外向的人一定是最成功的领导者吗？

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　　"If you are leading a pizza franchise, you are often doing this as your full-time job, and you might be managing high school and college students who have a different set of aspirations and, in some cases, might actually look down upon you as the leader," Grant points out. At that point, an employee with a better idea for how to get orders processed efficiently on Super Bowl night, or a suggestion for a new coupon or special deal, could make extraverted leaders feel like their "status is being threatened. They might say, 'I'm supposed to be in charge here. Let me reassert my authority.' Whereas the introverted leader, with less of a concern for position, status and power -- and a willingness to spend more time listening and less time talking -- is likely to quietly process the ideas that come up. That leader is worrying less about the ego or image implications of employees taking charge and introducing ideas."“如果你是一家披萨连锁店的管理人员，你通常会将其作为全职工作，而你管理的人员可能是些高中生和大学生，他们有着不一样的志向，有时还很可能对你这个领导根本不屑一顾，”格兰特说道。“这时，如果有员工提出改善流程，从而能在‘超级碗’比赛当晚送出更多的披萨或是有员工提出发放新的优惠券或特别优惠的建议时，外向型领导会觉得他们的‘地位受到了威胁’。他们很可能会说‘我才是这里的负责人。让我重申一下我的权力’。而内向型领导人则不那么在乎职级、地位和权力，他们说得不多，并愿意花更多的时间来听取建议，如果遇到同样的情况，他们很可能会安静地采纳并执行这些建议。这种领导者不会太在意自我，也不会想象员工可能夺取他们的位置、施加自己的观点。

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　　The T-shirt Challenge　叠T恤比赛带来的启示
　　The research team also conducted another study that looked specifically at extraverted leadership behavior, not just self-reported traits. They took 163 college students from a university in the Southeastern U.S. and designated them as team members and leaders in a T-shirt folding group. The aim was to fold as many shirts as possible in 10 minutes, with iPods as a reward for the top performers。研究小组还进行了另一项研究，对外向型领导的行为进行仔细观察，而不仅仅依赖于这些领导者的自我描述。研究人员在美国东南部的一所大学选取了163位大学生，并把他们分为不同的小组，每个小组都有成员和组长。他们的任务是在10分钟之内叠好尽量多的T恤，叠的最多的小组的每位成员都可以获得一个iPod作为奖励。

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　　Some students were randomly assigned to lead in either an extraverted or introverted manner. The extraverted leaders were given examples of famous leaders who were bold, talkative and assertive, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jack Welch. The introverted leaders were given examples of famous leaders who were quiet and reserved, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln. Both groups were then asked to reflect on a time when they led effectively in a similar manner. Meanwhile, two other graduate students, or "confederates," were paired with each group and secretly told to act either passively or proactively, with proactive confederates offering a new, efficient away to fold T-shirts。　研究人员随机挑选了部分学生作为组长，既有外向型，也有内向型。对于外向型的组长，研究人员向他们展示了那些以大胆、能言善辩和决断力著称的著名领导人的例子，例如小马丁路德金和杰克威尔士。而针对内向型组长，研究人员则向他们展示了类似圣雄甘地和阿伯拉罕林肯等安静保守的著名领导者形象。之后，需要两组人员按照所展示的风格来有效地领导他们的团队。与此同时，研究人员还选取了另外两名大学生作为“盟友”，并将其分配给两个小组，暗中让他们采取被动或主动的表现。配合采取主动表现的“盟友”需要向组长建议一种新型高效地叠衣服方式。

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　　The researchers found a significant interaction between extraverted leadership and proactive behavior that meshed with the findings from the pizza study. When the confederates were passive, teams performed better when led in an extraverted manner, but when the confederates were proactive, teams performed better when led in an introverted manner. "When the confederates were proactive, participants perceived the more extraverted leaders as less receptive to ideas, and they invested less effort in the task," the researchers write。研究人员发现在外向型领导风格和主动性行为之间存在着重要的互动关系，与披萨研究的结果一致。盟友采取被动表现时，外向型领导风格带领下的团队取得了更好的绩效；而当盟友采取主动表现时，则是内向型领导风格下的团队取得更高的成绩。“当盟友表现积极时，小组成员会认为外向型领导人不能很好地接受意见，因此也就不愿意卖力工作，”研究人员在报告中如此分析。

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　　The implications of the power struggle for the leader-employee relationship and labor relations became very clear, according to Grant. "At some level, the power struggle is finished, with the leader asserting authority and the employees saying, 'We're not going to work as hard on your behalf.'" The employees basically decided that "Hey, these leaders are not receptive to good ideas .... We don't really have a ton of respect for the leader. We don't want this leader to be one of the top performers. We want to feel, at the end of the day, like our ideas are valued and our contributions are appreciated."领导者和员工关系以及劳动关系之间权力的对抗变得非常明显，格兰特说，“当领导者重申权力，员工表示‘我们才不会为你卖力工作’时，权力的对抗就会结束。”然而员工会认为“瞧，这些领导人根本不接受好的意见…我们没必要对他们表示尊敬。我们可不想让这种人夺第一。我们希望在一天结束的时候，能让他们体会到我们的意见是有价值的，我们的贡献能够得到认可。”

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　　Interestingly, neither the introverted leaders nor the extraverted leaders showed higher productivity or profitability than the other. The difference, Grant and his researchers found, was in the pairing of leaders and employees。有趣的是，就盈利性而言，外向型领导者和内向型领导者本身并不存在孰优孰劣。格兰特和他的研究伙伴发现，真正的差异来自于领导者和被领导者的组合。

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　　"It shows that introverted and extraverted leadership styles can be equally effective, but with different groups of employees," he says. "As a social scientist, this is appealing -- people in organizations are sufficiently complex that you can rarely ever conclude that one style is always more effective than another.... Our research provides insight into when each style is effective, as opposed to trying to test which one is better -- which I think is the wrong question."“事实证明内向型和外向型领导风格的效率不分上下，但成员组合的方式不同，就会对结果造成差异，”格兰特表示。“作为一名社会科学家，这样的结论无疑有着重大的意义——一个组织内的成员结构非常复杂，你很难说哪种风格就一定比另一种风格更有效…我们的研究着重在于在何种环境下哪种风格更有效，而不是简单地尝试证明哪种更好——我认为这根本就是个错误的命题。”

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　　Given these conclusions, why does the popular view persist that extraverts are better leaders across the board? The authors point to several possible reasons: One is that extraverts are often perceived as more effective because of a "halo effect." "This may occur because extraverted leaders match the prototypes of charismatic leaders that dominate both [Western and Eastern cultures] and are especially prevalent in business," they write. One online survey of 1,500 senior leaders earning at least six-figure salaries found that 65% actually saw introversion as a negative quality in terms of leadership。既然结论如此，那么为什么整体而言流行观点都认为外向型的人才是更好的领导者呢？报告给出了几个可能的原因：其中之一就是“晕轮效应”(halo effect)。“造成这种观点的原因可能是因为外向型领导人更符合东西方文化中人们对于魅力型领导者的描绘，这一点在商场上尤为突出，”报告指出。一项针对收入在六位数以上的1500位高级管理人员的在线调查显示，65%的受访者认为内向是影响领导力的负面品质。

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Creating Space for Employees为员工创造空间
　　Grant says the study has broad implications for corporate leaders who want to examine their own leadership styles as well as make changes in the lower management ranks. "We tend to assume that we need to be extremely enthusiastic, outgoing and assertive, and we try to bring employees on board with a lot of excitement, a clear vision and direction," Grant says, "but there is real value in a leader being more reserved, quieter, in some cases silent, in order to create space for employees to enter the dialogue."格兰特表示他们的研究对于希望改善领导风格、改革低层管理级别的企业管理人员来说有着广泛的意义。“我们总是倾向于认为我们需要表现得热情、开朗并富有决断力，尝试让员工感到兴奋，为他们描绘清晰的愿景、指明方向，”格兰特说，“但事实上，有时候领导者需要采取更为保守和安静的姿态，某些情况下，甚至是一言不发，从而为员工创造更多的参与对话的空间。”

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　　He worked with the CEO of one Fortune 500 company who has a policy of silence for the first 15 minutes of meetings. He does not utter a single word, although he is an extravert. "He feels that he has a tendency, once he gets excited about ideas, to run with them to the point where, at times, it leaves employees feeling like they weren't included," Grant says. "So he tries to combat that: 'I want you guys to tell me whatever you're thinking about -- suggestions, feedback, questions -- and the floor is yours.' He listens quietly and takes notes."格兰特曾与一家财富500强企业的CEO共事，这位CEO为自己定了一个规矩，即在会议开始的15分钟内保持缄默，不说一句话——尽管他是个非常外向的人。“他发现他有种倾向，就是一旦想到一个他认为很棒的点子，就急于让员工接受，有时，这会让员工觉得自己并没有参与在过程中，”格兰特表示，“所以他尝试改变这一现象：‘我希望你们告诉我你们的任何想法——建议、反馈或是疑问——这个舞台是你们的。’而他则会安静的聆听并记录重点。”