Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive

coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you

want to be perceived.

I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach,

and today we're talking about smiling.

Is it the look of leadership?

Gabriella often says she has the best job in the whole company, and she's quick to add

that hers is a global company of more than 20,000 people.

She talks about lives changed because of the work she gets to do.

She talks about the great performance of her team.

She talks about attending international conferences with world leaders where she promotes her group's unique innovation.

Amazingly, she never sounds like she's bragging.

Quite the contrary, she wins over virtually everyone she talks with because

while she tells her story, she smiles in a way that is authentic and

hers is not the dewy-eyed smile of a girl who just glimpsed her latest crush.

Rather, hers is the smile of someone who loves what she does and can't wait to share it with you.

Gabriella is irresistible, and a large part of her charisma is her smile.

Contrast, Gabriella with Lee.

Lee leads a process improvement team for a defense contractor.

She holds a PhD, is well into her 40s, and his mother to two teenagers. She's also petite and youthful in appearance.

At our first meeting, Lee told me people often talk about her. youthful in appearance.

At our first meeting, Lee told me people often talked over her while she was talking.

...