01: Lessons Learned on an Introvert's Journey to Leadership: Ben Woelk, Feb. 6, 2019

Many of us might agree that Western society lauds extroverted leaders and their accomplishments. However, introvertsmake great contributions and can be effective leaders too. As technical communication professionals, many of you are introverts, and you certainly work with a lot of introverts. Those of us who are introverts may not believe or recognize that we have strong leadership skills, and we certainly don’t seem like the extroverted leaders that are the norm in Western society. My introversion informs my approach to leadership, and I’ve found that self-understanding has helped me learn how to harness my strengths as an introvert to become an influential leader and to achieve great results.Join me as I share personal insights and experiences from my leadership journey from shy team member to recognized leader. I’ll also identify the key steps I took that helped me become a successful leader and discuss how you can apply these steps to become a leader and influencer.About Ben Woelk

Ben Woelk

Ben Woelk, CISSP, CPTC, is Vice President and Associate Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). A frequent conference presenter, Ben has received numerous Society and local awards, including the 2017 STC President’s Award. Ben’s 20+ years techcomm experience includes management, SW and HW documentation, ISO 9001 documentation, instructor-led and web-based training, end-user communications, and policies and procedures. As Information Security Program Manager at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), he’s created a leading security awareness program and teaches Computing Security and Technical Communication courses at RIT. In the EDUCAUSE Higher Education Information Security Council Awareness and Training Working Group, Ben works to develop cybersecurity awareness programs. Ben guest edited STC’s February 2017 Intercom, “Personality, Temperament, and Technical Communication,” and authored Shock Proofing Your Use of Social Media (Kindle). Ben manages a virtual Introverted Leadership community and mentors and advocates for aspiring introverted leaders. Ben holds degrees from the University of Florida (BA), Trinity International University (MA), University of Rochester (MA, PhD Candidate), and RIT (Advanced Certificate in Technical Information Design). Find Ben on his website, Benwoelk.com, or on Twitter as @benwoelk.