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L Michelle Smith, MS, ACC

@lmichellesmith

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Heart-centered leadership for a complex world.
4x Author, Call & Response
Neuro & Positive Psych Exec Coach • Ethicist • Speaker
How do you lead? ↓

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CAN I TAKE A MOMENT TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF?

A lot of leadership development is not meeting the moment.

Organizations are under pressure. Leaders are being asked to move faster, carry more, lead through uncertainty, and now contend with machine learning in the flow of work. Too often, they are still being developed as if performance alone is the point.

That is why my work is becoming more explicit in its language and focus.

This is not a sudden pivot. It is an evolution. The science has been in my work for years through positive psychology, neuroscience, behavior, and mindset. What has deepened is the cultural frame around that science and the urgency of what leaders are actually up against.

I’m laser focused on heart-centered leadership because leaders need more than polish and executive presence (which is bull corn--ask me why). They need self-mastery, relational intelligence, cultural intelligence, and the ability to lead human beings well in a climate that is fast, sharp, and complex.

That is why I’m deepening this work through the Leadership Revival Framework powered by SOAR DISCernIQ with AI Intelligence. This is CQ, EQ, and IQ working together to help leaders and organizations get clearer, go deeper, and build the muscle this era demands. Here, emotion isn't passe. Intuition isn't just about guts. Feelings and the literacy around them is a superpower, not a soft skill.

This framework scales across corporate organizations, college and university coursework, and even ministries because the larger aim is the same: to develop stronger leaders for society, for the workplace, and for the spaces where influence and impact are needed most.

I’m L. Michelle Smith, bestselling, award-winning author, leadership strategist, and C-Suite advisor.

Welcome to my community. Let's get to know each other even better and change the world, one leader at a time. by @lmichellesmith

SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING TO DO IS TO GO HOME… so before I hit the road, I returned to ground zero for Call and Response: Good Street Baptist Church, the place where my leadership lessons took hold and where it birthed leaders like me and all my many childhood friends who showed up as witness to the same. And let me tell you, THEY THREW A PARTY! After worship service, the church mothers had prepared a spread, with tables lined up ready for the congregants to fellowship and learn about this book that this daughter of the church had written. We honored the late Rev C. A. W. Clark to whom I dedicated the book. I had an engaging conversation with the pastor, Reverend Eddie L Jenkins, and then I read a bit from the book and then we had a signing. No doubt the other star of the show was the cake, created by none other than Food Network alum @cakedaddydfw my former fellow praise team member from Concord Church. It was amazing to see everyone from my childhood friends that I went to school with and also to church to my sorority sisters from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, every church mother that is still on this earth who had something to do with me and who I am today and the longtime members of the Ollie Lee Scruggs mass choir, which I first led at the age of 12. My next stop is Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, my other hometow. Then it’s off to DC. What a way to get a sendoff from my hometown!! a major shout out to our amazing MC, Leshawnda Larkin and our wonderful on-site bookseller Pan-African Connection! From my estimation we had between 75 and 100 people at this one event alone and everybody took home at least one book, some many more, and a whole lot of cake! by @lmichellesmith

Today, something deeply personal becomes public.

Call & Response is out in the world, and I’ve poured over a decade of my life into it, from one question that nagged me in 2016, to the research and digging, to conceptualization, to writing, developing, editing and publishing.

This book is a call to return to heart-centered leadership. In a world often driven by power and profit, this is an invitation to lead with purpose, courage, fair mindedness compassion, and integrity together in community—the kind of leadership that builds people up, not just businesses.

There is a lot that The Original Business School can teach us if we only allow it, because it’s taught so many of us overtime and ushered us right into board rooms.

My original goal was to write a book that would serve both the boardroom and the sanctuary. Today, I hope it serves as a catalyst for you to rediscover your own heart-centered leadership. Let’s lead in ways that inspire, uplift, and transform. The journey started with a vision, and today, it continues in your hands.

The leadership revival officially begins today, and I want to thank my publishers, Amistad Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing and JVL Media for all of their care and support throughout this process. To the ambassadors who are still carrying this message and early readers who have been loud and proud, I thank you.

Let the media and book tour begin, and the conversation continue!

Order yours today, anywhere fine books are sold. by @lmichellesmith

Happy 40th Executive Leadership Council! So awesome to celebrate with you, the place where I got my wings and continues to be the wind beneath them!

Here are only some of the people that I enjoyed the gala with. Blessed to have my cousin Yolanda McMillian along from Accenture to celebrate with. It was a joy screaming our lungs out at the after party.

Honored for the chance to host MLMS and THANK YOU for honoring Call and Response!

#ELC40

Now… I’m off to my home church where their Christian education auxiliary will be honoring me and my work… a surprise I learned about just last week. More to come! by @lmichellesmith

Take a look at what it takes to host the virtual experience of The Executive Leadership Council (ELC)'s Mid-level Manager's Symposium!

Here's a little day in the life of yours truly. It takes a little tech know how, a little intuition, some broadcast writing skills, a lot of personality... and the ability to RIFF.

Thank you the wonderful production team under the leadership of Laura Van Oudenaren and to our sponsors at Cisco. by @lmichellesmith

Come on, bathroom mirror selfie! Undefeated. #ELCMLMS2026 virtual host fit check, day 1.

How’d I do?

Back to work! I have a 2 pm hit I need to read for.

See you online! by @lmichellesmith

Well, Call and Response has made the most distinguished reading list in the corporate world.

Amistad, JVL Media, you see this? Jacket cover addition worthy!!

Honored!

You've made it when you make a list with Carla Harris and Mike Hyter.

And the installation is beautiful! (in previous post and stories!)

Thank you, Executive Leadership Council! by @lmichellesmith

Having a ball hosting the Mid-Level Manager’s Symposium virtually for ELC Gala Week!

We kicked off with a keynote conversation about the Power of Presence: Leadership That Starts from Within with my mentor Xavier D. Williams, former CEO of Network Wireless Solutions and retired AT&T exec.

Leaders got to hear wisdom from a 500 year old institution proven out with science to yield the exact modern leadership theory we need today for such a time as this. Call and Response comes through in a clutch!

We had leaders from London, Nairobi, Honolulu, Dallas, San Francisco and everywhere in between and the chat was JUMPING!

Between hits, I told a stroll to see the activity downstairs, and look what I found: an exhibit honoring the authors of the ELC… and there I am right by my friend @tarajayefrank !

Humbled. Hope to get a picture taken beside it once it is completely installed. by @lmichellesmith

You'll get the glam tomorrow. Today, I put in some work in jeans and a fresh face.

Are you here at The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) Gala Week featuring MLMS 2026?

Let me know if you're here or coming! Here's what I was up to today, and what's coming up over the next two days.

See you online--and in person, and be sure to snap up Call and Response before it is GONE! by @lmichellesmith

It's almost time!

Join me online as I host the The Executive Leadership Council (ELC)'s Mid-level Manager Symposium virtual experience, kicking off with a keynote conversation with retired Network Wireless CEO and former AT&T executive Xavier D. Williams.

We'll be talking about what it takes to exude and maintain presence during these disruptive times. Xavier is one of the many ELC members whose voice is included in my latest book, Call and Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church, which will be a part of a special installment in the ELC's author gallery.

ELC will also be giving away the book to in-person attendees, so you want to be sure to be one of the first to get your hands on it because quantities are limited.

Catch me in person while I'm there, and I'll be sure to sign and personalize your copy for you! I plan to show up from time to time during the in-person programming as well, and you will definitely spot me at the gala and dancing the night away when Chaka Khan hits the stage during the celebration to follow.

A special thanks to Michael Hyter, Amanda Rey and Laura Van Oudenaren for ensuring that Call and Response made it's mark during this milestone celebration for ELC.

Congratulations on 40 years of excellence and purpose!

See you in D.C.! by @lmichellesmith

Call and Response recent randoms from the road…. See anyone you know? Tag them in the comments.

Next stop: back to Washington DC 📙🧡🎉 by @lmichellesmith