𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀

Growing up in a small, working-class town, Marcus* was the quiet child in a bustling family of five. While his siblings thrived in the spotlight, captaining sports teams, starring in school plays, and participating in many other activities, Marcus found comfort in the woods, losing himself in books and spending hours playing out fantasies from his imagination.

His mother, a yoga instructor, encouraged him to join a community theater group and a gymnastics class, hoping to help him build confidence and express himself in new ways. Initially, Marcus would complain, and she would listen and offer a deal: try for six weeks and then decide whether to continue. He ended up staying in both activities for years.

These experiences were formative. Though Marcus never felt fully comfortable in the spotlight and cherished his solitude, he came to appreciate the energy of collaborating with others and made some great friends.

In college, Marcus was known for listening more than speaking and turning class discussions into insightful papers that caught his professors' attention. After graduation, he worked as a software developer at a fast-growing startup. While he quietly excelled at coding and problem-solving, he struggled in open offices designed for constant interaction and meetings that seemed to value volume over substance.

Marcus eventually founded EventFully, a business that would use technology to encourage people to try new experiences and events. Along with helping people live their best lives, he wanted to build a culture that valued deep work and thoughtful analysis while knowing that success would require more than creating a haven for introverts since he needed to attract and empower extroverts as well.

In EventFully's early days, Marcus encountered the very problems he had hoped to avoid. The introverts on his team excelled at independent tasks but struggled in brainstorming sessions. The extroverts were getting meetings with many potential customers and partners, but they felt stifled by insufficient group interaction. As productivity and morale began to slip, Marcus realized that he needed to improve the work environment so all personalities could thrive.

Marcus reflected on what had helped him grow: activities and organizations that respected him while encouraging interaction with others. He also surveyed the team about their preferred work styles, communication methods, and ideas for better collaboration.

Marcus implemented several changes:

• He created "quiet areas" in the office where interruptions were discouraged and "collaboration hubs" for group work and conversation. Snacks were in both areas.

• He required more structured meetings, with mandatory preparation, active participation, clear notes, and next steps. Different people were responsible for notetaking, facilitating, and timing parts of the meeting. Anyone could propose removing a meeting if they could justify the request in terms of quality and productivity.

• He also added more social activities and volunteer opportunities, ranging from small-group lunches to larger team events, and gave everyone a small monthly stipend to have lunch together, provided they chose someone outside their team and a different person each time.

These efforts gradually improved team contribution and productivity. Marcus remained open to trying new ideas and accepting when they didn't work. Most importantly, he maintained an emphasis on effective collaboration and balancing both company and team needs.

Appreciating Culture

A positive company culture benefits every aspect of your business, including revenues, profitability, customer relationships, and operations, and shapes your organization's future.

“Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive

advantage completely within the control of the entrepreneur.

Develop a strong culture first and foremost.”

– David Cummings

For founders, building a thriving culture means creating an environment where all personalities can contribute their best work. To excel as a company and leader, you need to harness both introverted and extroverted strengths for innovation, collaboration, and growth. By creating a workplace that equally values quiet focus and energetic exchange, founders can unlock their teams' full potential and build a foundation for lasting success.

A strong culture emerges when a company clearly defines and communicates its vision and values. Vision provides the destination, while values establish the guardrails to reach it. You may be tempted to build a culture based on what you think stakeholders want to hear or what worked for other founders. Instead, stay authentic. Hold yourself to the highest standards you will expect from others, and remember that removing barriers for some people typically benefits everyone.

Let’s explore how to intentionally build a culture that supports both introverts and extroverts.

Instilling Culture

First, the strengths of both personalities as we plan to construct a productive culture:

Introverts tend to have deep focus, thoughtful analysis, independent work. They may thrive in roles of research, analysis, deep work, and documentation.

Extroverts tend to have energy, collaboration, spontaneous idea generation. They may thrive in presentations, networking, client-facing roles.

You can imagine many ways these traits can converge and collaborate to help the company grow. Also, companies where everyone perceives themselves as capable of contributing offer meaning which leads to stronger engagement, retention, and referrals of potential business and talent. In other words, it pays to do what’s right.

“Leadership is not about being in charge.

It is about taking care of those in your charge.”

— Simon Sinek

To build and reinforce a culture that complements your business plan and supports both introverts and extroverts, consider these steps.

Build it Productively. Create physical and virtual environments that:

• Offer quiet zones, soundproof pods, and/or remote work options for focused, independent work.

• Provide open areas and collaborative spaces for group brainstorming and social interaction.

• Balance asynchronous communication and written feedback with in-person meetings, ensuring all voices are heard.

• Emphasize results over rigid processes by allowing flexible scheduling, including ‘quiet hours’ for reflection.

Apply It Constantly. Convert your values into your hiring processes, evaluations, promotions, client acquisition, and branding approach. Always revisit culture during big decisions and crises.

Expecting that your team will work hard to implement your vision, determine how they will be recognized. Are you relying on financial incentives, a strong social community, or a meaningful impact? How will others find meaning in supporting your growth?

Define It Unwaveringly. Identify which traits define your company and are non-negotiable. Some may include integrity, compassion, and inclusion. There are not necessarily “wrong” traits, but companies may fail when their stated vision and values are inconsistent with their decisions and behaviors.

I encourage founders and other leaders to create “personal user guides” describing their preferred working patterns, communication preferences, management style, and how you like to give and receive feedback. These directly foster better teamwork and indirectly show the effort from the top to serve as an example and encourage teamwork.

Once you’ve established your cultural foundation, ongoing effort is needed to nurture and adapt it as your company grows.

Reinforcing Culture

Once in place, culture needs nurturing. Here’s how:

Engage Employees. Strengthen the culture through activities. Offer a mix of social opportunities that accommodate everyone, so small group activities, game times, and community service projects in groups and one-on-one (e.g., tutoring neighborhood children).

Allow downtime after intense social events for introverts to recharge (e.g., make sure there is ample time after a large group meeting or workshops) while ensuring extroverts have opportunities for group engagement and new experiences. Your extroverts may be happy to organize and facilitate various activities with all these considerations in mind.

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re

playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.”

— Reid Hoffman

Communications with the team may include both all-team and department meetings as well as video recordings and newsletters. Allow people to share and receive information through different formats accommodates both different personalities and learning styles.

Review Regularly. All aspects of the startup need to evolve. A team of ten people will have needs different than a company with a thousand employees. At least annually, determine if your culture is adhering to the original description. Team meetings and surveys are additional ways to check. No matter how big the company becomes, ensure your culture, policies, projects, and actions continue to align with your vision and values.

Regularly assess team culture and inclusivity through surveys or tools. Solicit feedback from all personality types and adapt policies as needed. Share stories of how small changes have improved engagement and performance.

Apply Deeply. When faced with tough decisions, revisit the culture. A strong culture guides major leadership decisions and employees’ everyday choices. Some founders are tempted to hide tough decisions from the team, but I find that often creates more problems down the road. First, people will lose trust in leadership that is keeping secrets. Second, seeking input ensures the best ideas, a chance to identify weak spots, and consideration around a smoother implementation.

Key Takeaway: A thriving startup culture intentionally blends the strengths of both introverts and extroverts, creating an environment where every personality can contribute, collaborate, and drive lasting success.

How Can I Keep Learning? Review your current culture and see if you would like to make any major additions or changes. You can decide on one potential change and commit to talking with three people about that change in the next two weeks.

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* Marcus’s story is a fictional account inspired by various people and situations I've encountered over the years. It was created to provide another perspective on this topic.

I wrote this post with AI editing. Photo by Fox.

What if the quietest person in the room is the one that changes the world?

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