I was an introverted entrepreneur and now I'm a best selling author

In Child Star, Demi Lovato shares how she has to regulate herself with those closest to her, to help her balance out the intensity of her career and this is something local entrepreneur Sarah Manley, 43, from Cheltenham who launched her book earlier this year, can resonate with.

Sarah, who has over two decades of international corporate experience working in busy marketing teams wanted to share her learnings of climbing the ladder as an introvert.

Having struggled with feeling she was on the outside, and like she had to adopt extraverted characteristics to suit the environment she worked in, Sarah, who is more at home with a book under a cosy blanket than attending high energy networking events and parties, fought to be seen and heard throughout her career, often feeling like she wasn’t her true self in the pursuit of success.

Leading teams from the age of 26 she worked to fit into an ideal mould of what it meant to be successful, hiding her self doubt, projecting confidence and authority, but constantly fighting against her true nature she found herself exhausted on a daily basis, with periods of near burnout’ at several times in her career.

She said: “When I really couldn’t escape events or activities which were massively out of my comfort zone, I would grit my teeth, plaster on a fake smile and push on through, then use all the downtime I had to lick my wounds from the ordeal, entering hibernation mode to recharge my batteries before going again. I was tired of faking extraversion and frustrated at the limited conception of the ‘best way’ to behave to be successful.”

After having her own lightbulb moment around her qualities as an introvert, having read Quiet by Susan Cain, Sarah started her own quest to figure out how she could succeed as someone naturally reserved and started learning about how to both excel as an introvert, and as a leader of them, through her own personal development and coaching qualifications.

Sarah, who loved writing since school, wrote her book as ‘an empowering guide to change the way introverted professionals approach their careers’ feeling that in a world that often celebrates extroverted traits, the strengths of introverts often get overlooked. She said: “So often introverts are told that they need to be louder, more visible, more impactful at work and directed to do so in a way that means we feel we have to wear a mask to perform as an extravert.”

“I love that Demi Lavato has shared that she is an introvert, as she is seen by millions as confident and successful - much like other famous introverts like Courtney Cox, Johnny Depp, and Emma Watson. The 2 sides of the coin can work together…being an introvert isn’t about not being able to shine, or to hold space as someone at the top of your game, but often it can feel more of a battle to find your authentic way to get there. Around one third to a half of the population are introverts. Most newer research puts it closer to 50%. Over 90% of billionaires are introverts including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, JK Rowling”.

“I get on my soapbox about the myth of what it takes to be a leader - directive, loud, forceful. Whilst this is now regarded as quite an old-fashioned view it still lives on in reality.So often introverts get told to ‘Speak up more’ but this can actually be really damaging for self-confidence. I also want to encourage introverts who are in senior roles to speak up about their introversion and to role model their behaviours. It takes courage as a junior person to state your needs for more time to think, to decline a social evening etc. Having a senior role model doing this suddenly shows the way and gives permission.”

“My goal is to help introverts who feel overwhelmed and over-talked, but want to stay true to their introvert strengths, to succeed.”

Sarah’s tips for unleashing your power as an introvert, to help drive your career

1. First things first -make sure you identify and leverage your introvert strengths -Your introvert strengths are often overlooked but are actually your superpowers
2. Elevate your confidence: Our confidence often gets knocked being told we need to be something other than ourselves, but self-belief can be trained and the stories we tell ourselves can be rewritten for success
3. Optimise your energy: Energy management is the absolute key to success as an introvert. Proactively planning your energy boosts and navigating the drainers was my big ‘aha’ moment to being successful
4. Navigate leadership roles as your true self, inspiring others along the way - so that people in your team can see it’s safe to be themselves and there isn’t a one size fits all profile within the organisation
5. Be mindful of what you CAN bring to the table, with your skills and your introvert lens - help to improve workplace diversity and contribute to a dynamic workforce that supports others who might not be feeling confidence to truly show up as themselves
6. Develop your own career path that is tailored to your introverted nature -don’t try and put yourself in cultures which will make you unhappy and exhausted
7. Unlock your success: There are skills that might not come naturally to us, but like any muscle they can be strengthened with practice to achieve your goals

Sarah adds: ”This advice is really needed because most other career advice is geared towards the extraverted way of doing things. This is really disengaging for introverts as it just doesn’t speak to us or feel achievable - and the risk is we end up feeling exhausted and burnt out by pretending to be something we are not. My mission is to show introverts that they can thrive in their careers without the need to fit an extraverted mould of success and to shake the status quo of the business world’s perception of what it means to be an introvert. I believe the future of leadership is human-centric and introverts are well suited for the role.”

Quiet Catalyst" serves as a rallying cry for introverts, highlighting the inherent strengths and superpowers that come with introversion. In it Sarah provides practical strategies to empower readers to unleash their unique strengths, gain confidence, and lead authentically in their professional lives. Quiet Catalyst is available for purchase on Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/32u9H4w and Sarah has also just launched a free resource to sit alongside this - a weekly newsletter full of tips and ideas to thrive as an introvert -available via www.thequietcatalyst.com.