Turn that Corporate Frown Upside Down

Have you noticed how many executives have natural frowns?  I’d love to hear if you have and how it makes you feel.  I’ve noticed the deep ridges running from nose to chin, teamed with muscles involuntarily turning down the corners of the mouth – sometimes a lot, sometimes a little.  I’ve also observed that their muscles actually have a hard time forming smiles.  And no smile lines around the eyes.  Go on; pull a big frown right now! Feel how it smoothes out the skin around the corners of your eyes. Now give me a big cheesy grin (go ON, I can see you)…feel your eyes squashing up? But a few smile lines can’t be what they’re avoiding, can it? Perhaps they are in pain.

Remember we were taught it takes around half the number of muscles to smile (17-22) as it does to frown (37-43)?  Then why so many execs with corporate frowns?  If they’re having fun, why the frowns?  And if they’re not having fun, what are they doing about their pain, or are they frowning in denial?  How many of them even realise that they are frowning?

Turning Corporate Frowns Upside Down

Mum tells me ‘smile and the whole world smiles with you’ and we all know smiles come naturally and easily when we’re happy or having fun. Mum also says ‘misery loves company’. Well, Mum, misery might like company, but the company sure doesn’t want to hang with misery! We want to have fun, enjoy what we’re doing, laugh and smile. It makes us feel better, more energetic, makes us want to spread it around…we want the whole world to feel our joy and spread it too.

Are you a Mr/s Corporate Frown? Well here’s why you need to turn yours upside down?

Have a look around your workplace. See your frown reflected? You’re a leader and your people look to you for cues about behaviour, including your body language. If you’re frowning, they are sure not going to be smiling! And if they’re not smiling, they’re most likely not having fun. Here’s the kicker – if they’re not having fun, they’re less productive.

A smile costs nothing yet it conveys so many messages – thank you, I appreciate what you did, I feel good, I’m enjoying myself, etc.

SMILE FOR A WHILE
Here’s the fist step to turning around that corporate frown:

• Relax. Close your eyes, breathe in and squeeze your face up as hard as you can
• Now let that breath out slowly and let all the tension go from your face. Keep your eyes closed
• Breathing normally now, focus mentally on your scalp, feel it, let it relax some more
• Feel your forehead, relax those muscles, let the eyebrows settle in their natural position
• Feel your eyes; let those muscles loosen a little bit more. Relax your cheeks. Relax your jaw
• Now, just ever so slightly, feel the corners of your mouth turning up…let your cheeks relax. Hold this position for a count of 5. Feel the little positive charge this small smile gives you
• Repeat turning the corners of your mouth up just a little, count 5, relax. Repeat. Relax, open your eyes

Seriously, if you’ve developed a frown, your muscles need to be retrained. The gentle exercise above, repeated a few times a day over a few weeks, will move you slowly toward a more natural neutral smile and perhaps even smooth-out some of the worry and frown lines. Doesn’t it make you feel better when you’re smiling? You certainly look better and more approachable.
That’s the first step. If you would like to take more steps to turning the frown upside down and achieving corporate fun to improve productivity, bookmark this page and visit weekly as we explore together Smile Leadership.

Please let me know your stories of Smile Leadership or Corporate Frowns.