The Power of Introverts

After ten years as an attorney on Wall Street, Susan Cain wrote a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts -- a tremendous book that has made it to the NY Times Bestsellers list for many weeks. Today she spoke at the 2014 Global Leadership Summit. My takeaways...

  • An extrovert learns better when the background noise is louder. The introvert learns better when the background is quiet. We must create environments in our businesses for both types of learners.
  • Solitude is a scarce commodity we have to restore to our businesses.
  • Stop the madness for group work. Use a hybrid approach: let people work alone, and then come back to the group to share.
  • There is a perception that you can't be a leader unless you are an extrovert. We need to change how we think about leadership. 

 

Tim Stevens