A request from your boss Task 1 Match the beginnings and endings of the phrases

Introverts – redressing the balance
Task 1
Write the phrases in the correct group.

1.get the best grades in school
2.are well suited to the way we teach and work nowadays
3.like group collaboration
4.are usually charming and persuasive
5.are seen as a problem at school
6.prefer days in the wilderness
7.can be very creative
8.like giving instructions

Introverts Extroverts
Task 2
Are the sentences true or false? Answer
1. We usually underestimate introverts when we think of great leaders. True False
2. Introverts only become leaders because something external makes them feel they should.
True False
3. Thinking of good ideas is easier when you’re not interacting with other people. True False
4. Creative subjects at school are best taught using group projects. True False
5. Introverts need to be more like extroverts if they want to get good grades. True False
6. Open-plan offices are designed for extroverts. True False
7. We should encourage all children to work alone sometimes. True False
8. We should encourage extroverts to work like introverts and vice versa. True False
Transcript
If I asked you to _______a great leader, I’d be willing to bet certain _______come to mind … someone charismatic, dynamic, _______, a confident public speaker. You’re _______imagining a man too, but that’s a bias we’ll save _______another talk! We tend to think of great _______as people who naturally take to the stage, who draw _______people to them by their sheer presence, _______are extroverts. But history has also been transformed by _______who don’t fit these descriptions. _______like Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt _______Gandhi. These people would have described themselves as shy, quietly spoken … as introverts. _______course we’re drawn to extroverts. They’re usually _______and persuasive, fun to be around. _______not quietly in the corner somewhere reading a book _______we might not notice them. Introverts _______mostly happy to let the extroverts take the attention; _______rather not be in the spotlight, they’d _______finish that book. If they become leaders, it’s not _______they want to be the centre of attention, _______because they feel compelled to act. They lead not _______they enjoy giving orders but because _______have put them in a position to make change. ______________the boss, they allow space for _______ideas of others to grow because they’re not trying to _______their mark. An introvert sounds like a _______good boss, right? You won’t need to worry about them _______your ideas or talking over you in a _______. Some of our great creators are introverts too. People _______the writer JK Rowling, the great _______Darwin and the designer of the first Apple computer, _______Wozniak. It turns out coming up with _______ideas is easier when you’re engaged in quiet, solo _______than when you’re leading the _______squad. Not that I’m saying there’s anything _______with cheerleaders! Extroverts _______great – some of my favourite people are extroverts. But _______is the world so set up for extroverts _______so hard for introverts? Why are we always encouraging _______kids to speak up, join in, work as a _______? Nowadays, most schools and most _______are set up _______the extrovert in mind. Children _______longer sit in rows in desks, _______sit in groups of four or six, _______group projects. Even subjects _______maths and creative writing _______taught with an emphasis on group collaboration, even though _______writers sit alone in _______of their computer or typewriter, with nothing between them and the blank _______. A kid who prefers to go _______into a corner and _______alone starts to look like a problem. What’s _______with Janie? Why isn’t she joining in? Studies _______teachers think extroverts make better students, _______though introverts actually tend to get higher grades. We’re telling our _______kids something is wrong _______them, that they need to be _______sociable, more outgoing. _______giving them fewer _______for the quiet contemplation they need in order to _______the best work and be their best _______. And then at work we do the same. _______offices today are open _______, everyone working and creating noise in _______big room, attending team-building _______or group brainstorming sessions; the _______worst _______. The introverts at school are judged negatively by their teachers and when they _______the workplace, they’re passed over for promotion into _______positions. But introverts typically take fewer risks and _______more careful decisions, and don’t we need those traits _______? I’m not saying let’s get rid of extroverts and grab all those _______, sociable _______at primary school and send them off to the library for four hours a day of solitude until they learn to tone it down. _______not saying that at all. I’m _______we’re doing something like the opposite of that to introverts and we need to stop. We _______to allow them _______to be themselves and then we’ll end up getting the most out of our extroverts and _______introverts. Let’s teach all our _______how to work with others _______how to work on their own. Let’s create space in offices and at conferences for people to work on their own when they _______to and give them the opportunity to _______together to share ideas. Let’s give staff ‘away days’, where they go off into the woods, walk up a _______or wherever, to work on _______alone, as well as the ‘team-building day’ where _______learns to dance salsa together. The future is complicated, _______a lot of huge, complex problems to solve. Let’s make sure we’ve got our best people working on _______problems in the way that suits _______best. And then we’ve got to make sure we listen to our _______and our introverts and _______who sits somewhere in between on the scale. We’re going to _______all of _______.