Susan Cain is the best-selling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. A popular lecturer, the Harvard-trained lawyer offers terrific insight and advice for everybody in her book, but especially for parents who have “quiet”- tempered children:
“The best thing parents and teachers can do for introverted kids,” she writes, “is to treasure them for who they are, and encourage their passions.”
Here are three things she recommends parents do:
1. Give them the space they need. If they need to recharge, encourage alone time in their room after school instead of plunging into extracurricular activities.
2. Let them master new skills at their own pace. If they’re not learning to swim in group settings, for example, teach them privately.
3. Don’t call them “shy”–they’ll believe the label and experience their nervousness as a fixed trait rather than an emotion they can learn to control.
Ms. Cain will be one of the featured guests at the upcoming Catalyst Conference in Atlanta this October 3-5. Catalyst was first conceived as a “Next Generation Leadership” gathering. I was privileged to speak there last year and can highly recommend the event. Other guest speakers this October include Francis Chan, Michael Hyatt and Jon Acuff, to name just a few.
I’m delighted to let you know that Catalyst is offering friends of Focus on the Family a nearly $100 discount on the registration fee, but you must sign-up by Thursday, August 23rd.
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