Why we need introverted leaders | Angela Hucles | TEDxBend

Athletes train to be their best by tapping into their "inner-introvert" and finding moments to lead. Hucles, two-time Olympic gold medalist, reveals why the special qualities introverts contribute to teams is invaluable for success.

Hucles is President of the Women's Sports Foundation and regular speaker on topics of sports leadership, equality, inclusion and safe spaces, anti-bullying, and the power of sport and its impact on personal growth and development. She is a member of the Advisory Board for "You Can Play", a campaign dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

I believe we all have the capacity
to be great leaders.

What's important is the act
of being a leader

and discovering
our moments to lead in life.

Being prepared for leadership moments
means making the choices

that will ultimately put you
in a position to succeed

when given the opportunity.

Teams in sports, teams in business,

even family teams
need to have strong leadership

to collectively reach desired outcomes.

Ninety-six percent of leadership positions

are filled with extroverted individuals
with extroverted qualities.

Only 50% of the population
actually identifies as being an extrovert.

That other half, the introverts,
supply only 4% of our leaders.

As an introvert, who has held
leadership positions

on teams that I've played for,
as well as being

the President of the Women's
Sports Foundation,

it seems to me that supplying
the vast majority of our leaders

with only half of the population
is a bit short-sighted.

Imagine a group made up
of only extroverts.

(Laughter)

Now imagine a group
made up of only introverts.

Isn't it the blend of the two
that really creates the best space?

Energy, enthusiasm, excitement,
combined with groundedness,

the ability to listen,
and strength and calm.

Can introverts lead too?

Yes, we can.

Today, I want to tell you
how we can create the conditions

to make that happen.

As an introvert,
I definitely need my downtime,

especially after being
around large groups.

I remember when I was seven years old
and was working on a class assignment.

The school bell rang signaling for recess

which was one
of my favorite times of the day.

I jumped up to go grab my coat.
The teacher turned to me and said,

"Angela, you can't go outside yet,
you haven't finished your assignment.

You can either finish it now
or you stay inside the classroom."

Well, that's what she said.
It wouldn't be until I was an adult

that I understood what she meant
was to stay inside the classroom

until you finish your assignment.

I loved the feeling of running around
the school playground and that freedom.

There was something quite peaceful

right after all of my classmates
had left the room.

In that moment, I observed
this peace, this quiet.

I remember there was sun
streaming in from the window

and this feeling of energy
flowing back to me.

This is my earliest memory

of enjoying and needing that quiet
and recharging time as an introvert.

You can imagine my surprise
when I turned to the teacher

and said I was just fine staying
inside the classroom

to wait until recess was over,
instead of doing my assignment.

She escorted me right
down to the principal's office.

(Laughter)

I wasn't trying to be
sassy or troublesome.

I was in that moment
expressing what I actually needed,

and wound up getting in trouble for it.

Have you ever been misunderstood before?

Or felt dishonored
like I did by my teacher?

Maybe you're an extrovert,

and someone told you
to stop talking so much and be quiet.

Or maybe you're an introvert

and someone said
to speak up more and participate.

That craving and desire of stillness
was a sign of my introverted self.

It was an example of how,

even though at times
introverts may be quieter than others,

less likely to dive head-on into conflict,

we can still maintain a very strong will.

There is still a passion residing
in an introverted soul,

even if he or she may be
more reserved most of the time.

It's the time of solitude when introverts
can draw upon their strength to lead,

to find courage,

which can later be displayed
once our teammates,

work colleagues, classmates
return from that playground.

Have you ever needed a time
just to regroup or recharge yourself?

Maybe you are at work
and disappear to a bathroom stall,

or maybe you just needed
to step outside for a walk alone.

It's during those times of solitude,

and really that strength
and power within its quiet,

where we can draw upon
our strength to lead, to find courage,

which can later be displayed
once everyone gets back to the room.

There was a very special time
back in 2008.

It was the 2008 Summer Olympics,
I was playing for the US soccer team,

and we won.

(Applause and cheering)

We placed first and earned gold
at the Beijing Summer Olympics.

As a gold medalist in soccer,
and every player in that roster

can then rock some gold bling
around her neck,

I was also the Silver Boot winner.

Meaning I was the second
leading goal scorer

in the entire Olympics for women's soccer.

(Applause)

Thank you.

Additionally, I was the US team's
leading goal scorer

for that Olympics that year.

(Applause)

And that is the extroverted
version of this story.

I still struggle expressing
that version of the story to this day.

Does anyone else here
get a little bit squeamish

when they have to talk about
their own accomplishments?

The irony is that with the success
my team and I shared at that Olympics,

it's a bittersweet memory for me.

Behind the success, there was stress.

There was anxiety
and a really big fear to overcome.

The leading and driving force
of our 2008 Olympic Team

was our forward, Abby Wambach.

She was the energy, she was the engine,

and that vocal extroverted
leader of our team.

Leading up to the Olympics,
before we even flew over to China,

we played a practice game,
called a friendly match, versus Brazil.

During that match, our extroverted leader,

whose energy was really large enough
to fill a 100,000-seated stadium,

Abby Wambach goes into
the tackle and breaks her leg.

She would no longer be able to compete
in the Olympics with us that year,

and we were devastated.

Not only were we incredibly upset
to lose our fearless leader,

but we didn't really have
a plan B without her.

And the time when we needed to be
at our peak and the most focused,

we had feelings of nervousness

on top of what we were
already naturally feeling

about competing in the Olympics.

Our first game in the Olympics,
we faced Norway.

Fifty-nine seconds
into the start of the game,

Norway scores a goal.

Three minutes later,
Norway scores a second goal.

We would eventually get a goal later on
in the match, but it wouldn't be enough,

and we lost our opening game
at the Olympics: 2-1.

All those fears that we had,

all of the comments
from doubting reporters

questioning our ability
to not only defend our title,

but to make it out of group play,

really started to bubble up
to the surface of our team.

What would you think in this situation
if you were part of this team?

Can you think back to a time

whether in work, or family,
or even a sports event,

when the stakes where extremely high
and you faced this moment of truth?

What did you do?

Well, my team had to make a choice:

to step into the defeat
that was staring us in the face,

or step into the opposite direction,
towards that Olympic podium.

We had a defining moment.

Our focus and our mentality switched.

So, what did we do?

We let go of that first loss
against Norway.

We put it behind us.

We decided to commit
and trust in our abilities,

trust in our preparation.

We individually and collectively
seized our moment to lead.

We understood that each of us
had a larger responsibility to fulfill,

not to be relied upon
just one extroverted leader.

So we stepped onto the field
with an elevated sense of confidence,

an elevated responsibility,
because we had to.

We needed to use our leadership qualities

in order to stand a chance
of reaching our ultimate goal.

Throughout that Olympics, we were tasked
to gain confidence in the media

and others that doubted our abilities.

But more importantly, we played in a way
to give us confidence for ourselves.

The majority of my career and time
with the US national team,

I was a reserve,
a bench player coming into games.

Throughout my life, I had some coaches

encouraging me to act
like other players at times

instead of myself.

At this Olympics, it was
a very special opportunity.

You see, the year before this Olympics
was our World Cup year.

I was one of only two players to not play
a single minute in that entire tournament.

However, this Olympics,

this introvert was being asked to start

and to play in place of the most
extroverted leader of our team,

Abby Wambach.

During this leadership crisis,

no teammate, no coach

asked me to play, talk,
or be like someone else.

They understood what I needed.

They allowed me to be me.

The space being created
allowed me to play or recover

however made me feel the best.

And that allowed me to perform my best.

I started noticing the same things
out of my other teammates as well,

whether a starter or reserve,
typically vocal or typically quiet.

People were stepping into their roles
and responsibilities freely,

and something magical began to happen.

People were starting

to step into their leadership roles
and responsibilities.

The energy and cohesion of our team
started to form in a new way,

at the perfect time.

What first felt like a devastating loss,
from Abby's injury and that wake-up call

from the loss against Norway,

we transformed it
into a collective victory.

By individually stepping into
our own unique leadership positions

and each seizing the moment to lead,

we were able to have every single player
on that US soccer team that year

stepping up onto the podium
with a gold medal around her neck

after the final whistle blow.

The New York Times
recently published an article

entitled: "What Google Learned
From its Quest to Build the Perfect Team."

A common behavior
the most successful team shared

had an equality in the distribution
of conversational turn-taking.

The other finding was that teams
had a high average social sensitivity.

In essence, individuals on teams

felt psychologically safe and secure
to be themselves, to speak up,

and feelings of mutual trust and respect.

My 2008 Olympic journey
was my first-hand experience

in showing me exactly
what that research talks about.

It doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't matter what position or title
you might currently hold.

It doesn't even matter
what personality you have.

Our greatest chance of success,
of having a happy home life,

of reaching our quotas
with our teams at work,

or making it to an Olympic podium,

comes from each of us
having the opportunity

to contribute to the conversation.

I don't know the breakdown in percentage

of how many extroverts versus introverts
there were in that Olympic team.

But what I do know is that
there was a space that opened up,

one in which allowed
an introvert like myself

an opportunity to display leadership.

At the beginning of this talk, I mentioned
that 96% of leadership positions

are filled with extroverted individuals,
with extroverted qualities,

and only 50% of the population
identifies with being an extrovert.

If we continue to fill 96%
of all our leadership positions

with only half of the population,

are we truly operating
at our best potential?

We all have unique abilities.

How would things change
if we open up the space for everyone

to feel psychologically safe
and secure to be themselves?

No matter who you are,
each and every one of us has the ability

to tap into our passion itself,
into our strong wills,

and when the moment comes
we'll be prepared.

Let's make sure that we focus

on creating and opening
the space for one another,

no matter what type of "vert" we may be,

so that any one of us is ready
for that moment to lead.

Thank you.

(Applause)