Episode Summary
There is a ledger that does not show up in any performance review or quarterly report. And yet it is the one that will ultimately determine what kind of leader you actually were.
In this episode, L. Michelle Smith explores the third and most demanding lens of the Leadership Revival Framework — World Work — and asks the question that too many leaders let the urgency of the moment crowd out: when the pressure of this season finally passes, what will still be standing?
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
What World Work actually is — and why it is the hardest of the three lenses to sustain when the margin is thinnest and the calendar is fullest.
What Dr. Martin Seligman’s PERMA model reveals about meaning as a load-bearing pillar of leadership — and what happens to a culture when a leader quietly loses sight of it.
How Dr. Adam Grant’s research on prosocial motivation demonstrates that connecting daily decisions to human impact is not a reward for finishing the hard work — it is part of what makes the hard work sustainable.
Why culture is not built during retreats or town halls, but in the daily, unremarkable, deeply intentional choices leaders make when the pressure is highest and the margin is thinnest.
A micropractice for identifying — and naming — the human difference your leadership made this week, before the week ends.
Research and References
Martin Seligman — PERMA Model, Flourish (2011)
Adam Grant — Prosocial Motivation, Give and Take (2013)
L. Michelle Smith—Leadership Revival Framework (2026) — Call and Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church
Your Powerful Thought for the Day
Culture is built in the choices you make when everything is hard and your people are watching to see who you really are.
Your Powerful Question for the Day
When someone who works for you looks back on this particular stretch of time, what will they say your leadership gave them?
Go Deeper
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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 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.
