Most corporate environments are designed with extroverts in mind. From weekly meetings that encourage quick and frequent contributions to brainstorming sessions demanding on-the-spot idea generation, many workplaces are tailored to the characteristics of the extrovert.

It's not just our work environments either. Our reward systems favor the outgoing as well. As noted in the Harvard Business review, extroverts are paid more, promoted faster and rated more positively than introverts in the workplace. In other words, it's an extroverts world and introverts are just living in it. But being an extrovert doesn't necessarily make you more effective. In her book Quiet, the Power of Introverts in a world That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain notes that we tend to overestimate how outgoing leaders need to be. Susan referenced a study by BYU management Professor, Bradley Agle of 128 major companies. He found that "those considered charismatic by their top executives had bigger salaries but not better corporate performance." The data in his study matches what we see anecdotally as well. Steve Jobs was charismatic beyond belief. But under the more reserved Tim Cook, Apple's performance has also been extraordinary. For every Richard Branson, there is a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet who is equally if not more successful at their craft.

But what causes some introverted leaders to outperform their extroverted counterparts? How can anyone leverage the characteristics of introverts to improve the impact of their leadership?

Harness Your Observation Skills

Patrick Mouratoglou sat across from his therapist in silence. Week after week for an entire year he could not say a single word. To say that Patrick was introverted at that age would be an understatement. As a child, Patrick says that he was "...totally unable to socialize". He had extreme anxiety and a difficult time connecting with others. But what Patrick lacked in socialization skills he made up for in observational skills. "I observed and listened to others all the time trying to figure out their emotions." says Patrick. And as he got older, he realize that this skill allowed him to be more effective as a coach. It allowed him to see pass the tough images his players portrayed and to get to core of what they needed. "We live in a world where people are faking all day long.",says Patrick. "And as a coach you need to know what people really think... The information comes from every where. All day long. And when I have all this information of the puzzle, I can begin to make a plan."

Patrick is not alone. In leadership, psychologists note that introverts appear to think more carefully than extroverts. As Susan Cain notes, Extroverts are more likely to trade accuracy for speed as they move quickly into solution mode when facing a problem. On the other hand, "introverts think before they act, digest information thoroughly, stay on task longer, give up less easily and work more accurately." While both of these approaches have their place, the complexities of many industries tend to favor the introspective and persistent qualities of the introvert.

Learning to harness the observation skills of the introvert can strengthen the performance of any leader. One practical way to become more observant is to set aside time for it. For example, leaders often take center stage during team meetings. While this is natural, it is more difficult to listen and observe when you are facilitating. However, you can set aside a portion of any meeting and dedicate it to listening to others. You not only let your team shine during these moments, but you get a chance to observe your team as they lead and the develop.

Bring the Best Out of Others

Adam Grant conducted a study of the impacts that introverts and extroverts leaders have on their teams. In the study, two teams were challenged to fold as many t-shirts as possible within 10 minutes. The teams, led by either an introvert or an extrovert, unknowingly had an actor assigned to them. On the first team, the actor was passive and went along with the group. On the other team, the actor actively made suggestions on how the group could fold t-shirts more quickly. The actor would tell the team that his method would take a minute or two to learn, but that it would be faster in the end. "Do we want to try it?", the actor would ask. Susan Cain points out that "the introverted leaders were 20 percent more likely" to the follow the suggestion of the actor. And as a result, the teams led by the introverts had results that were 24 percent better than the teams led by the extrovert. When the actor was passive, however, the teams of the extroverted leader performed better.

What we learned from this is that introverted leaders often tend to step back and let others take the spotlight. While extroverted leaders excel at energizing more passive teams, their introverted counterparts often shine when managing engaged, talented, and idea-rich teams. Under this leadership style, the best ideas have a better chance of surfacing to the top. Steve Job once said, "It does not make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people to tell us what to do." Introverted leaders often adopt this approach unconsciously. However, any leader, regardless of their natural disposition, can achieve this by being willing to step aside and let the team's ideas flow freely."

Learning to get out of the way so that you team can shine is one of the best ways to harness the power of the introverted leader. A practical approach is to make sure you create methods for more introverted team members to participate. For example, while extroverts may enjoy brainstorming sessions, other team members may come up with better ideas when they have time to process their ideas. You can have the best of both worlds by sending out the agenda prior to your meeting. This will allow introverts to think through some ideas before coming to the meeting. This will help create an even better session as more of your team will be participating.

Stick With It

It's not that I'm so smart...", Einstein once said, "It's that I stay with problems longer". Research shows that introverts are more likely to stick with a problem longer before giving up. For example, Susan Cain shared that when introverts and extroverts were given an intelligence test that had problems of increasingly difficulty, the introverts did significantly better at the most difficult problems. It's not that introverts are smarter than extroverts. But when faced with problem sets that require persistence, research shows that introverts tend to fair better. Why is this? One reason is that introverts are known for their deep focus. When given a maze, introverts will spend more time analyzing the maze before entering it. They are methodical even when in the midst of the maze itself. They are constantly reevaluating their current position and their next best move. What happens if I turn left, right, or go straight?

It's not hard to see why this would be beneficial in leadership. After all, not all problems can be solved quickly. And some problems require more than intuition to handle. To develop the power of the introvert, we have to be willing to stay present with a problem until it's resolved or considered no longer essential.

In many ways, our world was built to highlight the strengths of the extroverted leader. But if we look closely, they are many areas that we can learn from the introverted leader. By harnessing our observation skills, getting out of the way of our teams and sticking with a problem longer, we can take our leadership even further.