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16 Outrageously Successful Introverts

Abraham Lincoln and Emma Watson have something in common. So do Eleanor Roosevelt and Christina Aguilera. They, like an estimated one third to one half of the population, are introverts.

While extroverts tend to gain their energy in social situations, introverts typically recharge through solitude and feel drained from too much stimulation. It might be easy to assume that those who gravitate toward the spotlight of fame are extroverts, but the truth is that many of our most prominent faces, past and present, have actually identified as introverts.

Introverts are hardly a bunch of shy wallflowers — they are proven leaders who can make great public speakers. Don’t believe us? Check out the list of 16 prominent introverts below. Keep in mind, too, that the famous faces listed below comprise just a drop in the bucket — the list of famous introverts also often includes Michael Jordan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, Charles Darwin and David Letterman, among many others.

J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter creator, who was recently revealed as the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, is frequently cited as an introvert. People who identify as introverts often report feeling most creative when they’re alone with their own thoughts, rather than in groups. Indeed, Rowling recalls on her website that she first had the idea for Harry Potter in 1990 when she was traveling alone on a delayed train from Manchester to London.

“I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. To my immense frustration, I didn’t have a pen that worked, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one…,” she writes. “I did not have a functioning pen with me, but I do think that this was probably a good thing. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, while all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn’t know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.”

Bill Gates

Writer and introvert expert Susan Cain describes the Microsoft co-founder and chairman as an introvert. “We can stretch our personalities, but only up to a point,” she wrote in her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking, the Chicago Tribune reported. “Bill Gates is never going to be Bill Clinton, no matter how he polishes his social skills, and Bill Clinton can never be Bill Gates, no matter how much time he spends alone with a computer.” He’s also an example of someone who’s introverted without being shy, Cain noted in a Psychology Today blog: “Bill Gates is quiet and bookish, but apparently unfazed by others’ opinions of him: he’s an introvert, but not shy.”

And perhaps Cain’s work has struck a nerve with the business magnate: He chose her TED talk as one of his 13 favorites.

Abraham Lincoln

“In the nation’s earlier years it was easier for introverts to earn respect,” Cain said in a Q&A with Amazon.com. “America once embodied what the cultural historian Warren Susman called a ‘Culture of Character,’ which valued inner strength, integrity, and the good deeds you performed when no one was looking. You could cut an impressive figure by being quiet, reserved, and dignified. Abraham Lincoln was revered as a man who did not ‘offend by superiority,’ as Emerson put it.”

Christina Aguilera

The pop star and reality TV mentor might seem like the picture of an extrovert on stage, but in real life she identifies as the opposite. “If it weren’t for her bleach-blonde hair, I wouldn’t have recognized her,” Gaby Wood wrote for Marie Claire about her interview for the magazine, published in early 2010. “Because, besides being petite, she is, it seems, shy. She tells me that she has always been ‘intense and introverted’ and that, as a result, she’s felt like an outsider her entire life.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

As the longest-serving First Lady in history, Eleanor Roosevelt is known for her very public persona, entertaining, holding press conferences, giving lectures and even serving as American spokesman in the United Nations after her husband’s death — but she was also thought to be an introvert. Her official online White House bio describes her as “a shy, awkward child, starved for recognition and love, [who] grew into a woman with great sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations … her graciousness, and her sincerity of purpose endeared her personally to many — from heads of state to servicemen she visited abroad during World War II.”

She’s often quoted as saying: “Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”

Courteney Cox

The former Friend cited personality differences as one of the reasons for her split with David Arquette. “I’m a homebody. I like to have people over, but I’m a little socially not — I don’t love it,” she told Howard Stern in a 2011 radio interview, People reported. “David — he doesn’t drink anymore, he’s completely sober — but he likes to go out and dance. He really is a very gregarious guy. He’s very outgoing. I’m much more of an introvert.”

Albert Einstein

The world-renowned physicist who developed the theory of relativity was often thought to be an introvert. Like many introverts, he did his best thinking alone: “The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind,” he’s widely quoted as saying.

Emma Watson

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower star has said she credits her introverted personality for her reputation as a non-party girl.

“It’s interesting, because people say things to me like, ‘It’s really cool that you don’t go out and get drunk all the time and go to clubs,’ and I’m just like, I mean, I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature, it’s not like a conscious choice that I’m making necessarily. It’s genuinely who I am,” she told Rookie earlier this year. “Have you seen Quiet by Susan Cain? … It discusses how [extroverts] in our society are bigged up so much, and if you’re anything other than an [extrovert] you’re made to think there’s something wrong with you. That’s like the story of my life. Coming to realize that about myself was very empowering, because I had felt like Oh my god, there must be something wrong with me, because I don’t want to go out and do what all my friends want to do.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s work is proof positive that you don’t have to be an extrovert to be an effective leader. He once said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

Laura Bush

The former First Lady and wife to President George W. Bush is a self-described introvert. “George and I are complete opposites,” she said at the 2005 White House Correspondents’ dinner. “I’m quiet, he’s talkative. I’m introverted, he’s extroverted. I can pronounce nuclear…”

And Mrs. Bush is a prime example that introversion doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as shy. As a 2000 USA today article noted: “Her successful Houston appearance in mid-June resonated with political significance. In her confident delivery, reliance on humor, forceful demeanor on the dais, and relaxed response to press questions, Laura Bush, 53, conclusively turned upside down a once-standard media description that portrayed her as shy, remote, and somewhat reclusive in matters political … For an admitted introvert, Laura Bush remarkably has evolved into a very effective speaker.”

Rosa Parks

The Civil Rights legend who refused to give up her bus seat for a white man in 1955 was also considered an introvert. Susan Cain wrote in the introduction of her book Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking:

“I had always imagined Rosa Parks as a stately woman with a bold temperament, someone who could easily stand up to a busload of glowering passengers. But when she died in 2005 at the age of 92, the flood of obituaries recalled her as soft-spoken, sweet, and small in stature. They said she was ‘timid and shy’ but had ‘the courage of a lion.’ They were full of phrases like ‘radical humility’ and ‘quiet fortitude.’”

In fact, Parks titled her 2000 autobiography Quiet Strength.

Audrey Hepburn

Despite her public persona, the British actress identified as an introvert. She’s often quoted as saying: “I’m an introvert … I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.”

Warren Buffett

Cain’s book has a chapter titled, “Why Did Wall Street Crash And Warren Buffet Prosper?” using an explanation of introversion and extroversion personality characteristics to help answer that question. She wrote:

“Warren Buffet, the legendary investor and one of the wealthiest men in the world, has used exactly the attributes we’ve explored in this chapter — intellectual persistence, prudent thinking, and the ability to see and act on warning signs — to make billions of dollars for himself and the shareholders in his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett is known for thinking carefully when those around him lose their heads. ‘Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ,’ he has said. ‘Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.’”

Roy Rogers

The singer and actor earned the nickname “King of the Cowboys” for his roles in many musical westerns. “I’m an introvert at heart,” he once said, according to CNN. “And show business — even though I’ve loved it so much — has always been hard for me.”

Candice Bergen

The Murphy Brown star shared at The Huffington Post’s Third Metric conference in June that she and her husband are on opposite ends of the scale: “I’m an introvert and my husband is like the mayor,” she said.

George Stephanopoulos

“Despite my job chatting people up, I’m an introvert,” the TV journalist told Good Housekeeping in 2012. One way he finds moments alone in his frenetic world? Meditation. “It’s been a lifesaver for me. I’ve been meditating for about two years now, consistently and kind of seriously,” he said at HuffPost’s Third Metric conference. “I feel more space in my life even when it’s not there.”

- Written by By Laura Schocker for The Huffington Post

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/13/famous-introverts_n_3733400.html

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Why Companies Want You to Become an Intrapreneur

Intrapreneurship is responsible for a lot of product innovation around the world today. At Lockheed Martin, intrapreneurs developed a number of famous aircraft designs and at 3M, they came up with Post-It Notes and at Google, they came up with Google News, AdSense and Gmail. What these examples have in common is that companies embraced the idea of allowing their employees to become entrepreneurs and capitalize on new business ideas. These free flowing ideas come from in-house programs, which include Google’s famous “20% program”, contests, hackathons, skunk works and informal programs where employees pitch ideas directly to executives. Smart companies want you to become an intrapreneur because it fuels business growth and allows them to gain a competitive advantage in their industry.

In a new study in partnership with American Express for my book Promote Yourself, we found that 58% of managers are either very willing or extremely willing to support employees who want to capitalize on a new business opportunity within their company. In addition, we found that 40% of millennial employees are either very interested or extremely interested in doing this. Managers who support employees instead of constrain them cater to their entrepreneurial spirit, allowing them to feel like they’re making a big impact, regardless of age. The top reason why millennials leave their companies after two years is because of a lack of career opportunities. Intrapreneurship programs are one solution to solve this retention problem. Many companies have programs already in place to cater to this rising demographic of millennials that will become 36% of the American workforce by next year and 46% by 2020.

At LinkedIn, employees can come up with a new idea once each quarter, put a team together and pitch their idea to the executive team. If their idea is approved, they are able to spend up to three months time dedicated to turning the idea into something that benefits the company. At DreamWorks, they take this a step further by actually teaching their employees how to formulate their pitch and then allowing them to practice in front of executives, something hundreds have already taken advantage of. At Facebook, and many startups, they have hackathons where they encourage engineering teams to collaborate on software projects. The “Like button”, one of the most important innovations in the company’s history, was the product of a hackathon.

Kiley Smith, a 30-year-old manager in the Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS) practice at Ernst & Young LLP, created a cross-practice and cross-country working group to connect non-profits with legal and accounting professionals. In the process, she deepened relationships with potential clients and developed her own leadership skills and those of younger employees at the firm. The FIDS group works closely with law firms and is always looking for ways to build relationships with attorneys. An idea sprouted when Kiley learned that the American Bar Association recommends lawyers complete at least 50 pro bono hours per year. Kiley’s network at the firm included colleagues passionate about non-profits, entrepreneurs and making a difference. She realized she could give both the volunteer — and leadership — opportunities they were looking for by connecting the networks of attorneys and her FIDS peers to help non-profits and entrepreneurs.

Each member can identify a need in his or her local community, reach out and offer the support necessary, drawing on the shared network of peers and attorneys. In the New York office of Ernst & Young LLP, for instance, Kiley worked with a local law firm to put together training sessions for non-profits. The FIDS team ran a seminar about fraud issues inherent in the non-profit industry, and the lawyers offered advice on some of the common legal issues non-profits encounter. For Kiley personally, the impact of this intrapreneurial undertaking was enormous. “I wasn’t even a Manager yet and I was leading and coordinating a working group of 25 people across the country. So when I was up for promotion to Manager, I already had strong leadership skills to showcase. Most people who didn’t think outside the box didn’t have that.”

Stories like Kiley’s are becoming more common in companies, regardless of size and industry. Intrapreneurship is now recognized as a key to dynamic growth and change and for millennials, it’s an opportunity to develop their leadership skills while inspiring change. For millennials who are entrepreneurial, but are still paying back student loans and don’t have access to mentors or capital, intrapreneurship is the perfect solution. By leveraging internal resources and a corporate brand, millennials can make a big impact even at the start of their careers — and that’s exactly what they want. When intrapreneurs are successful, companies reap the benefits too.

- Written by Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel is the author of the new book, Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success (St. Martin’s Press). For more helpful advice, register for the free webcast of his book launch event.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/09/09/why-companies-want-you-to-become-an-intrapreneur/

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The Powerful People Get the Sheep to Fight Wars

“The powerful people get the sheep to fight the wars for them, and they are very successful in doing this. They use ‘patriotism’ and ‘duty’ to morally blackmail the masses into getting killed in some (usually) pointless venture, so that they (the rich/powerful) can sit back and gain the benefit, or avoid the consequences. The sheep respond dutifully to the rallying trumpet call, and willingly march off, with a catchy little song on their lips, to get their heads blown off in some muddy, foreign field.

When the bits are sent home in a body-bag, the parents and friends then all gather around tearfully, and exclaim what a brave and gallant fellow he was.”

“The Initiate knows that people who fight wars have been beautifully conned by powers with vested interests. He sees straight through the shallow hypocrisy of ‘fighting for God and Country’, and quite simply refuses to play; it’s far too dangerous and pointless! In a conscription situation, he exercises his considerable personal power and avoids fighting or placing himself in mortal danger.

He knows that nine hundred and ninety nine out of a thousand conflicts are artificial, illusory, transitory, pointless, and not worth five minutes of his life-effort, let alone getting killed for! The remaining one in a thousand ‘just causes’ he lets other people fight on his behalf, as he is blatantly selfish and self-protective.

He knows that there are millions of sheep who are happy and willing – nay, scrambling over themselves to get killed first, so he is content to let them get on with it.

If he were asked to justify his attitude (which he would rarely feel the need to), then he would state that, by definition, he was more intelligent than those scrambling to get mown down, and so his life was more worthy of protection!

The OPEN INITIATE is also guilt-free in maintaining this attitude because he has neither asked nor coerced other people to fight and die for him; they are doing it willingly, without any pressure from him. He does not take responsibility for their lives as he has been entirely un-influential in their decision to get themselves killed. He is merely opting out of being killed himself.

In contrast, the CLOSED INITIATE would use his knowledge of the eight weapons to con people into fighting instead of him.

Certainly, the Inner Circle Initiate knows that there are precious few, if any, politicians, senior officers, arms dealers, millionaires or such like amongst the scrabbling hordes bent on suicide.

In answer to that old question: “That’s all very well, but supposing everyone refused to fight?”, he answers that the masses always have, and always will climb over each other to be the first to the front at the sound of the trumpet call. In the highly unlikely event that everyone in the world refused to fight, then, of course, there would be no wars! Undoubtedly an improvement!”

“This just leaves the statement: “Yes, but sometimes you have to stand up and fight for your rights, otherwise someone with a bigger stick will come and take them away from you”. To which the Initiate’s response is:

a) He will fight if no other course of action is open to him (very rare), and someone is directly threatening him, his family or his property.

b) In more general situations, for example if he sees some personal benefit in preserving the existing ‘way of life’ of the country, he will let others do the fighting for him. Remember, he is guilt-free because he is not making the others fight.

c) Otherwise, his superior intelligence and personal power would ensure that he wins, in what for everyone else might be a ‘losing’ situation. Indeed, it is because he knows he can win in almost any situation that he refuses to lay down his life in order to preserve the current situation. To an Initiate, no one situation is necessarily better than another because he will WIN in either. All situations are transitory and temporary anyway.”

“If the system of values is genuinely worth protecting, and is under serious threat, then there will be no shortage of people who will be willing to fight in order to protect them. The Initiate is not one of them.”

- Inner Circle Philosophy (Stuart Goldsmith)

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