Susan David

Susan David

Psychologist, Harvard Medical School, and Author, “Emotional Agility”

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Susan David, Ph.D. is one of the world’s leading management thinkers and an award-winning Harvard Medical School psychologist. Her #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Emotional Agility, based on the concept that Harvard Business Review heralded as a “Management Idea of the Year” and winner of the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award, describes the psychological skills critical to thriving in times of complexity and change. David’s TED Talk on the topic of emotional agility has been seen by more than 8 million people. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal and guest on national radio and television. Named on the Thinkers50 global list of the top management thinkers, David is a sought-after keynote speaker and advisor, with clients that include the World Economic Forum, EY, United Nations, Google, Microsoft, NASDAQ, and many other national and multinational organizations. She is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and is a co-founder of the Institute of Coaching (a Harvard Medical School/McLean affiliate). David lives outside of Boston with her family.

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11 min
How to master antifragility for a happier life
"Resilience" is being able to withstand hardship; "antifragility" goes one step further.
6 min
The tyranny of positivity: A Harvard psychologist details our unhealthy obsession with happiness
Think happy, be happy? Maybe not. Harvard psychologist Susan David examines the backlash effect of forced positivity in our lives.
8 min
The Psychology of Defeating Fear: Low Self-Esteem and Hate Live in the Mind
Harvard psychologist Susan David explains the dangers of fear-mongering, the questionable ethics of journalism in spreading hate politics, and the disturbing way that repetition wears down our brain's resistance to fallacies and hate speech.