What is a Dynamic Introvert?

What is a Dynamic Introvert?

“What is a dynamic introvert?” “What does the title of your book mean?” I was taken by surprise by Colleen’s questions. I thought about them for a moment and then I mumbled something unintelligible. As the author of The Dynamic Introvert and an introvert myself I should have had the answers on the tip of my tongue.

Colleen’s questions were “spot on” and my subconscious must have been on overdrive because shortly after I got back home, it hit me: the title of my book The Dynamic Introvert is a “play on words”. Perhaps not in the truest sense: according to Wikipedia a “play on words” is “a literary technique, a form of wit, in which the words that are used become the main focus of the book.”

I certainly didn’t intend for The Dynamic Introvert to be a comedy but I did intend for the title to be the focus on the book. I believe that introverts have been misunderstood for too long and that there is nothing funny about being an introvert when you feel overlooked and undervalued.

What I did intend though was to grab reader’s attention; to have them think about what it means to be an introvert and how our understanding of introverts and, in particular, introverted leaders is changing.

If I have learned one thing while researching and writing The Dynamic Introvert it is that we are all very different and none of us can be “pigeon holed”. Of course there are introverts who are quiet and reserved. These introverts may prefer their own company to the company of others. But most of the introverts I’ve met along the way defy the way introverts are typically portrayed.

So, back to the question what is a dynamic introvert?

One of the most brilliant descriptions of a dynamic introvert comes from Judy Curson, a physician and educator in the UK who wrote “I think many of us are dynamic. We just make less fuss and noise about being dynamic than some extraverts. Our energy and enthusiasm is often hidden from the external world.”

Many of us are dynamic in the way that Judy describes. We can be social and dynamic in the same way that extroverts can be dynamic. Words such as gregarious, outgoing, fun, interesting, and energetic could be used in place of dynamic here.

These are words that I would use to describe the many dynamic introverts who I know and who could easily be mistaken for extroverts. The difference is that these dynamic introverts need “down time” or time to recharge their batteries.

This spring Barry and I spent six days at Yellow Point Lodge on Vancouver Island. Yellow Point Lodge was built in the 1940s and hasn’t changed much over the years, or so I’m told. Guests stay in a variety of rustic cabins. Each cabin is strategically placed so that it faces a body of water called The Stuart Channel. There is also accommodation on the second floor of the main lodge. The main floor of the lodge consists of a large communal dining room, kitchen, offices and a great room which has windows on two sides and a massive stone fireplace on the third. This is where people congregate before and after meals and at any time during the day when they are not outdoors enjoying the spectacular scenery.

Meals in the dining room take place around large circular tables that seat 9 or 10 people. At each seating we have the opportunity to meet new people and interact with people we have gotten to know over the years.

On the surface it appears that the majority of guests are extroverts, due to their outgoing, friendly behavior. But I now know, having vacationed at Yellow Point Lodge for a number of years that things are not what they seem and in fact many of my fellow guests are in fact dynamic introverts. 

What is not so obvious, unless one looks for it, is that these introverted guests often disappear throughout the day to recharge their batteries. They quietly leave the group and return to their rooms or go for solitary walks in the woods.

Back to Colleen’s questions: What is a Dynamic Introvert? What does the title of the book mean? Is it a play on words or can  introverts be dynamic?