FEATURE/Extroverted Behavior Wins in the Workplace, Study Finds; 'But I Don't Like Asking for a Raise'.

Feature Editors/Business Editors

FEATURE...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 2003

In kingdoms, it's good to be the king. In business, it's clearly good to be an extrovert. That was the theme that ran through the findings from a new study of executive behavior. Fully 75% of the respondents consider themselves extroverts; 36% say they become "more extroverted" in the workplace; and 43% say they prefer working with extroverts, compared to 2% who prefer working with introverts.

Among the other key findings from the study, conducted by Sims Wyeth & Company, an international training and consulting firm based in Montclair, NJ:

-- "Building professional relationships with people they don't

like" is the activity that makes respondents most

uncomfortable, followed by "asking for a raise" and "speaking

to large audiences"

-- Women and respondents under 30 feel "office politics" are much

more important than do men and people over 30

-- "Interpersonal skills" is the most important attribute for

business success, followed by "creative problem solving" and

"public speaking" ability

The 173 survey respondents represented a cross-section of ages and genders, with 80% describing themselves as upper management, middle management, professional, researchers or self-employed. More than 90% were college graduates.

Ladies First. Female respondents are more likely to call themselves extroverts (78%) than males (73%), and the disparity is even greater in the classification of "strongly extroverted," with 40% of the women identifying as such, compared with only 27% of the men. Given those results, it's not surprising that more than twice as many males (8%) call themselves "strongly introverted," compared with only 3% of the women. Not only do the female respondents claim to be more extroverted, 39% assert that they become even more extroverted in the workplace. Only 34% of the men follow suit.

Doing What Comes Naturally. The following table* compares responses to the questions of "what are the most important skills for business success," and "which ones come most naturally to you?"

Most Important Skills (%)               Comes Naturally (%)
---------------------                   ---------------
1. Interpersonal skills (81%)        1. Interpersonal skills (64%)

2. Creative problem solving (45%)    2. Creative problem solving (33%)

3. Public speaking (20%)             3. Writing (31%)

4. Analytical (18%)                  4. Analytical (27%)

5. Sales (11%)                       5. Public speaking (19%)

Discomfort Levels. Respondents were also asked "which business activities make you uncomfortable?" The following list* gives their responses:

 1. Building professional relationships with people I don't like (42%)

 2. Asking for a raise (25%)

 3. Speaking to large audiences (24%)

 4. Saying no to colleagues (16%)

 5. Giving performance reviews (13%)

 5. Giving bad news (13%)

 7. Speaking on the phone to strangers (9%)

Further analysis found that extroverts are almost twice as likely to be more uncomfortable "saying 'no' to colleagues" than introverts. It ranks as the second "most uncomfortable business activity" for men, but slides down to fifth for women.

Public Speaking Causes Youngest, Oldest Most Discomfort.

Counterintuitive, but true, the study found that youngest and oldest employees - despite years of experience - are very uncomfortable with public speaking. It ranks second for youngest (21-30) and oldest respondents (60 and older) as the most uncomfortable business activity, with the other ages following an even bell curve.

"It's interesting to consider that the top three business activities that make people uncomfortable involve the skills necessary for persuasive speaking," says Sims Wyeth. "For instance, 'building relationships' requires empathy and making yourself and your ideas appealing, which is also required for building rapport with an audience. Asking for a raise requires making a strong case for your point of view and speaking with conviction under the threat of being contradicted; sounds like public speaking to me. And then of course speaking to large audiences causes most people to freeze up, which prohibits them from connecting with their audience."

Founded in 1995, Sims Wyeth & Company, Inc. is an international training and consulting firm based in Montclair, New Jersey. Sims Wyeth, founder and CEO, began the company to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished communicators. Services include training seminars, private coaching, speech writing, and consultation on message development. Among its clients are: Gartner, AIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cisco Systems, Inc., Pfizer, Pearson Education, William H. Sadlier, Inc., Fiduciary Trust Company International, Roche Labs, AstraZeneca, and KPMG, LLP. The company plans further research in these areas of study.

* These numbers represent the "top two-box" percentages, indicating respondents' #1 and #2 choices (of five), about which they feel most strongly.