Does your socializing get in the way of core responsibilities?
Extroverts waste the most time. In case you find that sentence emotionally triggering, let me clarify what I mean.
Based on my informed experience coaching hundreds of senior executives, among introverts, ambiverts, and extroverts, in general, it is extroverts who waste the most time. I say it’s an informed opinion because I see their personality assessments, listen to their struggles, and see their calendars.
There are also numerous studies showing a link between extroversion and procrastination. A simple Google Scholar search on “extroversion and procrastination” returns over 6,000 studies, including the humorously titled, “Read this paper later: procrastination with time-consistent preferences.”
And if you’d like to feel better about my claim, please know that it is extroverts who, in general, also have the most potential for massive increases in productivity. Extroversion is also a very positive trait correlated to leadership emergence and employee engagement, among other things.
But Can You Get to the Point
I knew David very well as we both served on the board of a local non-profit. I knew he was a sales director at a pharmaceutical company, and he knew that my company LEADx provided executive coaching and leadership development. When he asked for a phone call, I scheduled 30 minutes with him based on our relationship, but I had no idea what he wanted to talk about.
Our call began with standard pleasantries. We talked about our forthcoming family vacations, some venting about our board work, the economy, and even how badly the Sixers mess up their draft picks. (Oh, to have landed Jason Tatum.)
As our half-hour time came to an end, and we didn’t discuss anything but personal matters, I was confused but assumed he had just wanted to talk as friends.
“Well, David, it was great catching up,” I said.
“Oh, shoot,” he replied. “I didn’t realize we were at time. Hey, the reason I asked for the call was that I was wondering if you’d be willing to coach me. Like as an official client.”
I was startled and said, “Oh, well, of course. But what’s going on? Like, why are you looking for a coach?”
“I’m really struggling. I feel overwhelmed. Just can’t keep up. I know you wrote a book about time management, so I thought you could help.”
What I sarcastically thought but didn’t say out loud was: Oh, you’re struggling with productivity? I’m shocked. It only took you an entire half hour to get to the actual point of the call. Which actually could have been done in a two-sentence email. (Those are the unkind thoughts we introverts often have.)
The first thing I do with clients is to have them take either the Hogan or LEADx Big 5 personality assessment. In David’s case, as I surmised, he scored very high on Extraversion. He was very sociable and gets energy from socializing.
I worked with David for three months. He was smart and actually very organized. He thought he just needed some new productivity tips, like how to prioritize his task list or which fancy new app he should download from the app store. But he quickly realized that his natural extroversion extended to some unchallenged beliefs:
- It’s rude not to socialize in calls and meetings
- Business is about relationships, so building relationships was a top priority
- If Tom Peter’s Management By Walking Around (MBWA) is a good idea, the more walking around (virtually) the better
- You should always take “Got a minute” meetings because it’s good to have an open-door policy
- Everyone likes hearing stories and talking about sports
- Socializing made him feel good, which was a form of self-care
Through our work, David came to his own realization that great leaders balance productivity and energy. They learn to modulate their personality (whether introverted or extroverted) to take advantage of their natural strengths while minimizing the potential for derailing.
Not Everything Has To Be A Meeting!
Like the old David, for many people, whatever it is they want to accomplish, they want to do it through a meeting. These are some of the counter-productive phone calls and Zoom calls my team has been scheduled on in the last week alone:
- Meeting to answer the question if we support SSO. (Yes, we do.)
- Meeting to schedule time for a phone call to discuss our support process. (Here’s our Calendly link.)
- Meeting to explain payment terms. (90 days, yes, we know.)
- Meeting to learn what questions I’ll ask when interviewing someone for Forbes. (Here is the list of questions.)
Many meetings are necessary; well-run meetings are invaluable. And if the goal is deepening social ties and breaking down silos, go ahead and burn two days at an off-site retreat!
But if the goal is to increase productivity, reducing meetings and increasing meeting efficiency is a great place to start.
Self-Coaching Questions for Extroverts
Are you happy with your level of productivity? If so, keep doing what you’re doing! But if you are feeling overworked and overwhelmed, consider the following:
- Look at your calendar for the upcoming week—especially the recurring meetings. Do you really need to attend all the meetings you plan to attend? If not, decline them.
- Look at the meetings you have called others to. Do you really need to meet, or can the objective of the meeting be accomplished through email, Teams, or Slack?
- Look at the meetings you’ve called for: How can you make them shorter? Can you trim your one-hour meetings down to half-hour? Can your half-hour meeting be cut to 15 minutes?
- Look at all your scheduled phone calls and Zoom meetings. Do you really need these conversations to be live calls, or can they be emails?
- How much time are you spending “recharging” during the day by socializing, texting friends, or surfing social media?
- How long are your emails? How many sentences are you writing? Can they be shorter? Most emails from C-level executives are more like text messages. They state the point or action item at the very beginning and give only the most important supporting details.
Wherever you land on the Introversion-Extraversion scale, you may find a sudden boost in your productivity if you pause long enough to become intentional about your socializing. When is it beneficial, and when is it getting in the way of core responsibilities?
Kevin Kruse is the New York Times bestselling author of 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management and the Founder + CEO of LEADx, a coaching and training company that scales behavior change among leaders.
