Understanding The Role Of Humor At Work

I watched a leader win a room with just one joke. Authority can start with a laugh. Most people think power comes from speaking first, leading with big ideas, or taking charge. But the truth is: the person who can make a room laugh, even once, changes the energy completely. You see it happen- • The tension fades • People lean in • The leader becomes more likable, more trusted, more heard Humor is not a “bonus.” It’s a core tool for influence. Here’s what I’ve learned from coaching hundreds of leaders: • You don’t need to be the expert on every topic • You don’t have to know all the answers • You do need to connect-fast Levity does that. One moment of warmth, a quick joke, or even making fun of yourself (I’ve shared my own missteps many times) opens people up. Leaders who use humor-especially self-deprecating humor-show they are human. They earn respect not by being perfect, but by being real. But here’s the twist- If you’re low status, humor is riskier. It can backfire. That’s why building trust and connection matters first. Still, every group has a shifting status hierarchy. You can raise your status by asking good questions, showing you care, and using humor to break boredom. Authority is not only about being right. It’s about making people feel seen, safe, and ready to follow. If you want to influence, start with a laugh. Then listen. Then ask the right questions. What would change in your career if you led with connection instead of control?

Twenty-five years in the principal’s chair taught me this. Humour isn’t a distraction from leadership; it’s often the glue that holds a team together. One of the most underrated skills in school leadership is strategic humour. We’re wired to take problems seriously: the timetable clash, the parent complaint, the common room drama. But sometimes the best way to defuse tension is with a well‑timed laugh. Here’s how I used humour as a leadership tool (and coach leaders to do the same). ➡️ Break the ice. A light joke at the start of a tough meeting lowers the temperature. ➡️ Reframe the stress. “If the photocopier breaks again, let’s just declare it a staff wellbeing day.” ➡️ Model humanity. Leaders who laugh at themselves remind others it’s safe to be imperfect. ➡️ Build connection. Shared laughter is a shortcut to trust. ➡️ Keep it kind. Humour should punch up at problems, never down at people. 👉 Senior leaders - your ability to use humour wisely can turn pressure into perspective. What’s your go‑to way of using humour to keep perspective when the inbox is on fire? My experience taught me - laughter is contagious. And in schools, it spreads faster than gossip in the common room. #EducationalLeadership #SchoolCulture #HumourInLeadership #PrincipalLife #LeadershipDevelopment

Why the Funniest Person in the Room Might Also Be the Wisest Leader “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” — Victor Borge. A client of mine has mastered this art, not as a comedian, but as a leader. She’s learned how to use humor like a pressure valve, releasing tension before it hijacks her team’s collective amygdala. Her secret? Consistency. She doesn’t crack jokes to entertain, but she does use humor to connect. When conversations get heated, she has mastered the ability to find the right quip or self-aware comment to remind everyone that they’re on the same side. It works! Her team is more relaxed, creative, and productive because my client learned long ago that stress and tension short-circuit the brain's ability to problem solve. What’s interesting is that earlier in her career, her lightheartedness sometimes worked against her. People didn’t always take her seriously. But with experience and a little gray hair, her credibility caught up with her courage. Now, her colleagues and senior leaders see her sense of humor as one of her greatest assets: a way to lead through the storm without adding thunder. For executives looking to use humor effectively (without losing gravitas), here are five strategies: 1. Use humor to defuse, not distract. When tensions rise, a well-timed, gentle laugh can bring people back from reactivity to reflection. 2. Aim for empathy, not irony. Remember this truth: jokes ABOUT others divide, jokes WITH others unite. 3. Make yourself the punchline occasionally. Self-deprecating humor signals humility and psychological safety. 4. Match the moment. A little levity can open the door, but too much can make people question whether you’re walking through it. Read the room. 5. Keep it consistent. A steady, warm tone builds trust, especially when humor is part of your leadership DNA, not a gimmick. Leadership doesn’t always have to be heavy, serious, and stressful. In fact, the lightest leaders often carry the most weight because they help others put theirs down.

Hot Take: Laughter Builds Teams Faster Than Any Offsite Ever Will Some teams just work. Not because they’ve memorized the mission statement. Not because they’ve mastered the latest team-building exercise. But because they’ve been through things together and laughed through it all on the other side. And I don’t mean polite workplace chuckles. I mean the full-body, can’t-breathe, “we are absolutely in it now” kind of laughter. The kind that only shows up in the middle of disaster and sticks around forever. Like the time our whole team got stuck in an elevator in the Tel Aviv office with all our gear and no idea what to do next. Thankfully, a few folks spoke Hebrew and were able to talk to the person on the other side of the intercom. That day gave us one of our enduring rules: always make sure there’s at least one Israeli in the elevator. Or the time I army crawled across the stage in the middle of a live keynote to plug in a mic that had suddenly gone dead. Not because I was told to, but because my colleague deserved to be heard. No plan. I just dove in. Or the moment we had to bribe the loading dock crew with leftover swag and granola bars to let us unpack without a union team. The booth had to be up in 30 minutes and no one was coming to save us. Or the “easy walk” back to the hotel that turned into a full-blown downpour. No umbrellas. Just soaked hair, wet sneakers, and howling laughter. Or the webinar where I realized mid-intro that I had prepped the wrong deck entirely. Smile. Breathe. Improvise. Survive. Those moments don’t just live in memory. They become language. They become shorthand. Now, when someone on the team says “Trust me,” we’re instantly back at the airport with Steve, the baggage handler turned gate agent who got us on a plane we were 99 percent sure we had already missed. The tension breaks. We start laughing. And just like that, we’re connected again. That’s what laughter does. It speeds up trust. It turns chaos into story. It builds the kind of team that doesn’t fall apart when things go sideways, because they’ve already been through worse and they did it together. So yes, structure and strategy matter. But if your team isn’t laughing, you’re missing the fastest path to real connection. Fun isn’t a luxury. It’s how great teams survive. And how the best ones thrive.

When Leadership Wore Slippers, Not Titles There is something quietly powerful about this photograph. No boardroom. No corner office. No PowerPoint decks or quarterly targets flashing on screens. Just a living room, a pack of cards, samosas on a tray, a bottle of cola, and a group of men laughing like boys after a long week. This is leadership—before it became performative. The Era of Trust Before LinkedIn Headlines Look closely and you’ll notice what’s missing: No phones in hand. No curated personal brands. No urgency to appear important. These were leaders who built companies during the day and built relationships in the evening. Decisions made over tea often mattered more than those made in conference rooms. Trust wasn’t documented. It was earned over time. The Power of Informal Spaces Some of the strongest business bonds in India were forged: On the floor, playing cards Over shared snacks Through unfiltered laughter Ideas flowed more freely when hierarchies dissolved. When the boss laughed first. When disagreement didn’t feel dangerous. Today, we design “offsites” to recreate what once happened naturally. Success That Didn’t Need an Audience Notice the comfort. The ease. The absence of self-consciousness. These leaders weren’t chasing visibility. They were chasing impact. Their validation came from results, not reactions. They didn’t ask: “Will this go viral?” They asked: “Will this work?” A Quiet Lesson for Modern Leadership In an age obsessed with optics, this image reminds us: Culture is built outside formal meetings Respect grows in shared humanity Authority doesn’t need constant assertion Sometimes, the most effective leaders are the ones who can sit on the floor, lose a card game, and laugh the loudest. Final Thought Progress is important. Technology is essential. Visibility has its place. But leadership? Leadership still begins where trust lives— in rooms like these. Where titles are forgotten, and people are remembered. Hashtags: #Leadership #OldSchoolLeadership #WorkCulture #Trust #IndianCorporate #TimelessLessons #HumanLeadership AI in action, do not assume this but virtual reality.

Ten years in the military taught me discipline (kind of) But four kids taught me not to take myself too seriously. I used to think being taken seriously meant I had to take myself seriously. Then I became a dad. And my kids reminded me daily that perfection is exhausting. And that laughing at yourself is way more powerful than pretending you have it all figured out. Here's what not taking yourself too seriously actually does: • Makes you more relatable and easier to work with • Lowers the pressure on yourself and your team • Helps you recover faster from mistakes • Creates space for creativity and honest conversations Let me show you how to build this superpower without losing credibility. Mistake 1: You think admitting a mistake makes you look weak. Surprise: It doesn't. I've worked with leaders who never admitted they were wrong. Their teams stopped trusting them. Because everyone makes mistakes. Pretending you don't just makes people wonder what else you're hiding. When you own your mistakes with humor, you show confidence. That builds trust way faster than pretending to be perfect. Here's what it looks like: • Mess up in a meeting? "Well, that didn't go as planned. Let's figure out what we missed." • Send an email with a typo? "Looks like I can't spell today. Here's the correct version." Mistake 2: You avoid humor because you think it's unprofessional. Humor isn't unprofessional. Being boring is. I spent ten years flying helicopters. High-stakes, high-stress environment. And you know what got us through? Laughing at ourselves. Making light of the small stuff so we could stay sharp on the big stuff. We use to have to stand in front of our peers and leaders and own our mistakes. It usually led to your new callsign The best leaders I've worked with knew how to crack a joke, poke fun at themselves, and still command respect. Mistake 3: You think taking yourself seriously means caring deeply about your work. You can care deeply without taking yourself seriously. The people who do the best work are often the ones who can laugh when things go sideways. They care about the outcome, but they don't tie their identity to being perfect. One bad day doesn't define them. Seriously, who do you want to work with, the person who loses their cool when things go sideways, or the person who has the calm presence to laugh and ask how to get it right next time. Here's how to care without the pressure: • Focus on progress, not perfection • Celebrate small wins and learn from failures • Remember your worth isn't tied to one project • Give yourself the grace you'd give a teammate It makes you more resilient. More relatable. More effective. So please, laugh at your mistakes. Own your humanity. And watch how much easier it becomes to lead, connect, and enjoy the work you're doing.

Humor can build teams - or break them. Comedy lightens the mood, builds trust, and makes leaders more approachable. But when humor misses the mark, it hurts team dynamics by making people feel small or excluded. I’ve experienced the impact of humor in my own leadership journey. When appropriate, I let my guard down and embrace playfulness to show my team I’m not just “the boss,” but someone they can relate to. However, as a senior leader, I know these lighthearted moments carry implied power. A joke that feels harmless to me might land differently for someone on my team - and I must take responsibility for ensuring these moments build trust rather than break it. I learned this from one of my favorite books, “Humor, Seriously,” by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas. The book explains the science of humor at work, offers tools for using it thoughtfully, and even includes a quiz to help leaders identify and adapt their humor style. If you want to harness humor at work, I highly recommend checking it out. For example, I learned that one of my humor styles is the “Sniper” - may make me a witty cocktail party companion, but as a senior leader, I need to be especially mindful about how I unleash that weapon at work. In high-pressure environments where teams tackle serious challenges, comedy can serve as a grounding tool. It can reduce stress, make tough conversations easier, and strengthen bonds. But it can also be a point of contention, so leaders should be thoughtful about how they handle their standup routines. Nail the punchline, and you’re building relationships. Miss it, and you might just break them. #humorseriously #leadingwithhumor #authenticleadership

What requires more courage: presenting to the CMO, or telling jokes to a room full of strangers? The answer changed everything about how I lead. By day, I was launching award-winning campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. By night, I was performing at comedy clubs. Here are 3 lessons I took from the stage straight back to the boardroom. 1. Bravery is the key to your biggest breakthrough. It takes courage to get up on stage with nothing but your mouth and a microphone. You have to get comfortable with the discomfort of never knowing if the audience will chuckle or cringe. In business, bravery fuels innovation. Change only happens when people challenge the status quo and test new ideas with no guarantee of success. Your biggest breakthrough is waiting just outside your team's comfort zone. You just have to create the space for them to step into it. 2. Failure isn't fatal, but the recovery is everything. Every comedian bombs. It’s not the failure that kills your set. It’s the inability to keep moving forward. You have to move on to the next joke, the next open mic, the next show. In corporate, as in comedy, things don’t always go as planned! But if your team is too afraid of saying the “wrong thing” or making mistakes, they’ll never take the creative risks required for innovation. The real enemy of innovation isn't failure. It's the internal culture that makes people afraid to take risks. 3. Vulnerability is the currency of connection. A comedian's success hinges on whether the audience connects with them enough to laugh. The best comedians are vulnerable in sharing their relatable stories, their embarrassing secrets, and their contrarian points of view.  In business, a team’s performance hinges on how well they connect with each other. Vulnerability creates the foundation for that connection. It’s not about oversharing at work. It’s about honest communication, admitting mistakes, and building trust through authenticity. Vulnerability isn't a soft skill. It's a performance multiplier. As a comedian with over a decade of experience working in Fortune 500 companies, I think about leadership differently. I’ve merged my experience in corporate and comedy to create Playformance. We offer keynotes, workshops, and coaching that equip business leaders, executives, and managers to leverage the strategic power of play to multiply performance. You don't need a comedy stage to unlock your team’s best work. You just need the framework to cultivate courage, creativity, and connection. Ready to swap passive-aggressive Slack messages for real momentum? DM me the word “FUN” to book a keynote or workshop for your team! 📸 by Byron Morton, San Diego's Second Best Photographer

"My Dad handed out plain M&Ms when I was born. Because those were my initials - Marja Marie. And because I'm a girl: no nuts." The room of two dozen post-merger executives erupted in laughter. In 30 seconds, I'd humanized myself, established levity, and kick-started the social bonding that would pull us through months of hard work ahead. Only humor could have managed that feat. — A truth too rarely tapped into at work: the hardest work demands the most lightness. Not because strategy is funny (it's decidedly not). But because your brain literally works better when you're laughing. Babies laugh 400 times per day. By 35, we're down to 15. We've been taught that laughter is unprofessional, childlike, frivolous. Meanwhile, we're starving our teams of the very thing that makes them sharper. 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. — 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 People exposed to comedy solve 20% more problems. Laughter exercises the working memory, executive function, and language skills we need for novel challenges. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮 Employees who watched comedy clips were 10% more productive and spent 2x longer on tiresome tasks. Humor replenishes. 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Bosses with a sense of humor are 27% more motivating. Their employees are 15% more engaged. The stress reduction and endorphin release free us to perform. And for teams: laughter signals a shared worldview. When your C-suite laughs together, they're building the connection that turns individuals into a team. — Of course, not all humor serves your team. Jokes can hide truths that should be stated directly. Worse, humor can isolate—creating an in-crowd while others stand on the periphery. The power of shared laughter can just as easily divide as unite. — Three ways to tap into healthy humor (even if you're not funny): → 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿. Someone on your team is funny. When they crack a joke, let that belly laugh free. Your laughter gives everyone else permission. → 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Sponsor lunches and happy hours. Once your team finds humor in work-lite settings, they'll bring it back to the boardroom. → 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿. Your job is ensuring laughter is shared. Notice who's participating. Check in with anyone on the edges. If you ever hear a joke at someone's expense, shut it down immediately. — The most important strategic work your team will do requires them to be creative, motivated, and able to sustain effort through complexity. You can't mandate that. But you can create conditions where it flourishes. Sometimes the most serious work requires the least serious approach.

Who says #humor doesn't serve a purpose in the workplace? In 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳, 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas make the case—with the science to back it up—that humor isn't a distraction from serious work but a powerful tool for #leadership, building trust, connection, and culture. They take a research-based broadsword to the myth that humor belongs only to comedians or extroverts. Humor—wielded with authenticity and sincerity—can increase trust, improve communication, and help #leaders navigate uncertainty with greater effectiveness. During my reading, three themes emerged that I took note of... 𝟭. 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁. Effective humor is less about being funny and more about being human—while true, the key word is "effective." That doesn't just happen. Small moments of levity—timely self-awareness, light self-deprecation, or reframing tense situations with some timely humor—to a long way toward shaping a positive workplace culture.  𝟮. 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. Leaders who use humor are perceived as more confident, more likable, and more credible. Humor lowers defenses, making people more receptive to new ideas and difficult conversations. In high-stress environments—combat comes to mind—humor can serve as a pressure valve, helping teams maintain perspective without minimizing the seriousness of the work. 𝟯. 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. It helps people cope with failure, uncertainty, and change by creating cognitive distance from setbacks. By laughing with others rather than at them, we build social bonds that strengthen collaboration and morale over time. Aaker and Bagdonas argue that in an era defined by burnout and complexity, humor is not optional—it is essential. One significant takeaway from 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳, 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 is that humor amplifies authenticity—that's a big one for me. When leaders allow themselves to be their genuine, approachable selves, they create space for others to do the same. This authenticity fosters trust, which in turn drives performance and engagement. Humor, used wisely, becomes a leadership accelerant rather than a risk. Take it from someone who's been drawing crappy #comics for the past couple of decades. A little humor goes a long way in life. #DoctrineMan knows.