Emma Taggart

Are you responsible for leading teams or projects but inside you don't feel like a leader?

You don't have to question if you have what it takes when you reframe how you think about leadership, and stop comparing yourself to out-dated stereotypes.

For years I doubted my ability, despite evidence I could lead:

At university, I co-led the student wing of a political party.

At work, I was rapidly promoted to management.

At 31, I joined the senior leadership team of a breast cancer charity.

But I didn’t feel like a leader 🤔

It took years to recognise my leadership qualities. I couldn’t see my quiet, unassuming style reflected around me.

Comparing myself to bold, outgoing, 'charismatic' people, I believed I had to be more like them.

Then I stopped thinking I had to match the traditional idea of a leader and everything changed.

Instead, I paid attention to the excellent results of my team, and started thinking differently about what makes a good leader.

Self-doubt evaporated. I was free to focus on what mattered, which was improving services for people with breast cancer.

Do you doubt yourself because you don’t fit the traditional mould?

If that's you, there's three things you need to do:

1. Focus on your strengths more than your weaknesses. (If you don't know what your strengths are, find out!)

2. Collect evidence that you're good at your job. (For example, you could stick every scrap of positive feedback you receive in a file and scroll through it when you need a confidence boost.)

3. Challenge and change any unhelpful beliefs you might have about leadership.

You’d have to be living on another planet not to have heard about introverts. But how do you know if you are one?

It’s easy to misunderstand what it means to be introverted. It’s probably not what you think!

Here's my list of 14 ways introversion shows up at work that you may not be aware of.

Number 8 is my biggest bugbear. What's yours?

14 Ways Introversion Shows up at Work (That You Might Not Be Aware Of) — Emma Taggart | Introvert Coach You’d have to be living on another planet not to have heard about introverts. But how do you know if you are one?

Do you beat yourself up for being too quiet in meetings?

‘Emma is doing well but is very reserved’.

That’s what my school reports used to say. I could never fathom what was supposed to be so terrible about being reserved. The 'but' tells you everything you need to know about my teachers' attitude!

Every year it was ‘you’re too quiet’ and ‘speak up more’. So many people I work with get told the same thing now at work.

One person was even told by their manager, ‘You need to be more extravert if you want to progress’ 😡

Seriously, what is this s**t?!

There are times when you need to speak up at work. It's a valuable skill to learn how to do that with confidence when you want and need to.

But don’t bloody well tell me - or anyone else - that my career depends on how often and how much I talk.

There’s zero correlation between who talks most and who has the best ideas or gets things done.

How about instead of complaining that you're ‘too quiet’ people asked why you're not saying much?

Guaranteed it’s often because meetings favour an extraverted style of communication. It excludes you and everyone else with a more reflective style.

The bottom line is this:
⭐️ Extraverts prefer to think out loud, by speaking
⭐️ Introverts prefer to think before we speak, reflecting inwardly first
⭐️ No one is ‘too quiet’ (or ‘too loud’)

Next time someone says you’re ‘too quiet’, try this. Tell them what they could do to make it easier for you to get a word in edgeways.

Like sharing the agenda in advance so you can prepare for the discussion. Or chairing meetings better so everyone gets a chance to speak. Or creating short pauses to enable reflectors to gather their thoughts. I could go on...

YOU get to decide when to speak and when to stay quiet.

And you deserve a workplace that respects your style. Everyone loses when your rich thoughts never leave your head.

BETH'S STORY: PROMOTION IN 7 MONTHS

Beth was promoted to a more senior role as a sustainability director just 7 months after starting work with me.

In February 2023 she was feeling a bit stuck in her career. Frustrated because she felt she could do more. But also lacking confidence in her abilities. Doubting herself.

Beth always felt she wasn’t cut out for a leadership role because of her personality and character traits. She was intrigued to see there’s another way of being a leader that doesn’t involve being extroverted all the time.

Beth wanted to step up, but not for the power. She wanted to tackle climate change, fulfil her potential and be more satisfied at work.

To achieve that she wanted to suffer less from impostor feelings.

So we boosted Beth’s confidence using the Hidden Strengths Analysis. A simple yet powerful exercise to uncover less obvious strengths and explore how to use them at work. A focus on strengths means less time worrying about stuff that doesn’t come easily.

Then Beth learned how to flip negative thoughts about herself and her potential. Now she could tell a more positive story about her career.

Beth realised that the story she was telling herself was a set of beliefs she was holding on to as gospel truth. They had started to constrain how she operated:

“It’s those assumptions that were putting limits on me rather than my abilities, intellect or leadership style.”

Without coaching, Beth says when the promotion came up she’d have gone, ‘I can’t do that’. Coaching meant she was in a better place to see it as a good opportunity.

Send me an email if you'd like to find out more about working together.

Be more feline 😻

When was the last time you asked for what you need at work?

Cats don’t have any trouble asking for what they want.

My cat Archie is a pro at letting out a practised miaow whenever he wants more food, or cuddles!

Archie doesn’t always get what he wants - I can’t just drop everything for him to sit on my lap for hours.

But he doesn’t hesitate to ask. And when I say no he doesn’t make it mean anything, he just gets on with his day.

Recently in my Rise group we were talking about being more assertive in our speech and behaviour. The conclusion we came to was be more feline!

For example, to perform at your best you might need time to think before you speak. But do you get it? Possibly not in a culture that favours talking not reflection.

You might hesitate to ask for what you need at work. You believe you won’t get it (or that you will be judged).

That’s possible. But by asking you will start a conversation about what you need (and anyone who judges you for it is saying more about them than they are about you).

If you were going to be more cat today, what would you ask for?

Sometimes we need tough love.

❤️ If you believe your work will speak for itself and a promotion will to come to you, you will be waiting a long time.

I’ve had some brilliant bosses. One of the best is Jules.

She gave me my first job after graduation, as communications assistant in a charity.

One of Jules' many strengths is straight-talking. She doesn’t sugar coat what she says, or obscure it with euphemism. You always know where you are with her.

Jules told me to stop hiding my light under a bushel.

She knew I was good at my job, and wanted me to stop shrinking from letting other people know that.

It took me years to take Jules’ advice on board. I didn’t want to boast or come across as arrogant. The truth is, I still feel a bit hesitant to post on here for exactly that reason.

But I do it because I wouldn’t have a viable coaching business without making myself visible. It’s the same for you.

If you want your career to progress you have to showcase your talents. That is even more true today than it was in 1996 when Jules recruited me. There are so many pulls on people's time and attention that you are not going to be noticed unless you make it happen.

The good news is there are ways of getting noticed that don’t need you to be the centre of attention, or to boast.

If you’d like to know how I could help you find subtle strategies to put yourself out there, send me an email.

Is it a mistake to go into extravert mode for a job interview?

Someone (let’s call her Cathy) asked this question in my Rise group.

Cathy's natural style is quite reserved. But she dials up the enthusiasm for interview panels.

Not being her authentic self doesn’t sit right with Cathy. So we explored whether it’s a mistake to be more extravert at interview, and what she might do instead.

Extraverts are often at an unfair advantage in job interviews.

For example, they tend to display enthusiasm in their facial expressions and the way they speak. Whereas you're less demonstrative.

You might feel tremendous enthusiasm for a job. But your natural style doesn't communicate it. Your facial expression is more neutral and your tone is less effusive.

If the panel isn’t aware of different communication styles, who’s going to get the job? ‘Both candidates have what we need but so-and-so was more passionate about the job.’

In Rise, we use the Introversion Navigator to understand what it means to be introverted. And we look at how to recover when you've flexed into extravert mode.

There’s no right or wrong answer about when to flex. As with most things, it’s a case of figuring out what works for you.

Cathy decided it is appropriate for her to consciously dial up her outward expression of the genuine enthusiasm she feels for a job. Without doing that, she might miss out (and so could the panel, if she’s the best candidate).

But Cathy also knows she needs to allow herself time to recover when she’s had to stretch out of her comfort zone.

Interested to know more about my Rise programme? Send me an email (the address is in my bio).

I created the Introverted Leader’s Scorecard to help you assess yourself against the 9 criteria you need to build a successful career - even if you're quiet, reserved and unassuming.

Want a copy? Click below to download now 👇

Scorecard Signup — Emma Taggart | Introvert Coach The Introverted Leader’s Success Scorecard Assess yourself against the 9 criteria you need to build a successful career - even if you’re quiet and unassumingInside I show you what you need to: Feel more confident and at ease with yourself so you can lead in your own wayGain recognition for the v...

Are you an ambitious, introverted professional who wants to create a successful leadership career, without changing who you are?

Welcome - you've come to the right place.

When your natural style is quiet, reserved and unassuming it can be difficult to see yourself as a leader (even if you already lead teams or projects).

No wonder, when our culture sends the message that to succeed you must be a gregarious, dynamic talker who enjoys the spotlight.

The truth is, you have everything you need to be an effective leader. Research suggests introverts can be the best leaders.

But many work places are biased in favour of extraversion. If you’re on the more introverted end of the spectrum you need to:

⭐️ Know what you need to be your best and put that in place

⭐️ Develop self-belief so you have confidence in your abilities

⭐️ Showcase what you can do so that people notice

It’s not your fault that bias exists. There’s nothing wrong with you.

But if you want your career to thrive, it’s your responsibility to learn how to navigate, challenge and overcome the obstacles placed in your way. I can help you do that.