Good Vibes Leadership with Bernadette Smith

Bernadette Smith
  • 4.5 (8)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

Micro-lessons in playful, inclusive leadership. Is leadership starting to feel like a chore? It’s time for a vibe check. Hosted by Bernadette Smith, Good Vibes Leadership is your weekly shot of actionable positivity designed for leaders who want to build inclusive, high-performing cultures without burnout. In each bite-sized episode, Bernadette ditches dense theory for actionable micro-lessons that help you lead with more joy, connect more authentically with your team, and create a world where everyone actually wants to show up. Whether you have five minutes between meetings or a short commute, tune in for the stories, strategies, and "Yeah Baby!" energy you need to be the leader your people deserve. Lead with joy. Build for everyone. Let’s get to work.

  1. 1d ago

    Bonding

    On a solo kayak trip after my friends bailed, my guide Bill asked me one simple follow-up question, and my honest answer outed me to a total stranger in the middle of nowhere. I share what happened when I chose honesty over the safe answer, and what it taught me about the split-second decisions your team makes every day about how much of themselves to show you. We get into why trust doesn't just show up on its own, and how the ARC Method turns curiosity into real connection instead of an interrogation. Takeaways The safe answer is a trust problem, not a courage problem. People default to vague answers when a room hasn't earned honesty yet, that's on leaders to build.Curiosity only works paired with respect. Ask without respect and it reads as prying, respect without ever asking and you never get anywhere real.One more question changes everything. The whole conversation with Bill only happened because he followed up instead of settling for the easy first answer.Notice your own instinct to deflect. You don't owe anyone your full story, but it's worth knowing whether you're holding back out of real caution or just habit.Connect with MeThe Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about a historic cathedral dean, the first Black woman to own an MLB team, an all-women-designed building in Toronto, and more. Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here: https://theequalityinstitute.com/5-thingsWork with Me: Let's talk: https://bernadettesmith.comWatch 5 Things on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bernadettesmith Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  2. 2d ago

    Contradictions

    A conversation with a pickleball friend leads Bernadette to a memoir that reframes how she thinks about holding hard things and good things at the same time. Instead of forcing every situation into a clean, resolved story, she explores what it looks like to walk between beauty and wound without picking one. Using the ARC Method, she breaks down why leaders who can't tolerate contradiction end up either faking optimism or drowning in cynicism, and what to do instead. Takeaways: Contradiction isn't a problem to solve. Two true things can exist in the same moment without one canceling out the other.Leaders get asked to hold both, constantly. Celebrating wins while someone struggles, defending a decision you doubt, staying honest without going cynical.Faking it or drowning in it both erode trust. People can tell when a leader has picked a lane instead of holding the full picture.ARC gives you a way through. Ask what's actually true, respect both sides as real, connect them without forcing a false resolution.Fernando's Book: The Silence of the Gods Connect with Me This week in the newsletter, I wrote about menopause finally getting legal protection, a chaplain poised to make history in Michigan, and Baltimore reimagining what calling 911 can do.  📩 Newsletter: http://www.theequalityinstitute.com/5-things 🎙️ Work with Me: https://www.bernadettesmith.com 🌐 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bernadettesmith Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  3. Sep 8

    Jarring

    Bernadette teaches her son to drive in a cemetery parking lot and discovers his rough braking has nothing to do with the car, and everything to do with muscle memory from racing video games. It sparks a bigger question about the habits we all bring into new roles, teams, and pressure moments without realizing it. Using the ARC Method®, Bernadette breaks down how to spot the "jarring stops" your old playbook is causing, and what to do instead. Takeaways: Old habits travel with us. What worked in a past role, team, or context doesn't disappear when the context changes, it just becomes invisible to the person running on it.Your team feels it first. The jarring stop is usually obvious to everyone else in the car before the driver notices anything's wrong.Ask before you defend. When something lands rough, the move is to ask what's driving it, not to justify the habit.ARC gives you the sequence. Ask what's really behind the reaction, respect that it worked somewhere once, connect it to what this moment actually needs.Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about paid parental leave finally leveling out, salary transparency, and record WNBA crowds. 📩 Newsletter: http://www.theequalityinstitute.com/5-things 🎙️ Work with Me: https://www.bernadettesmith.com 🌐 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bernadettesmith Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  4. Jul 13

    Something Real

    Summary: Bernadette's been watching The Four Seasons on Netflix, and a beach scene between two strangers got her thinking about how easy it is to stay shallow, even with people we care about. She connects it to the ARC Method and a simple challenge: pick one conversation this week and actually ask something real. It's a short episode with one big question to sit with. Takeaways: Shallow is the default, not the exception. Most meetings and check-ins run on autopilot small talk, and it can take a long time before anyone notices what's missing. Ask, Respect, Connect, in that order. Skip a step and the ARC falls: asking without respecting breaks trust, and respecting without connecting to action turns it into venting. Silence is doing the work. After asking a real question, resist the urge to fill the quiet. That's usually where the honest answer shows up. Pick one conversation, not all of them. Real connection doesn't require overhauling how you talk to everyone. It starts with one question, with one person, this week. Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about Jersey saying yes to trans care, the first Pride festival ever held behind bars, Marvel spotlighting disability in their comics, and more. Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here. Work with Me: Let's talk. Watch 5 Things on YouTube.   Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  5. Jun 29

    All In

    Most leaders think psychological safety means everyone gets along. This week, a Father's Day pickleball game with players aged 9 to 96 sparked a different idea: what if more conflict — not less — is actually the sign you're doing it right? Bernadette digs into what psychological safety really looks like, why silence on your team should worry you more than disagreement, and what leaders can do this week to make room for the real thing. Takeaways: Silence is not safety. When your team never disagrees, they haven't found common ground — they've learned it's not safe to speak. The stakes are higher at work. Low-stakes conflict on a pickleball court is easy. Real psychological safety means people trust that disagreement won't cost them something they can't afford to lose. Your team is watching, not listening. They don't believe your open-door policy. They believe what happens the moment someone actually pushes back. Being wrong out loud is the practice. The moment you genuinely change your mind because of something a team member said — that's when psychological safety becomes real. Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about Japan's first-ever LGBTQIA+ education program, Nepal's historic equal marriage ruling, Delaware's new parentage protections for LGBTQ+ families, a tech startup helping 70 million Americans clear criminal records, and the Obama Presidential Center's community-first model on Chicago's South Side. Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here. Work with Me: Let's talk.Watch 5 Things on YouTube. Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  6. Jun 22

    Get Out of Your Lane

    For years, I called myself an ally. But any time there was a Black Lives Matter rally or a benefit for an inner-city school, I'd quietly bow out. "I have my thing. I do the gay thing." I stayed in my comfortable, cozy gay lane. And it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized I didn't even know the full story of Juneteenth — after nearly two decades of doing inclusion work. This episode is about what staying in your lane actually costs you, and the surprisingly simple thing that gets you out of it. What you'll take away: The real cost of staying in your lane — it's not just missed connection. It's a lonelier world of your own making. Why you're overthinking it — you don't need a script, a certification, or expertise in every identity. You just need curiosity. The ARC Method in action — Ask. Respect. Connect. Three words that work in any conversation, any lane, any moment of not knowing what to say. A question to sit with — Where are you staying comfortable right now and calling it something else? Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week I've got stories about restoring erased history in national parks, El Paso keeping Pride visible, women leading on the World Cup pitch, and more. Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here. Work with Me: Let's talk. Watch 5 Things on YouTube. Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  7. Jun 8

    I Felt Free

    A podcast host who'd seen me speak in Dallas told me what she remembered most: "This woman is so free to be who she is." That word — free — cracked something open. In this Pride episode, I dig into what I've come to believe after 20 years in this work: almost everything that goes wrong on teams traces back to self-worth. The person who won't speak up and the one who won't stop talking have the same root cause. This episode is about what happens when people finally feel worthy of taking up space — and how leaders can create that. Takeaways: Freedom vs. confidence: What Deidra noticed wasn't polish or charisma. It was freedom — and that's actually what inclusive leadership is trying to build. The self-worth root: Almost every leadership failure — the wallflower, the bulldozer, the micromanager — traces back to the same place. It goes both ways: Playing small and playing insufferably big are the same problem with different looks. Both are worth examining. The ARC in action: Ask. Respect. Connect. A simple practice that makes people feel worthy of being heard — which is the precondition for everything else. Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about LGBTQ+ leaders breaking barriers in the Catholic church, a dementia village that puts dignity first, and more. Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here. Work with Me: Let's talk. Watch 5 Things on YouTube.Watch Deidra's Show. Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

  8. Jun 1

    My Dad's Pantry

    My dad was an Irish immigrant who built a cheap-ass pantry in our basement and stocked it with cans of V8 juice after every can-can sale. I absorbed more than the hoarding habit. I absorbed scarcity thinking — and carried it straight into my leadership for years. This episode is about that. About zero sum thinking, why it shows up in workplaces, and what it actually takes to get to the other side of it. Spoiler: it's not a policy. It's a choice you make every day. What you'll take away: The pantry you're carrying: How childhood scarcity messages show up in adult leadership behavior — and why it makes sense that they're there Zero sum at work: What scarcity thinking actually looks like on teams, and why it's the enemy of inclusive culture The ARC as an abundance practice: How Ask, Respect, Connect is built on the assumption that there's enough — and why that makes it work The daily choice: What it looks and feels like to practice abundance as a leadership discipline, not just a mindset Connect with Me The Newsletter: This week in the newsletter, I wrote about San Antonio recognizing trans history, Elim Chan breaking a 115-year symphony ceiling, and World Cup seats becoming affordable for New Yorkers, and more! Subscribe to the 5 Things Newsletter here. Work with Me: Let's talk. Watch 5 Things on YouTube. Join thousands of readers by subscribing to the 5 Things newsletter. Enjoy some good vibes every Saturday morning. https://5thingsdei.com/

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About

Micro-lessons in playful, inclusive leadership. Is leadership starting to feel like a chore? It’s time for a vibe check. Hosted by Bernadette Smith, Good Vibes Leadership is your weekly shot of actionable positivity designed for leaders who want to build inclusive, high-performing cultures without burnout. In each bite-sized episode, Bernadette ditches dense theory for actionable micro-lessons that help you lead with more joy, connect more authentically with your team, and create a world where everyone actually wants to show up. Whether you have five minutes between meetings or a short commute, tune in for the stories, strategies, and "Yeah Baby!" energy you need to be the leader your people deserve. Lead with joy. Build for everyone. Let’s get to work.

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