Meet Aoife Lenox, trainer with Engineers Ireland and founder of Inside Strategies.  Aoife is an Introvert Well-Being Coach and Engagement Specialist. Through training, coaching and consultancy, she helps individuals and organisations to create positive and meaningful work experiences. 

Q1. What do you do, and why? 

I’m an introvert coach and trainer, delivering workshops on the topic of introversion.  I had been running my own business for 10 years, and I began to notice that my personality was a bit different to people that worked for me. 

In 2017, I read The Introvert Entrepreneur, which helped me recognise what temperament is and that it influences our experience at work.  It was life-changing for me.   I initially wanted to become more extroverted, more outgoing, more confident… and then I had a total shift in mindset.  I realised that actually, if I could leverage my strengths as an introvert, that’s much more successful in terms of building confidence, and much more authentic.  I wanted to share that with others and decided to build a business from it. 

Q2. Tell us a little bit about the work you currently do with Engineers Ireland? 

Confidence is one of my main areas of focus in terms of coaching clients.  People were interested in learning how to feel confident, particularly as an introvert working in mostly extrovert-centred workplaces. 

There tends to be what we call an ‘extrovert bias,’ and a preference for more outgoing personalities in the workplace.  For people who are naturally not like that, it can be very challenging, and you can feel like you need to change in order to be successful at work. 

I developed a workshop around ‘Quiet Confidence’ which stems from the question, “how do you build authentic confidence?”  That comes from self-awareness and learning what it really means to be an introvert. 

In the workshop, we talk about perceptions and beliefs, and how those beliefs influence how we think about ourselves.  We explore the topic of introversion and temperament in general, and what that means for you in the workplace, and then looking at those beliefs and how you might be holding yourself back. 

Source: Introvert Power by Dr Marti Olsen Laney 

Then I focus on strengths, and recognising those strengths as an introvert, and how you can leverage those to build your confidence. 

The follow-up workshop, ‘Quiet Influence,’ is about building on that confidence to be more influential at work.  The PIE Model, by Harvey Coleman, says that our career success is dependent on 10% performance, 30% image, and 60% visibility. 

Source: Empowering Yourself: The Organisational Game Revealed 

For many introverts, there’s often a negative perception of being an introvert (the 30% image piece), and generally, we might have a preference to be in the background and not be visible as much as other people.  According to this PIE model, our career success is only dependant on 10% performance, and many introverts focus on that. 

So, we look at how to be influential in the workplace while being authentic to who we are, but at the same time doing some PR and branding around our image, and then finding ways to be more visible and to have our voice heard. 

The root of all of my work is around wellbeing and feeling good about yourself – and that’s why the confidence is not a “fake it ‘til you make it” kind of thing.  There’s a lot of research that would say introverts are more prone to anxiety.  We tend to ruminate over things, we overthink things, so mental health and wellbeing is really important, and that really underscores all of the work that I do. 

Some recent research from Myers-Briggs found that 9 out of 10 people in the UK feel pressure to act extroverted.  In any workshop or webinar that I do, I always ask that question around perception of introversion, and between 70-90% of people agree that introversion is perceived negatively.  That’s a whole cohort of us not feeling great about our temperament and what we bring to work every day, so wellbeing and feeling good about ourselves is really the ultimate goal. 

Q3. What changes/trends do you see these days? 

While a lot of books have been written about it in the last 15 years or so, I think there’s still a lot of stigma around introversion not being accepted, so there’s a lot of work to be done in recognising the different temperaments – really valuing both sides and looking at the benefits of both. 

In terms of Learning and Development, it is great to see it being prioritised, recognised, and valued within organisations.  The importance of putting Learning and Development at the forefront of our wellbeing is vital to our success at work, all the time learning and asking, “how can we do things a little bit better?” 

I think micro-learning is really helpful.  If you just take little nuggets, it can create new insights for you.  Bringing that learning into the workplace and talking about it afterwards is really important.  The reality is, we might attend a webinar and it’s interesting on the day, but then we forget about it.  So, reinforcing learning all the time is key: taking what was picked up in the workshop or webinar and then trying to apply some of that in a real, tangible way. 

Q4. What is the most interesting thing that you have learnt or has happened when delivering training? 

I’m always amazed how much I learn from each session.  When I initially started in training, I saw myself as the deliverer of content.  I now have a totally different perspective – I’m a facilitator of the training, and it’s really through engagement and co-creation within the session that we create a shared learning.  As an introvert, that’s very exciting to me. 

When I started in this space in 2016, I was a tutor delivering in front of a classroom and I put myself under so much pressure that it was exhausting.  When I changed the perspective and looked at it as this shared learning experience where you build on people’s experience, it’s a much more enjoyable and beneficial experience for everybody. 

Q5. When you are not delivering training/working, what do you like to do to unwind/do in your spare time? 

I have three boys: 10, 15, and 18, so that keeps me busy!  I like to keep active, I run a little bit, I do yoga, and I love walking. 

As an introvert, most of my activities are probably small group or one-to-one.  My family, friends and small network are very important to me.  I also like to travel – if I’m on the beach, I’m happy! 

Further reading on the topic of temperament: 

Looking at all aspects of life; relationships, family, work & dealing with people the author helps you to find the power within to achieve tranquillity in life. 

Coping strategies, and how to work with your temperament to enjoy a well lived life. Covering all aspects of life. 

Learn how to be an influential leader through having meaningful conversations and a 6 step process to being a quiet leader. 

Suggested as the bible of introversion. A really interesting insight into the introvert personality and inspired the introvert revolution we know today.