The topic of introversion is enjoying some major buzz, and can I just say, it's about time? ;-) One of the most interesting conve...
The topic of introversion is enjoying some major buzz, and can I just say, it’s about time? 
One of the most interesting conversations is happening around The New York Times opinion piece penned by Susan Cain, titled “The Rise of the New Groupthink.” Here are my thoughts on that piece, as well as some tips for putting the “I” in “Team.”
In November 2010, I wrote a prescient blog post entitled, “The Dangers of Being Home Alone.” My main point was that while I was working from home and technically “alone,” I was rarely alone with my thoughts because I was almost never unplugged, never disconnected. Part of me also felt that working from home alone was not the most productive place to be. However, my introvert self LOVED it because, while I was alone, I wasn’t lonely. It was a year before I decided to stop being home alone, and here’s the surprise realization that my move inspired.
She’s bitchy, ballsy and brash.
She’s Tabatha, and she’s taking over.
I might be a little late to the party, but I’ve just discovered “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover,” and I’m hooked.
Tabatha Coffey is almost the complete opposite of me in every respect. And yet, there is something extraordinarily compelling about watching her crack heads together in the name of saving a failing business. Watching her, I know there is something for me to learn. There’s definitely a homeopathic dose of Tabatha that would make a difference in my business, and maybe yours as well.
It’s interesting that as I was editing this podcast interview about collaboration, a fabulous New York Times piece by Susan Cain ran about the Rise of the New Groupthink. In her NYT piece, Susan expresses concern about the push in corporate environments to have open work spaces and a team-centric approach to innovation. She makes the point that solitude often sparks creativity, and groupthink trends don’t provide much space for solitude.
Today’s conversation serves as another perspective, this time looking through the lens of entrepreneurship. Rather than being forced into groupthink situations, introvert entrepreneurs often experience the opposite challenge of isolation, or of too much time alone. The middle ground between working in solitude and working in “all teams, all the time,” is strategic collaboration. My podcast guests, Monique MacKinnon and Patricia Weber, are examples of successful and strategic collaboration in action.
There’s a marvelous quote by Martha Graham, simple in its truth. She says, “The body never lies.” Over the years, I’ve noticed that one of the ways my introversion shows itself most strongly is that I live in my head. That means that I can sometimes ignore what my body is telling me, which can lead to all sorts of trouble. The trouble is usually around my energy management – or lack thereof. Introverts are especially aware of their energy, since it’s a valuable currency that’s frequently expended in the normal business of living in a highly social world.
This podcast interview with Kathryn Hunter of The Social Caterpillar focuses on how we can increase our energy awareness and listen to our body’s truth more closely.
For this first podcast of the new year, I’m going to share with you an interview I did back in the fall of 2011 but saved for now because the timing works so well. Maybe you’re among the millions of people who use the new year as a catalyst to make some sort of resolution about their physical health.
Physical activity is key to our overall health, and my guest today takes that truth even further by sharing with us the mental game that contributes to our health, for better or for worse. He calls it “the athlete within,” and it’s not just about being able to run around the track and not collapse when you’re done… it’s about taking care of yourself, body, mind and spirit, so that you can have energy for all of things that you want to accomplish.
