What introverted leaders said about positive approaches to reflecting and synthesising:

• “I am currently a member of an executive team where most are extroverts. I am often the last person to speak but I round up the conversation, I get the whole picture, because I have been reflecting while they are talking.”
  
  
• “My introversion makes me a better leader because I take time to think about things. People realise that they get a better opinion when they give me time to consider and think and that the best answer is the one that I give twenty four hours later.”
  
  
• “I’ve just been running a learning set. The feedback was “We’ve never been in a learning set where we’ve had so much time to think.””
  
  
• “The ability to listen and to tolerate silence are useful in coaching, either formally or in one-to-ones with subordinates or colleagues - they are more likely to express themselves if given space.”
  
  
• “Making time to think, analyse, and write was particularly effective in my role in the civil service, where papers, submissions to Ministers and emails to advance or critique ideas were very much the culture.”
  
  
• “Once I understood my introverted preference and had also experienced some success in my roles, I learnt to value my thoughtfulness and see this as my unique contribution to helping people solve dilemmas and problems. I felt less urgency to 'come up with an answer' and more confidence to observe and think before speaking.”
  
  
• “Saying “can I think about that for a minute?” , “can I come back to you on that one?”, “can we think about that?”, or “can you ask me again next week?” as methods of covering periods of silence whilst I consider the best answer.”
  
  
• “I have gradually developed the confidence to go back when I have had some space to think about it and I have a better conversation the second time round.”
  
  
• “Because my natural reaction is to take in information, process and analyse, then respond, I have been able to process criticism and negative feedback from customers or stakeholders rather than "dumping" straight on to my staff.”
  
  
• “I have a number of personal strategies to support me. These include: Reflection time: I use my forty minutes in the car on my way to work to do mental 'daily pages' to prepare for what I want from the day. I use the journey home to learn lessons and wind down. I have learned not to listen to the radio as it distracts me too much.”