Introverts

Introverts are boring and timid ?

Few months back I was working with an organization as an HR Manager in India. Just like many of my batch mates after completing my MBA, I was excited to start my career once again. I come from a humble family in North India and to my delight joined a diverse team in South India. Diverse not only in terms of North and South regions but also religion, cuisine, climate, and gender. On our first day after our orientation and meet-up with other B-school graduates we went for dinner and partying.

In the diverse mix of girls and boys I found myself completely different as I don’t smoke, drink or eat non-veg but this feeling was a regular feeling for me. I think I met some of the best and most memorable people in my life during my MBA. I was accepted by them as I was and yes even that wasn’t easy. I was confident I’ll mingle up with others in few days as I managed before.

Next day we were given our job roles and a very senior leader in the organization asked the group “Who was the most boring person in the party yesterday?” Of course you guessed it right …It was me. I wasn’t sure how to react. My mind was rushing to frame sentences but my facial expressions didn’t support me and I couldn’t utter a word. That was the start to two years of hard work during MBA.

Was it really my fault that I have to face such a situation? Yes with little bit of training my mind I could have handled the situation much better but is it fair for the society to treat anyone this way? Was that leader good enough to ask such a question on our first day at work? Maybe that leader was looking for a bold person who could speak up in front of other people. What about people who are introverts ? Does this mean introverts would have to keep struggling to be visible since it doesn’t come easy to them. They have their own strengths. I was not able to find answers to these questions till now and would like to know if you also faced a similar situation in your office environment?

6 thoughts on “Introverts are boring and timid ?”

    1. Hi Audrey,

      I was completely taken aback by that one question in a room full of my colleagues. After that incident on the first day at work, nothing worked out for me. I was always mocked at and told that I am slow, I don’t have passion in me. I tried to survive at a place where my boss passed remarks on how she is an ingrown resource so her salary is less than the market standard. If being at a junior position I was earning more, then was it my fault that the organization had such policies. But I felt the brunt of it. My self-confidence was gone, I used to think there was no meaning in life. I decided to move on from such an environment. My last day at work was in Feb just before the covid-19 started all over the world. It has become so difficult for me to get a job now. Sometimes I just can’t take it anymore. Some days I try to motivate myself to have faith on God and patience to get out of this situation. I still don’t know when will things improve. But yes one thing is for sure if I stay alive and work, I would be a better person to manage my juniors.
      Thank you Audrey for reading my blog. It means a lot to me. I feel no one understands me at this moment and question my own ability will I be able to make through this low phase in my life alive.

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  3. Too many leaders that shouldn’t be anywhere near that responsibility. Judging you without getting to know you doesn’t help either. Stay strong

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  4. Thank you SJ for the motivation. I feel alive as a person with feelings when people can understand me. I am working on myself doing meditation, exercises, yoga, learning driving, reading and painting. All things which I wanted to do but never had enough time. I have faith on God and trust that after this negative phase there is a beautiful life ahead which God has planned for me and I need to respect that by keeping myself well. I am on the path to being the same positive smiling girl as I was and soon would do well in life.

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