GENTLE POWER is conquering the world: Rights sold in Latvia, US, China and Thailand!

We are thrilled to announce that the Latvian rights for GENTLE POWER: A Revolution in How We Think, Lead, and Succeed Using the Finnish Art of Sisu by Emilia Elisabet Lahti, PhD, have been acquired by Zvaigzne ABC! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. Originally published in the US in January 2023 by Sounds True, the title has also been sold to China to Cheers Publishing, and Thailand to Amarin.

Life is an ultramarathon. The best path is to access your sisu and keep your heart open. Author, and founder of Sisu Lab and Gentle Power Academy, Emilia Elisabet Lahti, PhD, describes GENTLE POWER:
Love is our base element of life and love has always been there waiting for us to remove the veils that conceal it. Power is our base element too, and together with love it lays the blueprint for how we express our energy and potential in life. I call their harmonious expression gentle power.  This book is the result of my lifelong struggle to learn about love and power through trial and error. Every failure I meet reveals itself as a lesson in love and power.”

GENTLE POWER has garnered excellent reviews by critics and experts and generated a lot of media interest in both Lahti and her book:

“The book prompts readers to consider how they might develop their own compassionate power, urging them to be curious about what’s actually happening in a given conflict and to approach interactions with others without preconceived ideas. When we embody our sisu, Lahti says, we “open our eyes wide to whatever is at hand … with curiosity and courage that are soft around the edges.” – Spirituality & Health Magazine

Read Emilia Elisabet Lahti’s cover feature and 7-page interview for Spirituality & Health here: https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/running-on-gentle-power
Listen to Forging Mettle Podcast: The yin and yang of gentleness and power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Sv5GJjUAI

“In this beautiful book, Elisabet shows us how strength and toughness are not the same thing. A much-needed antidote to the myth of mind over matter, and a touching, honest story of one woman’s journey to discover the true origins of grit and fulfillment.” Angela Duckworth, PhD, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and New York Times bestselling author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Gentle Power is a brilliant and refreshing idea. Lahti is a rare combination of real-life adventurer and scientist. With the warmth and authenticity typical to her writing, she outlines an inviting path toward our highest expression through the power of everyday relationships.” Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Download the English PDF for GENTLE POWER here!

GENTLE POWER: A Revolution in How We Think, Lead, and Succeed Using the Finnish Art of Sisu

Emilia Elisabet Lahti

The Finnish philosophy of sisu shows us a new way to look at power—not as force and domination but as the harmonious expression of human character in everyday actions. With Gentle Power, Finnish-born Dr. Emilia Elisabet Lahti shares an illuminating guide to an emerging shift in the way we define true strength—an approach that balances resolve with reason, grit with compassion, and personal success with service to the collective good. Lahti explores sisu, world traditions, and modern research to provide a new way to approach leadership, resilience, and our power to create change.

Power is fundamental in our lives—we express it in every conversation, relationship, and choice we make. All too often, we equate force and domination with power, while gentleness and compassion are considered “soft” or “weak.” The destructive nature of this skewed perspective has never been more obvious, yet there is reason to hope.

GENTLE POWER: A REVOLUTION IN HOW WE THINK, LEAD, AND SUCCEED USING THE FINNISH ART OF SISU
Sounds True, 2023, 194 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
WORLD ENGLISH: Sounds True (orig.)
CHINA: Cheers Publishing Company
LATVIA: Zvaigzne ABC
THAILAND: Amarin Printing and Publishing

About author


Emilia Elisabet Lahti

Emilia Elisabet Lahti (PhD, MSc, MAPP), who goes by Elisabet, is an awarded educator, applied psychology researcher, and founder of Sisu Lab that helps create communities and work cultures based on everyday leadership as an expression of courage and compassion. Elisabet holds a master’s degree in social psychology from the University of Tampere in Finland and a master’s in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied under Professors Martian Seligman and Angela Duckworth. 

Since initiating the research on the Finnish construct of sisu in 2012, Elisabet’s doctoral work has involved exploring the limits of her own sisu through ultra-endurance running and Eastern martial arts. Her work on sisu has been featured by The New Yorker, Business Insider, BBC, Forbes, and more. Born and raised in Finland, she has lived and taught internationally and given talks at Fortune 500 companies, TEDx, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley.

Bibliography