September S.M.I.L.E.S.
Leadership is experienced in moments.
The meeting where someone finally feels heard.
The conversation where a leader names a contribution that had gone unnoticed.
The moment an employee realizes, I know how to handle this.
The interaction that leaves someone feeling clearer, stronger, or more confident than they felt five minutes earlier.
Those moments may look small on a calendar.
Their impact accumulates.
That is what I have been thinking about as we enter September.
I am calling it September S.M.I.L.E.S..
And the idea is simple:
Intentionally create more moments worth smiling about.
A smile can be the visible result of connection, progress, acknowledgment, confidence, trust, possibility, or belonging.
For leaders, those experiences matter because people remember how leadership feels long after they forget the exact words from a meeting.
Leadership Is Always Being Experienced
One of my favorite parts of speaking is watching a room change.
You can see it happen.
Someone leans forward.
A face softens.
A smile appears.
Someone who seemed distracted becomes fully present.
That experience continually reminds me that communication begins long before someone raises a hand or says a word.
People read expression.
Posture.
Attention.
Energy.
Presence.
The same thing happens in organizations every day.
Employees notice how leaders enter a room.
They notice whether someone looks up when they speak.
They notice whether their idea receives consideration.
They notice whether progress gets acknowledged.
They notice whether a leader’s words and actions align.
Those interactions create the emotional texture of work.
And leadership creates a significant amount of that texture.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 reports that 70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager. The report also found that manager engagement declined globally from 30% to 27%, reinforcing how strongly the experience of managers and teams is interconnected.
Leadership presence has consequences.
People carry those experiences into how they communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and perform.
What Makes a Moment Worth Smiling About?
This is deeper than making work cheerful.
Think about the moments that genuinely make people smile at work.
Someone receives recognition that is specific enough to mean something.
A difficult conversation produces clarity.
A leader notices progress.
A team solves something together.
Someone takes a risk and discovers they are capable.
An employee realizes their voice influenced a decision.
A manager makes space for another person to shine.
Those are leadership moments.
They strengthen confidence because they give people evidence.
Evidence that their contribution matters.
Evidence that they are growing.
Evidence that they belong in the conversation.
Evidence that they can navigate what comes next.
That is why I teach confidence as a repeatable performance system.
Confidence becomes useful when it moves into behavior.
Speaking up.
Making decisions.
Giving feedback.
Following through.
Responding constructively under pressure.
Taking action before every answer is available.
The feedback I receive after speaking reinforces this repeatedly.
After one session, Christina Garwood of Ford Motor Company shared:
“I’m so much more confident in my everyday experiences.”
Everyday experiences.
That is where leadership development earns its value.
The S.M.I.L.E.S. Leadership Practice
For September, I am using SMILES as a simple reminder of six leadership behaviors:
S - Strengthen your mindset
The thoughts leaders rehearse eventually influence the behaviors teams experience.
M - Make meaningful connections
Leadership is relational. Conversation, attention, curiosity, and connection create access to information and trust.
I - Ignite possibility
People perform differently when leaders expand what they believe is possible.
L - Lead with presence
Presence communicates. People experience our attention, composure, expression, and energy before they process our words.
E - Elevate someone
Recognition builds awareness. Specific acknowledgment tells people what created value and gives them something meaningful to repeat.
S - Share your smile
Warmth creates openings. A genuine smile can communicate welcome, confidence, encouragement, and connection in seconds.
The purpose is not to turn SMILES into another checklist.
Use it as a lens.
Ask: What kind of experience am I creating for the people around me?
Recognition Deserves More Attention
One of the simplest places leaders can create meaningful moments is acknowledgment.
Specific recognition gives people information.
“Great job” feels pleasant.
“You kept the conversation focused when the team became frustrated, and that allowed us to reach a decision” teaches someone exactly what behavior created value.
Now they can recognize it.
Repeat it.
Strengthen it.
And the connection between these everyday experiences and retention is significant.
According to the 2026 State of Workplace Culture & Connection research, 83% of employees say they stay at a company primarily because of its culture and the people they work with. The same research found that enjoying their team, enjoying their daily work, and feeling valued by colleagues ranked among the leading contributors to a positive work experience.
Acknowledgment is part of that experience.
It tells people:
I see your contribution.
I understand its impact.
It mattered.
Those moments accumulate.
They shape connection.
They shape culture.
And culture gives people another reason to stay.
Often, it gives them something worth smiling about too.
Make the Small Moments Count
Leadership rarely arrives with background music.
Most leadership happens between the big moments.
In hallways.
On Zoom calls.
During one-on-ones.
Inside emails.
Before presentations.
After mistakes.
During uncertainty.
In the thirty seconds when someone decides whether to speak.
That is where culture becomes real.
September gives us an opportunity to pay closer attention to those moments.
Smile at progress.
Acknowledge someone’s contribution.
Create connection.
Lead with presence.
Strengthen confidence.
Give someone a reason to believe something greater is possible.
The leadership question I am carrying this month is simple:
What am I creating that gives someone a reason to smile?
Because when people experience more moments of confidence, connection, clarity, acknowledgment, and progress, they carry those experiences forward.
And that's leadership worth smiling about.
Because empowering leaders don't just perform under pressure, they build culture where everyone can.
👉🏾 Book an Igniting Culture Conversation here: https://calendly.com/meshellbaker/ignite-with-meshell
