Yes, running an organization is a serious business. Yes, there are a few times when laughter is not appropriate. But with that said, I posit that most leaders fail to use laughter effectively. If your team isn’t laughing with you, you’re doing something very wrong.
First, let me provide some of the reasons why laughter is your friend.
Humor usually comes from a surprising juxtaposition, which also is one of the techniques used to foster creativity. Watch for the odd paring in this old joke: “I just flew in from Boston, and boy, are my arms tired,” where the two different interpretations of the word “flew” make the joke. If you want a team to think “outside the box,” you are asking them to supply different interpretations from what is normally expected, just as a humorist does.
Humor often comes from the difference between what should be and what actually exists. In a leadership role, you need your team to recognize and speak up when efforts are varying from the plans, as with this source of humor. However there’s a threat inherent in this source of humor, that you as the leader may be the object of the joke. If you are the kind of despot that does not want to hear criticism, I have nothing to share with you anyway! If you are open to getting feedback, it is often easier to hear and accept that feedback in the form of a joke than in a direct confrontation.
Humor can create shared experiences as the team laughs together, but this depends on the nature of the humor. A joking insult creates and exploits the barrier between the comedian and the victim, and you never want that kind of barrier to exist in your team. Laughing at the problem — “the nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from” — confronts and shares the problem with your team.
If you are honest with yourself, you know you have shortcomings, and you can at times make a joke about those. Your team probably knows your shortcomings better than you think they do anyway. You can even use humor to engage others in your weak areas, like “I’ve calculated the cost of our design for a new tool down to the penny, but I still can’t figure out what it does.”
Next, let me explain how NOT to use humor.
You as the leader are not automatically team’s designated stand-up comedian. In fact, you’re going to be the wrong person to make a joke most of the time. One of your roles is to provide a clarity of direction to the team, and unless your humor specifically focuses that clarity, you might be obfuscating your message.
Humor directed at circumstances outside your team has value, but it shouldn’t be overused. You and the team are choosing and planning what you can do, so you don’t need the team fixated on things they can’t influence or control.
Humor needs to build bonds between the team, encourage individuals in the team, and work for the good of the overall organization, so humor that is derogatory towards others should be stopped immediately.
Humor comes in many different forms. Individuals respond differently to different kinds of humor, and some people are simply not going to share funny observations or jokes. People should never feel coerced into be funny, nor should you allow a situation that makes any of your team feel uncomfortable. This, like so much else in leadership, requires balance, respect, and interchange to find what works well in a situation.