Madison’s Question to Matthew: How have you come to balance your big picture thinking with those you work with who are detail oriented?

It is interesting to look at population statics by Myers-Briggs personality type; what percentage of people of the 16 variations fall into each category. One particular aspect is very enlightening to me – S, Sensors, or detailed oriented people, compared with N, Intuitives, or big picture oriented people. It is estimated that Sensors make up 74% of the population, leaving Intuitives to make up 26%. (This data is from personalitymx.com).

Typically, Intuitives, or big picture thinkers, will more naturally gravitate to seeing things from a 40,000-foot level, all the pieces fitting in place before dropping down to the details of how to make it happen. Intuitives will make leaps of logic (at least that’s how they perceive it) as to where things can go next. They don’t need hard data from the past to extrapolate where to go next, it’s a gut thing.

Sensors see things differently. They start with what details they know, the facts that are known to them or that can be known, and will build up from there. They don’t make leaps from their gut, it’s not their natural inclination. They naturally live more in the details, seeing all the steps necessary to accomplish something and seeing the gaps in the “leaps of the intuitive”.

I am an intuitive, 100%. I dream about where things can go, what new ways we can impact a situation. I dream about an organization, an entire city, a country or the world. I simply can’t help myself, it’s where I go. And, as someone who has authority to lead an organization, it is fun to engage in this kind of thinking because I can actually move the organization in this thinking, to make my big picture thinking become a reality. I am not caught in to pains of dreaming without having any means by which to make these ideas a reality.

Now I know that my organization does have limits, I can’t fulfill all of my dreams or ideas, but I definitely can enjoy to beauty of watching many of my “leaps of logic” come to fruition.

All that being said, one of my biggest learnings that past years has been the enjoyment of allowing the sensors, those who thrive in the details, to bring these ideas to life. I know that I do get strange looks at the beginning stages of my conversations with them when I have made these “leaps of logic”, (very logical to my way of thinking yet not to a sensor).

Earlier in my career, I was always confused as to why others couldn’t simply jump with me and see what I was seeing. And yet, gratefully, I have been able to move from a position of slight frustration in having to “bring them along” until they “get it” to a point of seeing the beauty in the amazing contribution they bring. In reality, my big picture thinking is only as good as the details that can make them a reality. Sure, I have learned over the years to develop the details to allow my big ideas get traction, yet it is always a chore.

More and more, I am learning the art of releasing and explaining where I believe we could go as an organization, allowing the detail oriented people to ask their questions (this used to frustrate me, but now I am extremely intrigued but how they perceive my ideas and the questions it raises for them and how their questions change the idea, at times in profound ways that did not see) and build in their insight during the process. I can’t tell you how much time this actually saves in the long run.

And perhaps this is why 76% of people are detail oriented and only 24% of us see the big picture. A world of ideas without proper implementation and follow through doesn’t do anyone any good. It is an artist with a picture in their mind but no one is able to see it on the canvas. It is a car designer with a break through look that no one can ever enjoy. And it is a pastor of a local church with a unique way to engage the culture that no one ever gets to experience because it never gets implemented by those who can take it and put legs to it.

As an organization, we continually have conversations around personality styles. We truly do want each person to live in their natural tendencies. Sometimes this will involve a job change, sometimes it means a role at another organization. I can tell you that as a leader of others, nothing causing me more angst than observing someone trying to live in a space that they were not designed to live in. At times they try to make it work yet it always feels so forced. I have great joy in guiding a conversation that allows someone to move into their sweet spot so that everyone wins – the organization and them.

For me, I will continue to make “leaps of logic” as I am designed to do. And I will continue to learn how to bring in those who can take these ideas and build the infrastructure around them as they were designed to do. And hopefully, we can all look back at the pieces we all played and realize that we did it together, we were all critical to its success.

For the kingdom.

Matthew’s Question to Madison: What do you want people to know about being an extravert?

Funny story – we thought I was an introvert for the first 17 years of my life. What a joke! (Some days I don’t think I’m even close to the introverted line) We discovered this when my parents went away for a week and I was home alone – when they got back, it was honestly like a breath of fresh air. It’s not that I wasn’t around people during the week, but it wasn’t enough – I wasn’t being with people when I got home. Let’s just say, the cat and I chatted a lot more than normal!

I’m sure every introvert reading this is already feeling drained.

When we thought I was an introvert, thinking back, I realized that I was always tired. But every extravert knows that when they’re not with people, their tank begins to empty – that’s what was happening with me. Now knowing the truth about how my body functions, I’m learning to distinguish between being actually tired, and being tired because I’m by myself and need to find something to do with someone.

As I was preparing for this blog, I looked up characteristics of an extravert, and came across some myths of what people believe extraverts to be. Here are some examples:

• Not all extraverts are chatterboxes – there are some introverts who talk more than I do!
• Not all extraverts want to talk about their feelings
• Extraverts are not always confident, bubbly people
• Extraverts are not always happy – they can easily slip into, what I call, “extraverted depression”
• Extraverts also need alone time
• Not all extraverts make friends easily

I relate to Every. Single. One. of those points – I am not always a chatterbox (I often do my best processing internally); I don’t like talking about my feelings; I am most definitely not always confident; I know firsthand about ‘extraverted depression’; I do need alone time; and I have always struggled with having close friendships.

Any other extraverts with me?

I think the one that surprises most people, including many extraverts, is that we also need alone time. I find my cravings for alone time are when I need to get personal things done – cooking, cleaning, errands, etc. Give me some music, maybe a car ride, and I’m good to go. For another extravert out there, it might be a different scenario, but at some point, we all need a temporary break from all the stimulation in the world to just be with our own thoughts.

But in true extravert fashion, let me tell you, my favourite days at work are when I spend the whole day going from conversation to conversation with no moment to actually sit at my desk. I also love when people interrupt me in my office – an excuse to chat. I know other extraverts who put bowls of candy in their office just so people will stop by to grab a treat and say hi. If my desk wasn’t near the common area in our office, I would be doing the same thing – or, let’s be real, I’d still be the one bouncing around the building. Truth – I value efficiency, but sometimes I become inefficient and print things in small batches just so there are more times for me to get up and walk down the hall past all the offices. Extraversion is a real thing, people!

Self-awareness, beyond knowing about extraversion and introversion, has been immensely beneficial in my life. I’m able to understand why I function the way I do, and [attempt] to break free from habits and behaviours that are oh-so-not helpful. I’m also able to recognize quickly what I need in certain situations, and why I need whatever it is I need.

That knowledge has not only been helpful personally, but also spiritually. We each relate to God differently, and God relates to each of us in a unique way – He did design each of us after all. As an extravert, to stay on that vein, I know that I relate best to Him in corporate worship settings, mentoring relationships, and moments of service. I love finding the ways that God moves in the world, where as someone else loves discovering God through quiet prayer and study. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the study (note my last blog), but it is not first on ‘the list of ways to connect with God’; and prayer happens more naturally for me in the car while on the go.

Just because my ways of connecting with God, and my behaviour as an extravert naturally pull me in a certain direction, I know that I cannot limit myself to that box. Journaling, quiet walks, and long prayer times do not hinder my life, rather they enhance it – but only when I make space for it.

On the contrary, I also know that for me to feel fully alive, I need to intentionally be in spaces that fit my best self. For example, I’m writing this blog at Starbucks because, you guessed it, there are people moving and chatting all around me. The space allows me to focus on the independent work, while simultaneously filling my tank. And when I leave here, I will not feel drained, which allows me to be the best version of me to those that I will interact with throughout the rest of the day.