Want to Be More Influential at Work? Just Smile
It’s kind of fun to walk through a space, such as a gym or a department store or even your own company, and smile at someone you don’t know. You may feel a little goofy, but often, that person will smile back. And at least some of the time, the person who smiles back will think, hmmm, now that’s a friendly person, someone I could get along with.
But when you’re facing looming deadlines and nonstop demands, what’s the point of smiling? The health benefits, it turns out, are significant. Smiling can relieve stress, reduce pain, improve your immune system, and boost your mood. It’s like a natural drug. In fact, if you’re ever in a crabby mood, smiling can help you climb out of it. So, ridiculous as it may feel, forcing yourself to smile can help you feel better. Furthermore, smiling can make you seem much more like someone others can trust and want to work with, rather than a grouch who will give them a hard time.
And smiling really is contagious. According to numerous studies, when you see a facial expression such as a smile and you mimic that smile, you trigger the same emotional state in yourself. That’s because when you activate muscle groups that link to specific emotions, your own body reacts as though you’re experiencing those emotions. This is known as emotional contagion, and it’s something you might notice when someone smiles at youand you feel inclined to smile back.
An especially important fact is that when you smile, your body releases dopamine and other chemicals associated with feeling good. In fact, one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to two thousand bars of chocolate—without the calories!
Emotional contagion may be involved in crowd psychology and other behaviors you’ve perhaps seen outside of work, where people in a large group exhibit some behavior, almost in unison, that none of them might exhibit as individuals. At work, emotional contagion may come into play in familiar types of interactions, such as those that involve negotiation, persuasion, and collaboration. If you want to exert influence, don’t scowl. Instead, try smiling.
