Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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Business Basics by D ili a Nardu zzi Managing your personality W hen Hunt Slade—co-owner of Safehouse Coffee Roasters in the greater Atlanta area—interacts with employees, straightforwardness is key. "I try to stay assertive but thoughtful," he says. "If an issue arises or they have ideas about how to solve problems in their department, I spend the majority of time listening to them and asking questions so both they and I understand the issue better." It stands to reason that Slade takes this method; while he calls himself distinctly introverted in his personal life, he has worked to be more handson when it comes to his business. "The requirements of my career have pushed me over the years to gravitate more to the ambivert middle of the spectrum," he says. Slade knows that his personality style shapes the approach he takes to his work in specialty coffee. Identifying as an introvert, extrovert or even an ambivert (someone who embodies the characteristics of both) is an important piece of information to know about yourself, and it influences not just how you interact with and manage employees but how others perceive you in your role as a small-business leader. Research is beginning to shed new light on the topic: The recently published book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts" by Susan Cain touts the often-undervalued characteristics of introverts in many areas of life, while an academic study published in The Academy of Management Journal in 2010 found that introverted leaders 28 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com are more successful than extroverted ones when they are managing proactive employees. More and more, the quiet-but-effective introvert is proving to hold distinct advantages when it comes to business leadership. If you haven't taken a personality test lately, how do you know which category you fall into? At its core, the difference between introversion and extroversion has to do with how people gain and drain energy, says Beth Buelow, who runs a coaching service called The Introvert Entrepreneur. "An introvert gains energy in solitude and drains energy during social interaction," she says. "Introverts also come across as reflective and thoughtful. On the negative side, introverts can appear aloof or unapproachable due to being reserved." Extroverts, on the other hand, are expressive individuals and are more likely to jump into things without thinking, says Buelow, which can be a good thing or a liability, depending on the context. And then there are ambiverts—typically introverts who are able to appear outwardly extroverted when the situation requires them to perform. Slade's ability to adopt ambiversion in his work at Safehouse is an example of a leader who has adapted his natural introversion to the demands of a particular environment. The common belief is that extroversion is ideal for leadership. "There are many popular assumptions, particularly in the West, that see effective leadership as demonstrative, extroverted,