Recent research illustrates that in spite of numerous innovations across the public sector in the UK , leadership and leadership succession planning in the remain problematic. There are many reasons why clinicians are often reluctant to take on leadership roles, particularly within certain specialities. There is ample evidence that leaders in public and private sector organisations based in the UK are often more extraverted, creating a social norm that conflates effective leadership with extroversion. Despite the UK population being roughly evenly split between introverts and extroverts, introverts are underrepresented in leadership positions in the public sector. This underrepresentation can be attributed to various factors: individual traits of introverts, cultural and societal perceptions of introverted leadership, and systemic organisational processes that hinder introverts from advancing into leadership roles and normalise extroverted leadership, thus perpetuating organisational norms.
The impact of such barriers varies by industry or sector. Some organisations, such as sales, tend to have more extroverted cultures, attracting more extroverts. Conversely, other sectors are more distinctly introverted (research, finance) and are populated by individuals manifesting this preference. However, even in fields that attract introverts, obstacles to leadership emergence persist, due to, for example, organisational cultures and hiring practices.
How and whether self-perceived introverts emerge as leaders is a relatively underexplored, yet important area of research and knowledge exchange that has the potential to create significant impact in relation to the ways that individuals are recruited and developed as leaders (Baxter, Patent & Winter, in progress; Patent & Baxter, 2024; Baxter, 2023). The aims and objectives of our project can be found below.
Aims and objectives:
- Identify barriers to leadership in self-perceived Introverts (SPIs) and develop strategies for improving factors that can enhance introverted leadership emergence
- Assess the experiences and perceptions of Introverts in the organisation of leadership career trajectory
- Consider training perspectives, organisational entry, career trajectory and career appraisal, as pivotal enablers or barriers
- Analyse, perceptions regarding leadership within the organisation, using self and organisational norms and attributes.
Professor Jacqueline Baxter EDd MA PGCE PFHEA CMBE Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences 