I’m a deep introvert, and there have been times in my consulting career where I left a meeting concerned that I had not managed to speak up enough. But when I was at Harvard Business School—where 50% of your grade depends on class participation—introversion wasn’t a problem for me.
What can we learn from this, especially about creating high-performing teams on which everyone participates on roughly an equal basis?
HBS works on the case method. All students come into class knowing they may be called on to answer the professor’s “cold call” question. All know they are obligated to participate, whether that means taking the initiative to speak up or responding intelligently when called upon.
The HBS method gets most people to participate on a roughly equal basis. Professionals who lead teams or meetings in a business setting don’t do as well. The quiet voices are often quiet. The loud voices are seldom quiet.
On highly effective teams, everyone participates equally. As a leader, you might consider stealing a page from the HBS playbook: set the expectation that everyone comes prepared to speak and participate. To reinforce this message, tie compensation to participation. If that’s the way the culture works—and the leader operates this way—even an introvert like me will opt in.