Susan Cain
Author Award-Winning New York Times bestsellers: Bittersweet and "QUIET: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking"
- New York Times bestselling author of Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking,
- Her latest masterpiece, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, an Oprah’s Book Club pick, debuted #1 on the NYT Bestsellers List
- Her TED talks on the power of introverts and the hidden power of sad songs and rainy days have been viewed over 50 million times on TED and YouTube combined.
- 6th Top Influencer in the world by LinkedIn & one of the world’s top 50 Leadership and Management Experts by Inc.
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About Susan Cain
Download ProfileSusan Cain is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, and BITTERSWEET: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, which was also an Oprah Book Club selection. She has spent the last twenty years exploring a particular realm of human nature: the quiet, the sensitive, the thoughtful, the bittersweet. It has always seemed clear to her – and to her millions of readers – that this way of being can lead to a richer, deeper form of happiness. Susan’s books have been translated into 40+ languages, and her record-smashing TED talks have been viewed over 50 million times on TED and YouTube combined. Susan is the host of the bestselling Audible series, A QUIET LIFE IN SEVEN STEPS, and the QUIET LIFE online community. Her Kindred Letters newsletter is read by people in all 193 countries and all 50 American states.
LinkedIn named Susan the Top 6th Influencer in the World, just behind Richard Branson and Melinda French Gates. Susan partners with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant and Dan Pink to curate the Next Big Idea Book Club. They donate all their proceeds to children’s literacy programs.
Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her TED talks on the power of introverts and the hidden power of sad songs and rainy days have been viewed over 50 million times.
Cain has also spoken at Google, PIXAR, the U.S. Treasury, P&G, Harvard, and West Point. She received Harvard Law School’s Celebration Award for Thought Leadership, the Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Award for Communication and Leadership, and was named one of the world’s top 50 Leadership and Management Experts by Inc. Magazine. She is an honors graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband, two sons and golden doodle, Sophie.
Video Gallery
The Hidden Power of Sad Songs and Rainy Days | Susan Cain | TED
The Hidden Power of Sad Songs and Rainy Days | Susan Cain | TED
Speech Topics
Download TopicsIf you’ve ever wondered why you like sad music . . .
If you find comfort or inspiration in a rainy day . . .
If you react intensely to music, art, nature, and beauty . . .
Then you probably identify with the bittersweet state of mind.
Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of the passing of time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death —bitter and sweet—are forever paired.
With her bestselling phenomenon, Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she explores why we experience sorrow and longing, and how embracing the bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity, connection, and authenticity. Susan shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don’t acknowledge our own heartache, we can end up inflicting it on others. But if we realize that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward one another.
At a time of collective loss, profound discord, and personal anxiety, Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways. Using her trademark mix of stories, research, memoir, practical tips, and inspiration, Susan will show you the power of a “Bittersweet” work culture, including:
- How the expression of sorrow, as well as joy, is key to deep creativity and genuine connection.
- Case studies of organizations, from hospitals to oil rigs, that have transformed their cultures – and smashed productivity records – by creating “bittersweet” cultures.
- An analysis of everything from Harry Potter novels to fashion photography to reveal what creativity really is – including its surprising relationship to longing, sorrow, and rising above our limitations.
- How you can use these insights and actionable steps to build true connection and foster a more creative and mutually supportive work environment.
Did you know introverted leaders often deliver better results than extroverted leaders do? That the most spectacularly creative people tend to be introverts? That the most innovative thinking happens alone and not in teams? One of the central challenges of any business is to bring out the best in its employees. Yet when it comes to introverts—who make up a third to a half of the workforce—our leadership strategy mainly consists of asking them to act like extroverts. This is a serious waste of talent and energy.
In her enlightening, relatable, and practical talks, Susan Cain shows us that introverts think and work in ways that are crucial to the survival of today’s organizations. How can you structure your organization so that the best ideas—rather than those of the most vocal and assertive people—dominate? How do introverts and extroverts solve problems and evaluate risk differently? What do introverts know about creativity that the rest of us should learn? Drawing on her original research and the latest in neuroscience and psychology, Susan will radically change your view of the best ways to develop leaders, manage teams, make smart hires, and stimulate innovation.
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