We Are All Ambiverts Now

By Karl Moore and Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl

Routledge/September 2025

Reviewed by Asheesh Advani

September 29, 2025

In an era of constant disruption — in which organizations must pivot overnight, workforces are distributed across time zones, and social change reverberates through every sector — the idea of a single, fixed leadership style feels outdated.

Karl Moore and Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl’s new book, We Are All Ambiverts Now, offers an answer for this moment: leaders who can flex between extroversion and introversion, not because they are born to do so, but because today’s world demands it.

Moore, a professor at McGill University, and Hartshorne-Mehl, an experienced consultant and scholar of leadership, ground their work in deep research. They draw on interviews with more than 750 global CEOs, who range from household names to leaders of smaller but equally complex enterprises.

The resulting portrait is one of dynamic, situational, and deeply human leaders who are neither purely extroverts nor purely introverts, but “ambiverts,” shifting comfortably between the two, depending on context.

What sets We Are All Ambiverts Now apart is its balance of scholarship and accessibility. Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl have a gift for bridging academic research with practice, and here they distill decades of inquiry into a single, powerful thesis: leadership agility rests not in personality extremes but in the ability to read the room, listen deeply, and adapt one’s approach.

Their interviews bring theory to life, whether it’s a CEO who thrives in the spotlight but retreats for reflective strategy work, or another who leads quietly most days but can rally thousands when the moment calls for it.

The book arrives at a particularly timely moment. Younger generations entering the workforce increasingly reject rigid models of leadership. They expect leaders who are authentic, responsive, and collaborative. Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl demonstrate that ambiversion is not only more common than we assume but also more effective in building organizations that can thrive amid volatility.

By presenting ambiversion not as a rare gift but as a universal potential, Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl open the door for leaders everywhere to grow.

The message is clear: leaders must move past binary labels and embrace fluidity as strength.

At JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide, we’ve spent more than a century preparing young people to lead, and the authors’ insights resonate deeply with our mission. Through our learning experiences in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health, we see every day how young people — future CEOs among them — are already practicing ambiversion.

A student may confidently pitch a business idea to a panel one day and then quietly collaborate in a team setting the next. These shifts are not contradictions; they are competencies. Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl give this dynamic a name and show why it is not just a youthful strength but an essential trait for leaders at every stage.

One of the most compelling aspects of their argument is the way it reframes what has often been seen as weakness. Introverted moments are not lapses in leadership; they are sources of reflection and depth. Extroverted bursts are not distractions; they are engines of energy and persuasion.

Ambiversion stitches these together, producing leaders who are self-aware enough to know what the moment requires. For organizations, this recognition can be transformative: it legitimizes a wider range of leadership behaviors and encourages inclusivity by showing that there is no one mold for effective leadership.

If there is a limitation to the book, it may be that its examples lean heavily on CEOs with deep experience, who are already at the top of their fields. While their stories are powerful, the framework Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl build is equally relevant to those earlier in their careers: young managers, startup founders, or community leaders still learning to lead.

That said, this is less a flaw than an invitation. Readers at any stage can take the lessons here and apply them to their own contexts, whether they are leading a Fortune500 company or a student-run business.

The broader implication of We Are All Ambiverts Now is that ambiversion is not a fixed personality trait but a learned skill. Leaders can cultivate it through practice, self-reflection, and feedback. This is where the book shines. By presenting ambiversion not as a rare gift but as a universal potential, Moore and Hartshorne-Mehl open the door for leaders everywhere to grow.

For anyone who leads — or aspires to lead — in today’s turbulent world, We Are All Ambiverts Now is essential reading.

Asheesh Advani is President and CEO of JA Worldwide — one of the largest NGOs in the world — which prepares young people for employment and entrepreneurship. JA Worldwide is listed as one of the ten most impactful NGOs in the world in annual rankings.