I’m blessed to be surrounded by amazing people.

I noticed a confusing trait of a group of people I work with:

They work extremely well with me, but they seemingly severely underperform with others.

That’s not to say that I’m a magician that brings out the best of them (the opposite is also true with other groups that I don’t work well with, different people work well with different people)

The group I’m talking about though usually don’t shine in traditional professional settings, so I thought I’d highlight this.

These people are absolute gems though when they’re in their zone. Their potential is unleashed, and they’re hungry. They come across as these underdogs that very much appreciate being listened to, since most companies/leaders wouldn’t.

They often share these 2 traits:

• Introverted
• Agreeable

It almost sounds like these 2 traits would cripple you from thriving in the workplace.

How would you engage and be heard if you get drained from social interactions and engaging in debates?

I think there’s so much potential in such people.

Here’s the thing: most workplaces would marginalize these personalities

They would reward the loudest, most disagreeable voice

Disagreeable people seem more confident because they’re willing to put a half baked opinion out there and not shy away from disagreeing and defending it. If they’re also extroverted, they’d have no issues doing this all week long.

Agreeable introverts on the other hand would accept ‘defeat’ and walk away, simply because they’re not comfortable engaging in such debates. They find them very uncomfortable and not worthy.

The best people I’ve ever worked with would sometimes not voice their opinions until they’re asked to.

But you know what happens when you ask them? Magical things.

Those who don’t speak often have the most to say.

Let that sink in.

In an extreme example, with one of the best engineers I’ve worked with, I developed this rule that I shared with people who came to work with him in the future:

If you want to talk to this guy, you have to get comfortable with awkward silence. You need to ask a question and then stop talking for 60 seconds. Just shut up. Once he feels comfortable, he will talk. And boy, will he have good things to say…

I’ve also worked with people who don’t get this. They don’t work well with these people at all.

I’m writing this as a reference for me to share with them in the future.

Stop talking. Truly, genuinely listen. Only then you’d be able to get them to open up to you. And believe me, that is extremely valuable..

Otherwise, these people will never really ‘talk’ to you, and you’d be losing out on a great resource.