“You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I am a designer with introvert and quiet tendencies, that works in an environment which values visibility and performative productivity. My working style is comprised of a lot of 1:1s and sharing written thoughts. I am trying to advocate for myself, and highlight that there are different ways to contribute and have impact, but the feedback about my personality traits keep being highlighted. How can I navigate this situation better? Are there places that reward differently? What early signals should I be looking for?

What if I don’t want to be the loudest designer in the room?

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

I don’t think you’re alone in feeling this way. Agencies are built by extroverts on the whole, so it makes sense that those environments value the loudest voices. But the introverts are the glue that holds a studio together. They’re better at observing the room while the others hold the mic. Better at noticing those that need help, or unseen problems to solve. So I’ll start by saying you are invaluable.

The feedback about your personality is tricky, it could be seen two ways.

They can’t see your impact as easily. You’re doing the work, but it’s not being communicated well. You need to make your thinking visible for them to see your value.

You can try to emulate the extroverts on your own terms. Commit to raising your voice once a week. That could be sharing a new point of view on Slack, or asking a question in a design crit – taking a small step each week to demonstrate your insight and play an active part in the studio. It’s a shame that you need to do that, and I don’t want to tell you to be inauthentic. But if you want to progress in this specific environment, you might need to step out of your comfort zone. ‘The Charisma Myth’ by Olivia Fox Cabane is a great book that explores how to become ‘charismatic’ without changing your fundamental personality.

The second way the feedback could be interpreted is that you don’t match the “cultural fit” they have in mind. That’s a shortcoming on their side, but will be difficult to fight against. There are places out there that will value your skills more — that are more strategic, focussed on writing and research. If your current environment isn’t open to your way of working, then you might find a better fit elsewhere.

If you do decide to change roles, pay close attention to who interviews you. Are they built on a team of ‘superstar designers’ who care more about the case studies than the impact of work? Ask how they measure good creativity. If they have a “culture-fit”, ask them to describe it. You have an opportunity to take your learnings and find the right place for you, in a studio that wants you to work authentically.

You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room – but you do need to question if there’s space for different ways of working where you are. Or if you’re willing to bend to their monoculture.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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