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The Introvert Leader’s Survival Guide

3. Surround yourself with extroverted leaders.

I’ve always been vigilant about stacking my teams with typological balance. Besides, when I’m slowing down, I love watching them jitter into action.

4. Read books about Introversion.

Don’t let your introversion be an excuse. Learn how to maximize its benefits and mitigate its weaknesess. Self-awareness is the bedrock of emotional intelligence.

That’s why we force all of our staff to virtually memorize Myers-Briggs books like Type Talk or Please Understand Me. With a simple test I can actually predict a huge number of things about you—even which of you “hate personality tests.”

Another book I recently devoured was Quiet, by Susan Cain (and much of the research in this blog comes from there).

Lastly,

5. Don’t let anyone look down on you.

People constantly make me feel bad for not spending more time with them. I used to live with a chronic feeling of guilt that I wasn’t meeting more people. Almost once a month, someone “leaves the church” because I didn’t remember them or I didn’t have the time to meet with them. (And even extroverted pastors have to deal with this.)

Like Jesus, you too will be overwhelmed by the masses of people who are like “sheep without a shepherd.” People guilted Christ for retreating to “lonely places.” That’s why Jesus commanded us to “pray for harvest workers.” No matter how many people you meet, it’s not enough. Even Jesus’ family got angry about his availability.

And don’t get me wrong: You do need to prioritize family above flock; but, in a world that needs Jesus, you will never be enough. Don’t try to be the savior of the world—no matter what personality you have. The world will simply have to learn how to appreciate just you.  

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peterhaas@churchleaders.com'
Although only in his mid-30's Pastor Peter Haas has already become a well known pastor, author and conference speaker. After experiencing a radical conversion to Christianity while working in a nightclub as a rave-d.j., Peter has travelled the world sharing about God's miraculous passion. Since relocating to Minneapolis Minnesota in 2004, Peter planted an arts-oriented multi-site church called Substance. In just a few short years, Substance has become one of the fastest growing and most youthful mega-churches churches in the United States. Over 70% of the thousands who participate in their community are under 30 years old.