Did you know that humming a gospel tune be fore walking into a high-stakes meeting can rewire your brain to lead more effectively? The act triggers a release of dopamine\, oxytocin\, and sero tonin&mdash\;regulating emotions\, lowering anxiety\, and activating the r eward center to halt fear from taking over your executive decision making. .and not just any music can do this. It&rsquo\;s neuroscience. But for man y Black professionals\, it&rsquo\;s simply ritual&mdash\;a practice rooted in the traditions of the Black Church.
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We've practiced powe
rful\, emotionally intelligent leadership for generations&mdash\;without c
alling it that. Until now.
â— A contemporary leadership framework rooted in b
oth legacy and research
â— A reintroduction to the practices tha
t shaped them&mdash\;and the science that validates them
â— A ca
ll to lead with conviction\, cultural intelligence\, and heart&mdash\;with
out apology
< img src="https://static.libnet.info/frontend-images/editor/dclibrary/LMich elleBling_Headshot.jpg" width="200" height="239" alt="" style="float: left \; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px\;" />L. Michelle Smith is an award-w inning author\, Fortune 100 C-Suite advisor\, certified global executive a nd personal coach\, and the CEO/founder of no silos communications llc\, a media\, coaching\, and consulting company that develops high-performing e xecutive leaders\, with a specialty in women and women of color. She is a contributor to HuffPost VOICES\, and the executive produ cer and host of The Culture Soup Podcast®\; and the Substack p odcast Her Next Power Move.
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A&rsquo\;Lelia Bundles \;is the author of \;Joy Goddess: A&rsquo\;Lelia Walker an d the Harlem Renaissance \;(Scribner\, June 2025)\, \;the fir st major biography of her great-grandmother\, and of \;On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker\, a \;New Yor k Times \;Notable Book and bestseller \;about her great-great -grandmother\, an early 20th century hair care industry entrepreneur and p hilanthropist. \; \;She \;is the founder of the \;Madam W alker Family Archives\, the largest private collection of Walker photograp hs\, memorabilia and ephemera. A&rsquo\;Lelia worked in network television news for thirty years\, first at NBC News where she was a producer for ne ws and magazine programs\, and then at ABC News where she was a \;Worl d News Tonight \;producer\, \;Washington\, DC \;deputy bureau chief and director of talent development.
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Her book\, \;<
em>On Her Own Ground\, \;received the \;Association of Black
Women Historians&rsquo\; 2001 Letitia Woods Brown \;prize for the
\;best book on Black women&rsquo\;s history \;and was named a \;Bl
ack Caucus \;of the \;American Library Association&rsquo\;s Honor
Book \;and a Hurston/Wright-Borders Books Legacy Award \;finalist
in 2001. This deeply researched non-fiction book was the inspiration for&n
bsp\;Self Made\, the fictional four-part 2020 Netflix series starring Osca
r-winner Octavia Spencer. A recipient of an Emmy and a du Pont Gold Baton
for her television news work\, A&rsquo\;Lelia has participated in writing
residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell and was named to Forbes Magazine&rsquo\
;s 50 Over 50 Impact list.