Why Your Team’s Silent Half Isn’t Talking—and How to Fix It

Ever wonder why half your team stays silent while the other half won’t stop talking?

If you want to walk away with tools to lead smarter, connect deeper, and turn personality clashes into your team's greatest strength, you won't want to miss this episode!

Episode OvervieW

In this episode, Co-hosts Michael and Cathy McIntosh welcome MBTI expert Mary Thompson to uncover why half your team stays silent while others overfill the void. It’s creating a team-building obstacle that breeds mistrust and muddles communication. Mary reveals the energy-driven differences between introverts and extroverts, why these misunderstandings derail law enforcement teams, and simple shifts leaders can make to unify their teams into an unstoppable force.

Guest Spotlight: Mary L. Thompson

Who She Is: Leadership coach, self-discovery expert, and founder of Trajectory Forward Corporate Consulting and Flight Deck Life School. (www.flightdecklifeschool.com)
Expertise: Certified in Myers-Briggs and Strong Interest Inventory, Mary combines personality assessments with biblical insight to help leaders find clarity and purpose.
Mission: Delivering real, actionable guidance for whole-life transformation, helping leaders move from feeling stuck to living with intention, confidence, and joy.

Key Takeaways

The Introvert-Extrovert Divide: Mary explains that introversion and extroversion are about energy—where you get it and where you put it—not just social skills. Introverts recharge internally, while extroverts thrive on interaction.
Misunderstandings in Teams: In group exercises, introverts feel overlooked (“Why don’t you listen?”) while extroverts feel frustrated (“Why don’t you speak up?”), revealing deep pain and communication breakdowns.
Leadership Impact: Extroverted leaders often bypass introverts, missing critical input. Mary suggests giving introverts time to process so they can unlock their well-thought-out ideas.
Practical Tips: Sending meeting notes in advance and inviting one-on-one follow-ups help introverts contribute, while extroverts need space to discuss ideas without feeling dominated.
Law Enforcement Challenges: Mike shares how introverts often struggle in promotional processes, where extroverts tend to shine. Mary advises introverts to prepare talking points to assert their strengths confidently.
Serving Through Understanding: Leadership is about serving—meet introverts with emails and time to think, and let extroverts talk it out, to build trust and connection.
Myers-Briggs in Action: Mary outlines the 30-45 minute assessment and half-day training process, fostering team vocabulary and unity through fun, revealing exercises.
Understand Energy Sources: Introverts gain energy internally, extroverts from others. Recognizing this prevents misjudging silence as disengagement or talkativeness as flakiness.
Bridge Communication Gaps: Extroverts fill silence, while introverts process quietly—both can feel unheard. Leaders must create space for both to contribute.
Practical Actions: Send meeting agendas early, invite one-on-one input, and resist filling every silence to ensure introverts’ voices are heard.
Serve Your Team: Tailor communication to personality types—emails for introverts, discussions for extroverts—to show you value everyone’s strengths.
Level the Playing Field: Coach introverts to prepare key points for high-stakes moments like promotions, ensuring their skills shine despite quieter styles.
Connect with Mary: Visit FlightDeckLifeSchool.com or follow her on Instagram @FlightDeckLifeSchool to explore her coaching and Myers-Briggs expertise.
Transform Your Agency: Schedule a call at LELeaders.com to learn how our coaching, workshops, and keynotes can build proactive leaders in a reactive profession.
Support the Show: Loved this episode? Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help us reach more leaders like you!

Connect with Us

Website: LELeaders.com
Social Media: Follow us for more leadership insights and updates.
Hosts: Michael McIntosh (retired sheriff, bureau chief, 40+ years in law enforcement) and Kathy McIntosh (business and branding expert).

Ready to unmute your team and lead with clarity? Tune in, take action, and elevate your call to service today!

Quotable Insights from This Episode:

“Extroversion and introversion are how we orient ourselves to the outside world, but they really have to do with energy—where you get it and where you want to put it.”

“Introverts say, ‘Why didn’t you listen to me? Why do you always overlook me?’ And extroverts ask, ‘Why don’t you speak up? How come you won’t let me know what you think?’ There’s a lot of pain.”

“When extroverts are in charge, introverts get bypassed… If you don’t give them time to process, you’re missing half the input that would help you see all sides of the story.”

“In promotional processes, introverts struggle because they want to sit back and collect everything, while extroverts naturally talk through solutions. How do we help their skills shine?”

“Tell introverts to be themselves. If they’ve thought through their talking points, their well-founded ideas will shine, and people will tune in because it’s so well thought out.”

“If I can serve you by allowing you to email me instead of talking in person, or by giving you notes ahead of time, that’s how I meet introverts where they are. If I let extroverts talk it out, that’s serving them.”
(Timestamp: 25:10)

“Once you understand how someone recharges, it’s not personal anymore. It’s just how they’re wired, and you can serve them better by meeting them where they are.”

“If you suddenly become aware you’ve been squashing the life out of your introverts inadvertently, you can change with little things. The whole team gets stronger because we understand each other.”