Susan Cain - Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts

The stories in this book are based on interviews with more than one hundred kids, parents, and teachers. The names of the kids, along with other identifying details, have been changed to protect their privacy.

DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

PENGUIN YOUNG READERS GROUP

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

Text copyright 2016 by Susan Cain

Illustrations copyright 2016 by Grant Snider

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

eBook ISBN 9781101629802

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cain, Susan, author. | Mone, Gregory, author. | Snider, Grant, illustrator.

Title: Quiet power : the secret strengths of introverts / Susan Cain with Gregory Mone and Erica Moroz ; illustrated by Grant Snider.

Description: New York : Dial Books, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015040911 | ISBN 9780803740600 (hardback)

ISBN 9780399186721 (Library binding)

Subjects: LCSH: IntrovertsJuvenile literature. | Self-esteemJuvenile literature. | Interpersonal relationsJuvenile literature. | Families

Juvenile literature. | BISAC: JUVENILE NONFICTION / Social Science / Psychology. | JUVENILE NONFICTION / Social Issues / Self-Esteem &

Self-Reliance. | JUVENILE NONFICTION / Social Issues / Emotions & Feelings.

Classification: LCC BF698.35.I59 C356 2016 | DDC 155.4/18232dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015040911

Jacket art 2016 by Grant Snider

Jacket design by Irene Vandervoort

Version_1

For Gonzo, Sam, and Eli, with all my love
S.C.

• 1. A quiet temperament is a hidden superpower.
• 2. Theres a word for people who are in their heads too much: thinkers.
• 3. Most great ideas spring from solitude.
• 4. You can stretch like a rubber band. You can do anything an extrovert can do, including stepping into the spotlight. There will always be time for quiet later.
• 5. But even though youll need to stretch on occasion, you should return to your true self when youre done.
• 6. Two or three close friends mean more than a hundred acquaintances (though acquaintances are great too).
• 7. Introverts and extroverts are yin and yangwe love and need each other.
• 8. Its okay to cross the hallway to avoid small talk.
• 9. You dont need to be a cheerleader to lead. Just ask Mahatma Gandhi.
• 10. Speaking of Gandhi, he said: In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

INTRODUCTION

Why are you being so quiet?

Friends, teachers, acquaintances, even people I barely know have asked me this question. Most mean well. They want to know if Im all right, or if theres a reason that Im keeping to myself. Some ask in a way that suggests they think its a little weird that I havent spoken up in a while.

I dont always have a clear-cut answer to this question. Sometimes Im quiet because Im in the middle of a thought or observation. Sometimes Im more focused on listening than on talking. Often, though, the reason Im being quiet is because thats just how I am. Quiet.

In school, it always seemed as if outgoing was the highest compliment a person could get. In classes, my teachers often asked me to speak up more. At school dances I headed for the dance floor with my friends, but had it been up to me, we would have just hung out together at someones house. I went along to loud, crowded parties in college, but I couldnt shake the feeling that I would have had a better time eating dinner with a friend or two and going to a movie. I never complained about it, though. I thought that I was supposed to do these things in order to be considered normal.

Throughout this time, Id built a small but deep network of close friends and colleagues. I never really cared whether someone was popular or not, which meant that some of my friends were cool and others not at all. Thanks to my preference for intimate conversations, my friendships were built on mutual trust, enjoyment of each others company, and love. They had little to do with cliques or popularity contests. People started to praise me for my insightful questions, my ability to think independently, and my calm approach to tense situations. They complimented me on being a deep thinker and great listener. They also started listening to me. They noticed that when I spoke, it was because I had something thoughtful to say. And once I moved into the working world, the bold, outspoken types who had once intimidated me started offering me jobs!

As time went on, I realized that my quiet approach to life had been a great power all along. It was a tool that Id just needed to learn how to use. I looked around and saw that many of the great contributions to the worldfrom the Apple computer to the Cat in the Hathad been made by introverts because of, not in spite of, their quiet temperaments. I culled my ideas into a book for adults called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talking. It hit the New York Times best seller list and has stayed there for years, and has been translated into forty languages. Thousands and thousands of people have told me that this simple ideathat their quiet approach, if used correctly, is a powerful forceactually changed their lives. It touched them in ways I could not have imagined.

Soon I was doing things that seemed impossible when I was younger. When I was in middle school, for example, I was terrified of public speaking. I couldnt sleep the night before I had to give a book report. One time I was so scared that I froze up in front of everyone and couldnt even open my mouth. Now, as an advocate for introverted people, I appear on screens all over the world and deliver lectures in front of thousands of people. I gave a TED Talk about introversion that became one of the most watched TED Talks of all time, with many millions of views. (TED stands for technology, entertainment, and design, and is the name of an organization that holds conferences where people share big ideas.)

Inspired by these experiences, I cofounded Quiet Revolution, a mission-based company whose goal is to empower introverts of all ages. I want us quiet types to feel we can be ourselves wherever we areat school, at work, and in society at large. Quiet Revolution advocates for change and boosts the voices of us introverts. The movement is inclusiveanyone is allowed to join, no matter how quiet or outgoing they are. I encourage you to get involved on Quietrev.com!

People often ask me whether Ive turned into an extrovert, now that Im such a comfortable public speaker and media commentator. But I havent changed in any fundamental way over the years. I still feel shy sometimes. And I love my quiet, reflective self. Ive embraced the power of quietand you can too.

Many of my readers have told me they wish theyd heard about the Quiet Revolution when they were kids, or when they were parents raising their own introverted children. And Ive also heard from inspiring young people who wish that there was a version of