General News
3 May, 2026
Smiles with Sally: Are you the second person?
Sally Pymer brings us Smiles with Sally every fortnight, encouraging us to help make the world a better place. This week it is about smiling, but also about having courage.
There’s a moment most people miss, and I’ve started looking for it. It’s not the person who speaks first, but the one who follows.
We often focus on the person who shares the idea. We focus on those who are willing to put themselves out there and take incredible courage, but are they the most courageous?
What I keep noticing is something quieter, and in many ways, even more powerful. It’s the second person.
The one who chooses to stand beside the idea when it’s still uncertain. The one who decides, “I’m with you,” and is willing to speak up.
That’s the moment something either begins or disappears.
You may have seen it in a meeting. Someone shared an idea that was simple, thoughtful, and full of potential. You could almost feel that it landed, but then nothing.
There was a pause, and people looked around, waiting, and you could sense the hesitation.
It wasn’t because the idea wasn’t good, but because no one quite knew what everyone else was thinking.
What most people don’t realise in moments like that is that there are usually several people sitting there thinking the exact same thing, that it is a great idea.
They’re just waiting for someone else to say it first. Meanwhile, the person who shared it isn’t wondering if it’s perfect.
They’re wondering if anyone is with them. So the moment passes.
Later, the quiet conversations begin, such as “I actually thought that was a great idea” or “I was going to say something".
Now there are two people, both feeling it, both holding back, and both wishing the moment had gone differently.
At the heart of it, we all want to belong, and sometimes that need to belong keeps us silent in the very moments we most want to step forward.
But here’s what I’ve come to see. It only takes one person to shift everything.
It only takes one person to say, “I think that’s a great idea”, one person to smile or one person to include, and suddenly, the energy changes and others follow.
What felt uncertain becomes shared, and what felt risky becomes possible.
It’s never really about being the loudest person in the room. It’s about being the one who’s willing to go second.
So this week, if you feel it, say it. If you see it, acknowledge it, and if there’s a moment to step in, take it.
It can be those small, almost invisible moments that change everything, and more often than not, they’re just waiting for someone like you to be the courageous second person to agree.