Afleveringen
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Episode Summary
When did you last follow someone else?
Most high-achieving leaders never stop long enough to ask that question. And that silence is costing their teams more than they realize. In this episode, L. Michelle Smith draws from the final chapter of her bestselling book Call and Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church to explore one of the most counterintuitive concepts in leadership development: the power of leading from behind.
Built on the positive psychology principle of power with over power over, this episode makes the case that sharing power is not a leadership risk. It is a leadership strategy and one of the fastest ways to re-engage a disengaged team.
What Youâll Hear in This Episode
Why leaders who are always out front cannot fully see what is behind them, and what that costs the people they lead.
The social science behind power with over power over, rooted in the work of Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley and the foundational theory of Mary Parker Follett.
How Edward Deci and Richard Ryanâs Self-Determination Theory explains why genuine autonomy is a fundamental human need, and what happens to performance when that need is met.
Why being a good follower is an emotional intelligence skill that most high achievers have never been asked to develop.
A micropractice for identifying the one decision you have been holding onto that someone on your team could own completely.
Research and References
Dacher Keltner â Power and Social Intelligence, UC Berkeley
Mary Parker Follett â Power With vs. Power Over
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan â Self-Determination Theory
L. Michelle Smith â Call and Response: Ten Leadership Lessons from the Black Church, Chapter 10
Your Powerful Thought for the Day
The leader who knows when to step back is always more powerful than the one who never learned how.
Your Powerful Question for the Day
Who on your team is waiting for you to trust them enough to lead, and what is it actually costing you to keep holding that power?
Go Deeper
Get your free leadership toolkit and subscribe to FlightPath: soaracademy.nsccoaching.co
Join The Circle â L. Michelleâs private leadership community: lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
Pick up Call and Response: Ten Leadership Lessons from the Black Church wherever fine books are sold.
Request L. Michelle for speaking, keynotes, or workshops: lmichellesmith.com/speaking
Take the Heart-Centered Leader Assessment: SOARacademy.nsccoaching.co/a/CallandResponse
Subscribe to the FlightPath newsletter in your inbox every Monday: soaracademy.nsccoaching.co/subscribe
About Her Next Power Move
Her Next Power Move is the podcast for high-performing leaders navigating career ascension with clarity and confidence. Every other week, host and executive producer L. Michelle Smith delivers evidence-based leadership insights rooted in applied neuroscience, positive psychology, and culture â in a powerful ten minutes built for busy professionals. Paid subscribers on Substack hear episodes first and get direct access to L. Michelle. Subscribe at lmichellesmith.substack.com.
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Episode Summary
Something shifted this week â and if you lead people, you need to pay attention to it.
A woman recently filed for religious accommodation based on her objection to using artificial intelligence at work. She won. The accommodation was granted. What was once a philosophical conversation has become an operational reality, and it arrived faster than most organizations were prepared to handle.
In this episode, L. Michelle Smith goes beyond the headlines to explore what this moment actually reveals about leadership. When people stop asking logistical questions and start raising moral ones, the playbook changes. The leaders who come out of this moment with strong cultures will be the ones who created space for those questions before they became HR filings.
What Youâll Hear in This Episode
The accommodation case that signals a turning point in how organizations must think about AI mandates and the people carrying them out.
Why moral injury â first documented in military and medical contexts by researchers Jonathan Shay, Wendy Dean, and Simon Talbot â is now showing up in corporate environments where employees are repeatedly asked to act against their values.
What Pope Leo XIVâs encyclical on AI and human dignity revealed about what employees have been feeling but could not yet say.
How to lead through genuine ethical uncertainty without shutting down progress or silencing the people who need to be heard.
A micropractice you can use before your next one-on-one to create the conditions for honest conversation before a concern becomes a complaint.
Research and References
Jonathan Shay â Moral Injury Framework
Wendy Dean and Simon Talbot â Moral Injury in Organizational Contexts
Pope Leo XIV â Magnifica Humanitas, Encyclical on Artificial Intelligence and Human Dignity
Your Powerful Thought for the Day
The moment someone takes a moral objection to HR is the moment you find out whether your culture was ever really built for hard conversations. Build it before that moment arrives.
Your Powerful Question for the Day
What are the people on your team carrying about AI right now that they do not yet believe you are safe enough to hear?
Connect and Go Deeper
Read the full FlightPath essay that inspired this episode at lmichellesmith.substack.com
Join The Circle â L. Michelleâs private leadership community â at lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
Book a Summer Reset coaching session at cal.read.ai/coachlmichelle/30-min
Subscribe and Leave a Review
If this episode stayed with you, share it with a leader who needs it. And if you have not yet subscribed to Her Next Power Move, now is a good time. New episodes drop regularly wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Episode Summary In this episode, host L. Michelle Smith dives into the essential elements of strategic leadership and the mindset shifts required for executive growth. Whether you are looking to level up in your current role or preparing for your next big power move, this conversation provides the insights needed to lead with purpose and authority.
Key Takeaways
* Lead with Strategy: Understanding how to pivot from operational management to high-level strategic thinking.
* Executive Presence: How to cultivate the growth necessary to command the room and lead effectively.
* Community Support: The importance of surrounding yourself with a âCircleâ of leaders who challenge and support your professional evolution.
Connect & Grow If todayâs episode resonated with you, donât keep it to yourself! Share it with a leader in your network who needs to hear this message today.
Ready to go deeper into your leadership journey? Join our community and gain access to exclusive resources:
* Join The Circle: lmichellesmith.com/TheCircle
* Official Website: lmichellesmith.com
Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Her Next Power Move and leave a review to help other executive leaders find us.
Itâs time you secured your copy of Call and Response. Learn more at https://lmichellesmith.com/callandresponse
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Last night, I had the opportunity to speak with a remarkable group of professional women about what it really means to find your voice in todayâs work environment.
What emerged in that conversation was powerful: for many leaders, this is not fundamentally a communication problem. It is a clarity, confidence, and regulation problem shaped by stress, uncertainty, overload, and the growing demands of modern work.
That insight inspired a new high-octane masterclass inside SOAR Academy.
In this session, we will explore how to strengthen your voice, presence, and leadership in a workplace that can make even the most capable among us feel scattered. Drawing on leadership strategy, neuroscience, and the heart-centered principles behind my broader body of work, this fast-paced, laser-focused masterclass is designed to help you lead with greater steadiness, purpose, and intention.
This is for leaders who want to show up with more clarity in meetings, more confidence in high-stakes moments, and more command in environments that ask a lot of all of us.
If that speaks to where you are right now, Iâd love to have you join me.
[Register Here]
With you in this work,
LMS
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đď¸ Episode 23: The Space Between: Where Leadership Gets Lost and How to Finds it Again
You can say the right thing⌠and still not be heard the way you intended.
In this episode of Her Next Power Move, L. Michelle Smith explores the often overlooked space between what leaders say and how their message is actually receivedâespecially in moments of change.
As organizations lean into AI, leaders are being asked to communicate with confidence about whatâs possible. The messaging is clear. The intention is right. And still, something doesnât fully land.
Why?
Because communication doesnât end when something is said. It continues in how it is interpreted, filtered, and carried forward by the people who heard it.
Drawing from neuroscience and real-world leadership dynamics, this episode breaks down what is happening beneath the surface when teams hear about changeâand why uncertainty, cognitive overload, and unspoken questions can quietly shape behavior.
This is not a messaging problem. Itâs a meaning-making problem.
And how you lead in that space determines whether your team moves with youâor begins to pull away.
In this episode, youâll explore:
Why people donât hear your message the way you think they do
How the brain processes change, uncertainty, and perceived threat
What happens when questions go unspoken
The hidden cost of cognitive overload and constant task switching
How to close the gap between what is said and what is understood
Research & Insights Referenced:
NeuroLeadership Institute: Uncertainty activates threat responses in the brain
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Task switching can reduce productivity by up to 40% and increase errors
Foundational neuroscience on the amygdala and threat perception
Powerful Thought:
People donât resist what you say.They resist what they think it means for them.
Powerful Question:
Where in your leadership are you communicating clearly⌠but not creating understanding?
Stay Connected:
If this episode resonated with you, and youâre ready to deepen how you lead in moments that matter, I invite you to explore The Circleâmy leadership growth community.
This is where we do the deeper work:how you show up, how youâre experienced, and how you lead with intention in real time.
Learn more:đ lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
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NEW YORK CITY & NEW JERSEY:The Call and Response book tour will be in your area soon! Mark your calendar to sit with myself and Carla Harris for a conversation about how heart-centered leadership is built, why we need it today, and where those foundational lessons came from for the both of us and many other amazing corporate leaders that are at the top of their games today.Join us and special host Michael Hyter for the engaging and actionable conversation.6 p..- 7 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 6, 2026Barnes & Noble Upper East SideCome a little early to snag your seat and mingleI will sign books immediately following.
Head over to the Barnes & Noble UES Events Page to add this event to your calendar, and invite a friend or colleague to join us.
Learn more about Call and Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church, and the leadership platform inspired by it.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lmichellesmith.substack.com/subscribe -
HER NEXT POWER MOVEEpisode 22: Capacity Is an Inside JobHosted by L. Michelle Smith
In this first episode back since the end of 2025, L. Michelle reflects on what has come into sharper focus during her Call and Response book and media tour and introduces the deeper shift happening across her work: a stronger emphasis on heart-centered leadership.
This episode takes a closer look at capacity, but not from the usual team-performance angle. Instead, it explores a leaderâs personal capacity: the inner room to think clearly, stay grounded, remain emotionally available, and lead with intention when life and work both feel demanding.
Drawing from neuroscience, positive psychology, and her evolving Leadership Revival framework, L. Michelle invites listeners to consider how pressure changes the way leaders think, respond, and relate. She also offers a reflective lens for noticing when leadership has become compressed by overextension, even when performance still looks strong on the surface.
If you have been carrying a lot, pushing through, and wondering why your leadership feels tighter than it used to, this episode will meet you there.
IN THIS EPISODE, L. MICHELLE EXPLORES:
Why capacity issues often show up in the leader before they show up in the team
How sustained pressure affects the brain and narrows leadership range
What heart-centered leadership asks of us in this season
Why internal capacity shapes relationships, judgment, and presence
A simple reflection to help you lead from a fuller place
LISTEN IF YOU ARE:
Leading while stretched thin
Feeling productive, but not especially spacious
Trying to show up well for others without losing yourself
Rethinking what sustainable leadership really requires
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Call and Response by L. Michelle Smith
Subscribe to Her Next Power Move on Substack
Learn more about coaching, workshops, and speaking at lmichellesmith.com
REFLECTION QUESTION:Where might the strain in your leadership be less about performance and more about capacity?
CONNECT WITH L. MICHELLE:Website: lmichellesmith.comSubstack: Her Next Power MoveBook: Call and Response
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lmichellesmith.substack.com/subscribe -
Seems befitting that a I leverage AI for my end-of-year wrap up, in a year where I integrated AI into my coach-facilitator and C-suite advisement practice. Her Next Power Move is officially in hiatus until the New Year, so take a listen to the podcast created with the data I fed the platform to create the audio and the visuals you see here.
This year wasnât about visibility.It was about validity.I spent 2025 heads downâresearching, testing, translating, and pressure-checking ideas in real leadership environments. No big splash. No rush to summarize the work before it was ready.This visual is a glimpse into Call & Response, the book's core premise and a framework rooted in cultural wisdom, applied science, and lived leadership practice translated into modern theory. Years of interviews. Nearly 200 citations. A lot of listening.A decade from concept to publication.And to think, it all started in 2016 when someone asked, "Where'd you learn to speak like that?" when writing a book about this was furthest from my mind!This isn't a trend. It's a sustainable body of work.Universities, companies and churches are already asking about curriculum.If you're also interested, I've got you. Just reach out.Educators: my publishers will work with you on text books, we're already receiving requests.
Alongside that work, I stayed in the classroom and in the field:â Continuing as adjunct faculty with the Executive Leadership Council Instituteâ Joining the faculty at The CaPP Institute to help prepare certified coaches for their ICF credentialsâ Onboarding as an Academy Partner with The Academy for Advancing Excellence as a coach and facilitatorNo big splash. Just alignment.The infographic Iâm sharing is a snapshot of what that kind of year actually produces when you commit to substance over noise: leaders coached, insights delivered, programs built, and ideas translated into scalable impact.This wasnât a year of visibility.It was a year of positioning.And Iâm entering the next chapter clear, grounded, and ready.Next year, my team and I shift gears. Who's ready to join me?2026, let's go!
Call and Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church is a collaboration between Amistad Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing, the oldest and most storied publisher of Black voices in the nation and JVL Media, the imprint of Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and Lavaille Lavette.
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Summary:As the year winds down, many high-performing leaders find themselves mentally drained in a way that sleep alone canât fix. This episode breaks down the neuroscience of year-end fatigueâwhy your brain feels foggy, unfocused, or simply doneâand why this season hits harder than any other quarter.
Grounded in research from cognitive science and positive psychology, we explore how chronic decision-making depletes the prefrontal cortex, how emotional residue builds through the year, and why stress narrows your perception just when clarity matters most.
Youâll learn how to shift from high output to high intention, simplify decisions, conserve cognitive energy, and reconnect to purpose so you can finish strongâwithout finishing yourself.
In this episode, youâll learn:⢠Why Q4 is the most cognitively expensive quarter of the year⢠What neuroscience says about cognitive fatigue and emotional residue⢠How chronic stress reshapes attention, motivation, and clarity⢠Why âpushing throughâ actually sabotages performance⢠How micro-rest practices restore cognitive energy⢠A weekly micro-practice to regain control and clarity⢠A powerful thought and coaching question to carry forward
Micro-Practice:The Five-Minute Finish â a brief end-of-day ritual that restores clarity and reduces mental clutter.
Powerful Question:What is one thing you can stop doing this season that will help you finish the year with strength and clarity instead of depletion?
Call to Action:Preorder Call & Response: Ten Leadership Lessons from the Black Church and learn how to build grounded, unshakeable leadership rooted in science and cultural wisdom.
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Episode 20 â When It Feels Like the Wrong People Are Winning
OverviewEvery leader eventually encounters a moment when it looks like the wrong people are getting ahead â the shortcut-takers, the corner-cutters, the ones who maneuver instead of lead. Itâs frustrating, not because youâre chasing recognition, but because youâre committed to integrity. In todayâs episode of Her Next Power Moveâ˘, we explore what happens in the brain during these moments and how to rise above them without letting cynicism cloud your purpose.
Grounded in neuroscience and positive psychology, this conversation helps you understand why unfairness hits so hard â and what strong, values-based leaders do to protect their clarity, character, and direction.
What Youâll Learn
The neuroscience behind âunfair winsâ and why your brain reacts so strongly
How moral disgust, reward prediction errors, and social comparison affect motivation
Insights from positive psychology on psychological capital and justice sensitivity
How principled leaders sustain influence even in broken systems
A simple micro-practice (âThe Integrity Auditâ) to regain agency and clarity
Powerful Thought
The wrong people may win rounds, but they never win destinies. Character compounds. So does clarity.
Coaching Question
Where is your integrity asking you to stay the course, even when the path feels unfair?
Call to Action
If you want to build this kind of grounded, unshakeable leadership in a community that puts heart and humanity at the center, I invite you to preorder my forthcoming book, Call & Response: Ten Leadership Lessons from the Black Church, published by Amistad/HarperCollins and JVL Media.
If todayâs message stirred something in you, this book will give you the framework and the muscle to lead with conviction, purpose, and truth â no matter whatâs happening around you.
Preorder wherever books are sold.
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Uncertainty is the leaderâs constant companion. When everything around you feels unstable, itâs not about avoiding the chaosâitâs about learning to lead through it.
In this episode of Her Next Power Moveâ˘, I explore what happens in the brain during moments of instability and how leaders can use neuroscience-backed tools to stay calm, clear, and focused. Youâll learn why calm isnât just an emotional stateâitâs a leadership strategy.
What Youâll Learn
* How uncertainty triggers the amygdala and shuts down strategic thinking
* The neuroscience behind why breathing, reframing, and purpose reset the brain
* How to reengage clarity and composure when leading through volatility
* Three practical tools for keeping yourself and your team grounded in turbulent times
Her Next Power Move is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Powerful Thought
Uncertainty doesnât always mean danger. Sometimes it means possibility. The leaders who thrive in it arenât the ones who always know whatâs nextâtheyâre the ones who stay calm long enough to see clearly when others canât.
Coaching Question
When uncertainty strikes, what helps you regain calmâand how can you model that same composure for your team?
Resources
Join The Circle, my online leadership growth group, where leaders like you learn to apply neuroscience and positive psychology to real-world leadership challenges.Learn more at lmichellesmith.com/thecircle.
Pre-order Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church and become a Call & Response Ambassador. Learn more at lmichellesmith.com/callandresponse.
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The world feels unsteady.
You can see it in the way people hold their breath in meetings, measure their words, guard their ideas.
We canât fix everything out thereâbut as leaders, we can build trust in here.
Psychological safety isnât warm and fuzzy. Itâs powerfully practical. Itâs the thing that makes teams speak up before problems grow, collaborate more fully, and dare to imagine something better.
Start small. Acknowledge uncertainty. Reward the brave thing someone says. Model your own imperfection.
When people feel safe, they donât shrink. They expand.
Reach out if youâd like explore what it might take to ground your team culture in trust.
LMS
Her Next Power Move is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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đď¸ Show Notes
Thank you for your patience as Iâve been on deadline for the past several days but we still managed to crank this episode out for you. Enjoy!
OverviewWeâve been taught that the harder we grind, the more successful weâll be. But what if that belief is holding us back? In this episode of Her Next Power Moveâ˘, weâre dismantling the myth of hustle culture and redefining success on our own terms.
Grounded in positive psychology and neuroscience, Iâll show you why overwork sabotages creativity and decision-making â and how rest, reflection, and sustainability fuel the kind of leadership that truly lasts.
This isnât about doing less. Itâs about doing what matters most â and leading with clarity, intention, and impact.
đ What Youâll Learn
* Why hustle culture is a leadership trap â and what the data says about productivity and burnout.
* How Dr. Martin Seligmanâs PERMA framework redefines success as flourishing, not overworking.
* The neuroscience behind rest, creativity, and sustained high performance.
* Four micro-practices to help you step off the hamster wheel and lead with purpose.
đĄ Micro-Practice
Block 30 minutes of white space on your calendar each day this week â no meetings, no email, no tasks. Use that time to think, reflect, and recharge. Notice how it changes the way you lead.
⨠Powerful Thought
Your value as a leader isnât measured in hours or output â itâs reflected in the clarity of your vision, the depth of your impact, and the sustainability of your brilliance.
đ§ Coaching Question
Where have you been confusing busyness with impact â and what might shift if you pursued sustainability and significance instead?
đ Resources & Links
* Join The Circle: lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
* Follow me on LinkedIn, Threads, and Bluesky: @lmichellesmith
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Uncertainty is the leaderâs constant companion. But what if you had a tool that didnât just help you endure the unknownâbut helped you thrive in it?
In this episode of Her Next Power Moveâ˘, I dive into Hope Theory, developed by Dr. C.R. Snyder, and show you how hope is more than a feeling. Itâs a frameworkârooted in psychology and neuroscienceâthat gives leaders both the belief they can act and the creativity to find new pathways forward.
Backed by research, personal stories, and practical steps, this episode will help you understand how to cultivate hope for yourself and spread it to your teams.
đ What Youâll Learn in This Episode
* What Hope Theory really is and how leaders can apply it
* How hope activates the prefrontal cortex and releases dopamine, fueling creativity and persistence
* Why hopeful leaders are more resilient, engaged, and effective under pressure
* Practical ways to shift from fear to hope in your daily leadership
đĄ Micro-Practice to Try Today
At the end of your day, take five minutes to write down two things:
* A challenge you faced
* One pathway you see toward progress
Even small steps train your brain to seek possibility over paralysis.
⨠Powerful Thought
Hope isnât a soft skillâitâs a leadership edge. It doesnât erase uncertainty, but it paints possibility across it.
đ Coaching Question
Where in your leadership right now do you need to shift from fear to hopeâand whatâs one pathway you can begin to create today?
đ Resources & Links
* Join The Circleâmy online leadership growth group where we explore topics like resilience, hope, and emotional agility in real time: lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
* Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky: @lmichellesmith
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Here are the show notes for Episode 16 of Her Next Power Moveâ˘.
Episode OverviewAdversity is something every leader will faceâwhether itâs a failed launch, a tough layoff, or even personal loss. These moments can shake us to our core. But they can also become the very soil where new growth takes root.
In this episode of Her Next Power Moveâ˘, I explore post-traumatic growthâthe powerful transformation that can happen after hardship. Backed by neuroscience and positive psychology, youâll learn how adversity reshapes the brain, how optimism fuels recovery, and how setbacks can be reframed into stepping stones.
This isnât about âbouncing back.â Itâs about rising stronger, wiser, and more purpose-driven than before.
đ What Youâll Learn in This Episode
* What psychologists mean by post-traumatic growth and why it matters for leaders
* How adversity changes the brain through stress and neuroplasticity
* Why optimism and reframing are critical for resilience and renewal
* Four practical strategies leaders can use to turn adversity into an advantage
đĄ Micro-Practices to Try Today
* Name the adversity â donât minimize or gloss over it
* Seek meaning â ask: What can this experience teach me?
* Lean on relationships â growth happens in community
* Reframe setbacks as stepping stones toward clarity and purpose
⨠Powerful Thought
Adversity doesnât define youâit refines you. The scar doesnât erase the wound; it shows you healed.
đ Powerful Question
Whatâs one challenge youâve faced thatâwhen you look closelyâmay have planted the seeds for growth you didnât expect?
đ Resources & Links
* Join The Circleâmy online leadership growth group where we explore topics like resilience, growth, and emotional agility in real time: lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
* Register for the AI-Ready Leader Masterclass Series: lmichellesmith.com
* Book me to speak: lmichellesmith.com/speaking
* Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky: @lmichellesmith
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lmichellesmith.substack.com/subscribe -
In a world of constant connectivity, leaders are facing an invisible threat: digital overload. Emails, Slack messages, notifications, dashboards⌠theyâre all competing for your attention and sabotaging your focus, decision-making, and leadership presence.
In this episode, I break down the neuroscience behind task-switching and attention fragmentation, explore the real costs of digital overload, and share actionable strategies for leaders to reclaim clarity and control.
What Youâll Learn in This Episode:
* How task-switching can reduce productivity by up to 40% (APA, 2019) and rewire your brain for shallow focus.
* Why protecting your attention is as critical as completing your to-do list.
* Practical micro-practices for creating focus: batching communications, scheduling deep work, and mindful transitions.
* How a simple âdigital detoxâ can restore your prefrontal cortex activity for better decision-making, creativity, and leadership presence.
Micro-Practices to Try Today:
* Implement a âno notificationsâ policy for one hour each day.
* Reflect at the end of your day: Which tasks distracted you from your most strategic work?
* Create a mini digital Sabbath over the weekendâdisconnect for a few hours to recharge.
Powerful Coaching Question:Where could you reclaim focus this week, and what would you accomplish if your attention wasnât constantly being hijacked?
Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode:
* Join my online leadership growth group, The Circle, to practice focus and leadership strategies in community: lmichellesmith.com/thecircle
* American Psychological Association study on task-switching: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2019/multitasking
Connect With Me:
* Instagram / Threads: @lmichellesmith
* LinkedIn: L. Michelle Smith
* Bluesky: @lmichellesmith
* Podcast feedback & questions: DM me
Episode Takeaway:Leadership is not about doing more. Itâs about protecting your capacity to think, focus, and lead. Disconnecting strategically from digital distractions isnât optionalâitâs essential for high-performing leaders in todayâs hyperconnected world.
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AI is transforming leadershipâbut the speed and volume of information can overwhelm even the sharpest minds. In this episode, L. Michelle Smith explores how constant task switching and digital overload impact your brainâs focus, decision-making, and emotional regulation. Drawing on neuroscience and recent research, she offers practical strategies to help you harness AIâs power without sacrificing clarity or control. Learn how to lead with intentionality in a fast-paced, AI-driven world.
What Youâll Learn:
* The cognitive cost of frequent task switching and âattention residueâ
* Research-backed evidence on how multitasking impacts productivity and errors
* Practical tips for integrating AI tools into your leadership workflow
* How to maintain focus, presence, and values-driven decision-making
* Coaching questions to reflect on your digital overwhelm and regain control
ChatGPT-5.0 is hereâand leaders are moving fast. Are you?McKinsey reports 72% of business leaders have already integrated generative AI into at least one area of their organization. But most are still stuck at surface levelâusing it to write instead of leveraging it to analyze, optimize, and forecast.On September 18, 2025, Iâm kicking off the AI-Ready Leader Masterclass, a 3-session series designed to help high-performing leaders:Assess their AI readinessMaster strategic, role-based promptingBuild an integration roadmap that makes AI part of every leadership decisionStart now by downloading the complimentary AI-Ready Leader Toolkit and taking the AI Proficiency Assessment. Youâll discover exactly where you standâand your next steps to become a transformational leader who wields AI as a weapon of mass innovation.Get your toolkit: https://loom.ly/XxK8ydAHow are you using AI in your business and what are some of your favorite tools?
Resources Mentioned:
* Study: Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2022 on task switching and cognitive performance
* Take the AI-Ready Leader Assessment and get the free tool kit here: https://nsccoaching.info/AIReadyLeader.
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Burnout isnât just about being tired. Itâs about depletionâemotionally, mentally, physicallyâand itâs hitting high-achieving leaders especially hard right now.
In this episode, L. Michelle Smith unpacks the neuroscience of burnout and recovery, revealing what truly works beyond just rest. Drawing from positive psychology, she shares a blueprint for bouncing back and building a life and leadership rhythm thatâs sustainable, joyful, and powerful.
Youâll learn:
* The real difference between stress and burnout
* How chronic pressure affects your brain
* What traditional advice gets wrong
* Evidence-based tools that actually work
* And how to begin rebuildingâwithout guilt
This oneâs for the leaders holding it all together while quietly falling apart. Letâs shift from survival mode to thriving leadership.
đĄ Coaching Question:Whatâs one small change you can make this week to refillânot just your scheduleâbut your spirit?
đ§ Listen now and subscribe to never miss a dose of soulful, science-backed strategy.
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The Power of Emotional Agility: Why Flexibility Beats Control in Leadership
Episode Summary:In this episode of Her Next Power Move, host L. Michelle Smith dives into one of the most underestimated yet essential leadership skills: emotional agility. Based on the research of Harvard psychologist Dr. Susan David and rooted in neuroscience, this solo episode offers practical tools for leading with grace, intention, and resilience.
If youâve been powering through and feeling stuck, this is your reminder that flexibilityânot controlâis the mark of a mature leader.
In this episode, youâll learn:
* What emotional agility really is (and what itâs not)
* How neuroscience supports emotion labeling for better decision-making
* A four-step strategy to lead through emotional challenges with clarity
* Micro-practices to help build this leadership muscle over time
Powerful Thought:Flexibility beats control.
Coaching Question:What emotion have you been avoidingâand what might happen if you faced it with curiosity instead of control?
Want the Feels Wheel? Let me know in the comments, and Iâll share it with you.
đ§ Tune in now and start leading with more clarity, grace, and strength.Subscribe and listen on Substack: lmichellesmith.substack.com
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Writing "Call & Response" was an incredible journey. The conversations I had with dear friends like Cynt Marshall were so powerful, and sometimes, we got in a few laughs.
You've probably heard "the red hooker shoes" story before? She tells this story from the platform, in media interviews and even in her debut book "You've Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected."
In fact, it was in my first book No Thanks: 7 Ways to Say I'll Just Include Myself.
But it is important to emphasize, that those were her CHURCH SHOES.
Cynt talks about how leadership lessons from her time in the Pentecostal church taught her to not only unleash her authentic self, but how to unleash it in the people she leads.
After all, "come as you are" is a church mantra.
Are you welcoming of the "hot pink shoes" on your staff?
Or do you make these unicorns keep it "in the car?"
Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church is a collaboration between Amistad Books, a HarperCollins imprint and JVL Media, the brainchild of Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and Lavaille Lavette.
Coming soon!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lmichellesmith.substack.com/subscribe - Laat meer zien
