If it seems like you haven't heard from me in a while, you're right. I've been hunkering down. While most people associate me with being gregarious and out front, my natural state is really more introverted. I crave alone time, so I can find my best ideas. I prefer in-depth conversations over small talk, and I like to concentrate on a singular job instead of multitasking on many.

It took me a long time to realize that these were not personality defects, particularly in a society that revels in the opposite.

Thanks to the incredible work of Susan Cain, whose research revealed that one in every three people also share these traits, I now see how important it is to nurture these introspective needs instead of negate them. According to Forbes, "Cain's book, Quiet, should interest anyone who cares about how people think, work, get along, or wonders why the guy in the next cubicle, acts that way." If you do nothing else, check out her speech,  "The Power of Introverts," which Bill Gates named as one of his all-time favorite TED talks. It will change the way you see yourself and others, not to mention challenge our culture's "Groupthink" standards that tend to kill the creative process.

The greatest leaders, inventors, scientists, and artists of all time don't huddle up in open-plan work stations or committee meetings in order to develop their most meaningful work. They dive into the uncharted channels of their minds in private -- then bring their ideas to the forum afterward.

Bottom line?

Solitude is a catalyst for innovation. Collaboration should come as the result. 

Susie