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Managing to Have Fun: Why You Need to Lead With Laughter

The importance of leading with laughter

Business author Paul Hawken said it best, “We lead by being human. We do not lead by being corporate, by being professional or by being institutional.” Perhaps that’s why many leaders are embracing one of the most undervalued human resources they have at their disposal – their sense of humor.

Some managers, however, weaned on a “never mix business with pleasure” attitude, have a difficult time buying into the value of humor. “You can’t be serious?” is the incredulous response to the  suggestion to lighten up. And they’re absolutely right. You can’t be serious, at least not if you’re interested in improving staff morale or motivating employees to new heights. And if you want to spark creativity, strengthen teamwork, facilitate open communication, minimize stress levels, reduce employee turnover and absenteeism rates, improve trust between management and employees, offer dynamic customer service and improve productivity, then you can’t be serious. You can’t be serious, because humor can help any organization achieve all those goals.

Putting humor to work isn’t about employees standing around the water cooler exchanging one liners. Having a sense of humor is about having a sense of perspective and using the ability to find the humor in situations to manage stress and creatively problem solve. Adding humor is about celebrating work, not trivializing it. And it’s about mixing humor in an appropriate manner to improve workplace productivity.

Here are few “guiding lights” to help you manage to have more fun in your organization.

Take Yourself Lightly. Too many of us fall victim to the dreadful disease “acute professionalism”. The symptoms include a furrowed forehead, high levels of stress and blocked creativity. The cure is simple – learn to take yourself lightly, while still taking your job seriously. When you laugh at yourself, you demonstrate your humanity and openness and encourage others to do likewise. As an added bonus, you take away anyone’s ability to laugh at you. As author Bob Ross reminds us, “Leaders without a sense of humor are like a lawn mower at the cemetery – they have lots of people underneath them, but nobody is paying them any attention.”

Be Sincere. Dogs know when we’re not sincere, so there’s a good chance our employees will too. If you show up Monday morning with a transplanted Robin Williams persona, staff may be cynical about your newfound attempts to lighten the office mood. So be yourself. Practice sharing your own unique brand of humor and only do what feels comfortable for you.

Think Small and Simple. The biggest factors that contribute to employee morale don’t cost a lot of money or take a lot of energy; it’s the small things done on a consistent basis that matter. So look for easy opportunities to introduce a little humor – put up a humor bulletin board, create a humor room (Kodak Eastman and Hewlett Packard have them) include humorous quotes in correspondence and practice spontaneous humor (which as stand-up comedians will tell you, is the most effective form of humor).

Practice Relevant Humor. The more you celebrate humor specific to your office, team or organization, the more meaningful the humor is. Relevant, work-related humor becomes part of the corporate history and helps teams to bond around shared experiences. Start collecting a humor file of quotes, cartoons, funny customer questions and anecdotes that relate to your organization.

Practice Safe Humor. Humor can break down barriers as easily as it can builds walls, so make sure the style of humor you practice is “safe”. Non-sexist, non-racist, non-religious humor is the order of the day. Also be aware of times when humor may not be appropriate. The safest form of humor? Laughing at yourself.

Hire for Humor. If you want to lighten up the office then recruit people with a positive sense of humor. Southwest Airlines, recipient of a “Humor in the Workplace” award, hires for humor,

regardless of whether it’s a front line customer service agent or mechanic, so that every employee will fit their unique corporate culture. Even NASA has suggested that one of the most important attributes of future astronauts will be a great sense of humor.

Make Fun a Priority. It’s easy to agree with the idea that we need to have more fun in our organizations, after all it’s one of those feel-good, motherhood statements. There’s only one problem – this little thing called life keeps getting in the way. If you’re going to take humor seriously then treat it like any other priority – tie into your mission statement (the corporate motto for Grimes Aerospace based in Columbus, Ohio, is “Growth, profit and fun”), list fun as one of your core values, offer training in workplace humor, include it in goals and work plans, and yes, evaluate it every now and then by asking the simple, yet all important question – “are we having fun yet?”

Give Yourself and Your Employees Permission to Play . . . and then get out of the way. Remember, as a leader, people look to you to set the tone for the office. You have the power to decide whether you’re going to be a roadblock on the inspiration highway or a catalyst for creativity and positive energy.

Copyright Michael Kerr, 2200

Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame business speaker and the author of 8 books, including The Humor Advantage, The Jerk-Free Workplace, and Hire, Inspire and Fuel Their Fire.

Rave Reviews

“Your presentation was beyond excellent! You have the unique ability to both entertain and educate. It was the perfect mix of a serious business message, along with a very funny delivery.”
Dave Thompson, CFO & President, Sandvik Canada, Inc.
“Michael was brilliant! An incredible session that received a standing ovation. The content was a welcome and valuable divergence from typical educational sessions. If you need to leave your audience energized with great content, I highly recommend Michael Kerr!”
Dana Cooper, Executive Director, Orthotics Prosthetics Canada
“Michael held the full attention of our senior management team for a full 4-hour presentation! His management philosophy is a fantastic approach that I have encouraged my team to carry forward.”
Martine Rothblatt, Chairman & CEO, United Therapeutics
“It was evident, almost from the first word you spoke, that you would be one of the most memorable parts of the two days. Your high energy, fast-paced, powerful style had everyone on the edges of their seats. Beyond being incredibly entertaining, you gave the leaders pragmatic tools and ideas that are easily transferable to their jobs.”
Mark Breslaw, Human Resources Business Partner, Telus
“Michael’s Leading and Laughing During Turbulent Times was the best presentation I have seen in my 40 years in business.”
Rodney Meadows, Director East Alabama Home Medical
“That was one of the best virtual presentations I have been on and the best one since this pandemic! It was the highlight of my week and gave me a resurgence of positivity, motivation and energy.”
Natasha Purnell, Chief Culture Officer, Park Insurance
“Michael Kerr delivered an absolutely outstanding performance – virtually! His energy and humorous content had our event attendees wanting our company to book him again!”
Kylene Donaldson, Western Financial Group
“Michael Kerr’s humor, messages and energy was not lost at all in the virtual format and allowed us to continue an important tradition of having fun and being together. His messages on how to  build resiliency were delivered in an engaging way that really hit home!”
Brier Albano, Associate Registrar, Medicine Hat College
“With his high energy and animated presentation of over 90 minutes, he had everyone’s full attention!”
Jolaine Arsenault, Retail Market Analysis and Liaison Specialist, Co-op Atlantic
“Just wanted to say “WOW!” – that was awesome! We’ve had many speakers over the years, but none the likes of Michael Kerr.”
Richard Dansereau, President, NAPA Autopro BDG
“One of the most enjoyable keynote speakers we have worked with. Not only was it entertaining, it contained valuable lessons for our managers to take back to the office.”
Peter Panaritis, President, Brinks Canada Limited
“Many of the head office staff thought you were the best keynote speaker we’ve ever had! Thank-you for your invigorating and energizing keynote presentation.”
Tanya Dusyk, Territory Manager, Shell Canada
“Your dynamic and interactive presentation was the highlight of our conference. To this day, years later, we will often refer to the topics you enlightened and enriched our lives with!”
Steve Enns, Vice President and General Manager, TGS Harvard Management
“I wanted to share with you the amazing customer comments below. We’ve been employing various techniques that you described and I wanted you to know that your work makes a difference!”
Kevin Walsh, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer, Showdown Displays
“Yours was one of the most effective, enlightening, and entertaining presentations we’ve ever had at a conference (and we’ve had a lot!).”
Mario Bernardi, Executive Director, ClimateCare Co-operative
“You were by far the best rated speaker. Michael’s energy influenced my entire experience at the conference.”
Mary Anne Yurkiw, Food Matters Conference Chair
“YOU ROCK! Michael had everyone in stitches and offered amazing workplace food for thought.”
Janice Vilaca, Program Administrator, Co-operative Education, Wilfred Laurier University
“I’ve seen Michael four times – he’s amazing. You come away with knowledge on how to make your workplace better and you don’t even realize you were being taught because you are so busy being entertained.”
Michelle Kimura, Owner, MicAr Marketing
“Thanks to your suggestions, staff feel engaged and empowered to start creating an inspiring workplace. You have made a huge, positive impact in just 90 minutes!”
Paola Zurro, Senior Director, Real Property Branch
“Michael exceeded our expectations in every aspect. He was nothing short of the star of our event. By far, the best speaker we’ve ever had!”
Rod Smith, VP, Business Development, Century Vallen
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