Here are the top three resons you should smile a lot more based on the research. 1. You can improve your mood by smiling (Bernstein, et al., 2000). Research has shown that people’s moods are affected by facial expressions whether angry or happy.

When I was a kid I use to ask my parents why I had to do “stupid” Algebra. The only answer I ever remember was “because.” “Because” I would ask. “Yes because,” was their reply. If my parents had instead said because it will help you become a better problem solver, improve your chess game, make you more intelligent and finally if you take enough of these algebra classes you may never have to take another one ever again I may have been catapulted into algebra delight. However, their response had the opposite effect.

Okay, this is just plain cute. However, there are some implications for all of us who are leaders. How many of us could look ourselves in the mirror and say nothing but positive things for one minute?

I was in the office of a manger of a fairly large company not too long ago. In this office the manager proudly displayed the certificates of achievement his department’s employees had earned. He was a senior leader and very proud of the things employees had accomplished even two or three levels down the hierarchy.