'Ambiverts'

"There are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't." -- Robert Benchley

This recent piece in The Washington Post (via @danbenjamin) reminded me that the world is more than extroverts and introverts. Extroverts have tended to dominate the culture, for obvious reasons, but there has been a quiet and growing appreciation for introverts in recent years. But extreme introverts do have their challenges.

Well, there is a third way of being. There are also "ambiverts," people who display qualities of both groups. Research success they are more successful than the other two types of people. From The Post:

Extroverts can talk too much and listen too little. They can overwhelm others with the force of their personalities. Sometimes they care too deeply about being liked and not enough about getting tough things done.

But the answer — whether you’re pushing Nissans on a car lot or leading a major nonprofit or corporation — isn’t to lurch to the opposite end of the spectrum. Introverts have their own challenges. They can be too shy to initiate, too skittish to deliver unpleasant news and too timid to close the deal. Ambiverts, though, strike the right balance. They know when to speak up and when to shut up, when to inspect and when to respond, when to push and when to hold back.