We interviewed Faris Khalifeh, a Quiet Confidence Coach who coaches introverts to embrace who they are and leverage their natural strengths. The professional environment has traditionally favoured extroverts, especially for leadership roles. With everyone staying inside due to COVID-19, communications have shifted online, giving introverts an opportunity to take advantage of their unique skill sets.

Faris helps clients from different backgrounds, cultures and industries. He teaches courses at various colleges on business, leadership and personal development. Faris also founded the Vancouver Quiet Leadership Community, which recently launched an online discussion group for introverts called the Quiet Confidence Cafe.

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What exactly is a Quiet Confidence Coach?

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I coach introverts to embrace who they are and leverage their natural strengths. Seeing how being an introvert is like any other personality type, we both have our strengths and weaknesses. But for some reason, the culture and the world these days, gives more attention to or considers extroverts to be better in certain aspects like, leadership positions. It doesn’t matter if you are an introvert or extrovert, you can perform these roles. So that’s part of the work I do with capitalizing on the key traits through one-on-one sessions with clients. I also do group coaching and corporate training about how to bridge the communication gap between introverts and extroverts at work.

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What are some strengths unique to introverts?

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Number one, we’re introspective. Introspection and reflection is important. Studies show that introspection is a catalyst to innovation, and if you think about it, most innovative stuff happened when someone was alone in a lab or in a cabin. We’re also better at expressing ourselves in writing, because introverts need time to process information. We need time to reflect before we share our opinion. Introverts are also great listeners. they are able to actively listen which builds empathy. That sense of understanding leads to deeper, more meaningful relationships. Lastly, introverts thrive with one-on-one interactions.

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How can we use these strengths to our advantage in professional or academic settings? 

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You can take your time you can articulate what you want to say you can have the first draft, you can do tweaks, etc. These days, it’s important for writing articles or blog posts. Communication in companies are now via emails or slack. Another idea for writing is, let’s say you go to a meeting, and you’re bombarded with all the simulation. You could then afterwards go back to the desk and think about what you want to say then send an email. Another tip for introverts, if they are put on the spot and they don’t have the answer, it’s okay to tell that person, let me sleep on it and get back to you. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re just asking for your needs and providing them something in return.

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Faris’ Book Recomendations

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The Introvert Entrepreneur by Beth Buelow

The introverted Leader by Jennifer Kahnweiler

The Dynamic Introvert by Leslie Taylor

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Thank you, Faris, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

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