Are Introverts or Extroverts Better Leaders? Why the Best Ones Stop Trying to Pick

By Larry “Taterpop” Doxtater — 27-year U.S. Army officer, leadership educator, and certified John C. Maxwell coach

The honest answer to whether introverts or extroverts make better leaders is: neither — and the question itself is the trap. Decades of watching leaders taught me that the strongest ones aren’t more of a type. They’ve built the range to do what the moment actually requires. The quiet leader learns to turn inner stillness into outward influence. The outgoing leader learns to turn outward influence into inner stillness. Neither becomes the other. Both move toward the same place: the center.

I didn’t arrive at that from theory. I arrived at it from living on the wrong side of it for years.

Are Introverts or Extroverts Better Leaders? It Depends — Which Proves the Point

Ask whether introverts or extroverts are better leaders and the research gives you the least satisfying answer possible: it depends. And that dependence is exactly the insight. There is no fixed winner — the advantage flips based on the situation, which means adaptability, not temperament, is the real edge.

The clearest proof comes from a study by Adam Grant, Francesca Gino, and David Hofmann (Academy of Management Journal, 2011). They found that extroverted leaders got stronger results with passive teams that needed direction — but with proactive teams full of people bringing ideas, the advantage reversed. In one field study of pizza-delivery franchises, stores with proactive employees were roughly 14% more profitable under introverted managers than extroverted ones, because the quieter leaders were more receptive and made people feel heard. Same leaders, different context, opposite outcome. If either type were simply “better,” that couldn’t happen. The lesson isn’t “introverts win” or “extroverts win.” It’s that a leader locked into one mode will always meet a situation that mode can’t handle.

The Performative Extrovert and the Exhausted Introvert

The most expensive mistake isn’t being the wrong type — it’s performing a type that isn’t yours, all day, with no idea what it’s costing you. I know that one from the inside. I was born an introvert. Then the Army, leadership, and a life of standing in front of rooms pushed me into an extrovert’s world, and I learned to play the part well.

For years I was a performative extrovert running on the reserves of an exhausted introvert. I could command the room, work the crowd, project the energy — and then feel completely hollowed out afterward, needing to disappear to recharge in a way my performance never advertised. If that sounds familiar, you’re in a large club: Susan Cain, in Quiet, estimates that a third to a half of people are introverts, and a great many of them are quietly impersonating extroverts because they think leadership demands it. It doesn’t. But performing a temperament you don’t have burns energy you can’t afford — and it hides the real work, which isn’t acting like the other type. It’s building the part of yourself you’ve under-used.

Neither Becomes the Other — Both Build Range

The goal was never for the introvert to become an extrovert, or the reverse. The goal is range — deliberately developing the side of yourself you lean on least, so you can meet more of what leadership throws at you. You keep your natural strength. You add the capacity you’re missing.

That reframe changes what “growth” even means. If your natural home is reflection and stillness, your growth edge is outward — turning that rich inner world into visible influence, saying the thing instead of just thinking it. If your natural home is energy and presence, your growth edge is inward — building real comfort with stillness, listening longer than is comfortable, letting a silence do the work. Same destination, opposite directions of travel.

The Bridge to the Center

Picture the two temperaments not as opposites on a line, but as two sides of a bridge — and the leadership you’re after standing in the middle. That center isn’t a personality type. It’s a capability: the ability to be still and to act, to reflect and to influence, and to know which one the moment needs.

This is why this isn’t a book with an “introvert chapter” and an “extrovert chapter.” It’s one path for every leader, because both are walking toward the same middle from different ends. The introvert crosses toward influence. The extrovert crosses toward stillness. Where they meet is the steady, adaptable center from which the best leadership actually operates — full range, no performance required.

How to Build Your Missing Range

Building range starts with one honest diagnosis: which way do you default when you’re tired, stressed, or unsure? That default is your strength — and the opposite direction is your growth edge. You don’t overhaul your personality. You add one rep of the thing you avoid.

If you default inward, your rep is outward: in your next meeting, say the idea out loud within the first five minutes instead of waiting until you’ve perfected it. If you default outward, your rep is inward: ask one question and then stay quiet for a full ten seconds — let someone else fill the space. Neither is comfortable. That discomfort is the exact location of your growth. You’re not becoming someone else. You’re becoming more complete.

Your 5-Minute Practice

Here’s this week’s rep. First, name your default — inward or outward — in one honest sentence. Then pick the single opposite move you’ll make in your next real conversation: say it sooner (if you default inward) or stay quiet longer (if you default outward).

Afterward, reflect for sixty seconds: What did that cost me — and what did it open up? That small stretch, repeated, is how range gets built. Not by changing who you are, but by developing the half you’ve been neglecting.

Because the destination was never introversion or extroversion. It was the center — and The Sovereign Leader: A Practical Path to Clarity, Energy, and Self-Command is the full map to getting there.

Next week: the ten principles I didn’t invent — I recognized them — and how they surfaced only after I stopped trying to build a framework.

Which way do you default under pressure — and what would it cost you to build the other side?

Sources

• Grant, A. M., Gino, F., & Hofmann, D. A. “Reversing the Extraverted Leadership Advantage: The Role of Employee Proactivity.” Academy of Management Journal (2011) — extroverted leaders outperform with passive teams; introverted leaders outperform with proactive teams (field study of pizza franchises found ~14% higher profits under introverted managers when employees were proactive).
• Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012) — an estimated one-third to one-half of people are introverts.