The study of the law is punctuated by established stereotypes of confident, assertive and extroverted type A personalities. Although there is some truth that, evident in the hundreds of comments and shares of favourite law student memes, not all law students share the same characteristics. A type that too exists within the law school walls is the introverted law student. In today’s article, I share with you how being an introvert in law school does not have to be a negative thing and that you can reach your goals by making the most out of your introversion.
Understand your strengths as an introvert.
Introverts tend to prefer to acquire energy by themselves, and spend it through solitude or interacting with a close group of people they know well, whereas extroverts tend to prefer large groups of people and get energy through interacting with them. It is thus important that you understand your strengths as an introvert and utilise them in their optimum situation. This means that if your strength is one-on-one conversations with people then you use that skill to your advantage. Instead of interrupting in the middle of the lecture, it might mean that you have to speak to a lecturer outside of class in order to clarify a particular topic. Or, in trying to build rapport with your group members, you might choose to meet them individually prior to meeting them as a group.
Make preparation your best friend.
Mastering preparation is imperative when thriving in challenging situations. Meetings for example may be difficult, especially as introverts are internal processors and may appear ‘slow’ to others. In this situation, preparation through reading the meeting agenda, brainstorming potential topics or ideas, anticipating conflict and developing your arguments and rebuttal, can help your performance in a group meeting and make your team members aware of your contribution. I have found that this approach works well, especially when done properly as it assures that I have a say in my team discussions and that my contributions are appreciated.
Assert your leadership or communication style.
Whatever your leadership or communication style, you should inform your team members of your preferences. This allows the whole group, as well as yourself to see that there are different ways of leading and communicating, and though different, no one style is above the other. It makes it easier too to prevent conflict from arising as your group members are aware of potential pitfalls in communication and can avoid those before they occur. However, it is sometimes necessary, as I have found in practice, to make adjustments. Though those adjustments may need extra courage from you, there are ways to prepare yourself to communicate in a way that may be easier for other people to understand.
For example, in a meeting where there is a lengthy discussion about a complicated matter, waiting until each person has finished speaking may not be ideal as taking the speaking floor may be difficult, or even impossible in that event. As such, you might need to learn to adjust your style and learn how to interrupt. While it may make you feel uncomfortable, there are situations that require you to speak up and be heard, instead of waiting until the moment has passed. This isn’t an excuse to say that one style is preferred, but this is an essential adaptation skill. A trick that I have learnt is to prepare sentences such as ‘Yes, I agree, could I also add that…?’ or ‘You make a good point, but…’. This has personally saved me from not being heard from a team meeting.
Although it is possible to tell your team members, or leader your thoughts after the meeting if you were unable to participate, it is not always sufficient, as this does not allow your team to see your input or recognise your contribution to the discussion. There are situations, however, where your detailed notes may be preferred, and may even be useful to the team, but the harsh reality is that unless people see or hear you participate, then they will not acknowledge your efforts. This might sound controversial and though there are studies that analyse the different communication styles of not only introverts and extroverts, but also men and women, in practice, the discussion room and speaking floor is a little more competitive. This shouldn’t, however, deter you to give feedback to your team about other ways of engaging more introverted types, such as allotting a speaking time in which you, the introverted law student, have prepared in your input in advance, or, allocating a chairperson to ensure that everyone has had a say.
Don’t use your introversion as an excuse to not try something new.
While introversion may be helpful when describing your preferences for how you consume and dispense your energy, it should not be an excuse to not try something new, nor should it hold you back from reaching your goals. Join a club if you want to join a club. Run for a position, even. Sometimes club members will be the right fit for you, other times they won’t be. In any case, even if you do enjoy your time or not, you’ve learnt something new and you’ve, more importantly, enhanced your employability skills.
The aim in your law degree, and in life generally, is the pursuit of growth. Being afraid of networking, for example, is a founded fear, but as vlogger and entrepreneur Amy Landino (5:27–6:00) shares, networking as an introvert is not about you. It is about your interest for others. Similarly, while networking may be more nerve wrecking for some personalities more than others, to leave a networking event without exchanging any words with anyone is to give in to your excuses of ‘I can’t, because I’m an introvert’. This is frankly a negative attitude to have and one that will debilitate you from moving out of your comfort zone. Instead, you should challenge yourself and put aside your worries and seek ways in which you can grow, regardless of your introversion.
It is not impossible for you to succeed and thrive in law school as an introverted law student. You might, however, need to better understand your strengths and prepare in advance in order to participate. Nevertheless, don’t forget to assert your leadership or communication style, whilst making yourself flexible to the necessary adjustments you need in any given situation. Lastly, challenge yourself and don’t use introversion as an excuse, as it is only when you leave your comfort zone that you can truly make the most out of your law school journey. Happy studying!
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