprentices from high school and college as well as individuals at risk are the lifeblood of the studio, which created "Pete’s Odyssey," an animated short. The film garnered multiple awards, including “Best Animation” at the 2010 Beaufort Film Festival. Read More

How to Negotiate with the Terminator

Can you succeed at negotiating while remaining authentic and advancing your relationship with the other party? How about if you see yourself as the less powerful one? Read More

Conquering the Introvert-Extrovert Communication Gap, Part 2

Advice for extroverts: Welcome introverts to state their opinions, but avoid putting them on the spot. Distribute an agenda and ask for their input privately, by e-mail, prior to a meeting to give them time to compose their thoughts. Read More

Conquering the Introvert-Extrovert Communication Gap, Part 1

The tugs on our sleeves are different. Introverts feel the tug to solve problems alone in their Batcaves—solitary confinement to extroverts. The tug on their sleeve is to brainstorm energetically out loud. However, an extrovert’s brainstorming powwow can be overwhelming for an introvert. How can you communicate well with those who are so different from you? Read More

How Introverted Leaders and Proactive Followers Make Hay

Researchers at top business schools just found that introverted leaders get better results when they lead proactive followers (whom extraverted leaders can find threatening); and extraverted leaders get better results when they lead passive followers. Read More

Introverts' Guide to Holiday Merriment

Americans spend an average of 15 hours attending holiday gatherings. That could mean hitting the party circuit three hours a week from the five weeks from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. What’s an introvert to do? Socialize, of course—if you care about your career. And the corollary: pace yourself. Read More

Musings of an Introvert Publisher, Part 3

"What author—whether introvert or extrovert—wouldn’t revel in the immediacy of thousands of consumers clicking the “Like” button for his or her book?" says Gary Krebs, VP and group publisher at McGraw-Hill Professional. Read More

Musings of an Introvert Publisher, Part 2

Dealmaker by day and homebody on weekends, VP and group publisher Gary Krebs at McGraw-Hill Professional uses words, mostly spoken, to inspire, persuade, and sell. How does he do that as an introvert? Read on. Read More

Musings of an Introvert Publisher, Part 1

"Coaxed by my mother into employment—she refused to take home a starving, unemployed writer—I entered book publishing full-time right after college," says Gary Krebs, VP and group publisher at McGraw-Hill Professional. He continues, "It was a good fit, as I have always loved and treasured books and reading." Read More