It is said that a leader should always be serious and strict to lead and guide its team better. But the new theory says that a leader should also have humor. Humour is light-hearted for the business, something that dilutes the communication. Whereas, business is about making money, achievements, productivity, and much more. But, don’t we all learn best in the moments of enjoyment?
One of the researches shows that leaders who use their sense of humor while change happens to do better at their jobs than those who do not implement humor. Such engaging leaders get along well with their clients, associates, and teams. They find more creative ways to solve problems and are even more productive. Laughter releases stress and boredom which leads to improving the creativity, collaboration, analytic precision and productivity of the teams. It also helps boost confidence and productivity.
A study showed that babies laugh almost 400 times a day while people over the age of 35 years only 15 times. And it also showed that we laugh significantly less on weekdays than we do on weekends. Work is indeed a sober endeavor. If creativity, innovation, and higher emotional intelligence are the prerequisites for any leader in today’s corporate world, how do we foster these right brain functions? Humor can help in achieving that.
So, let us see further in this article how does humor help leaders in any organization;
- Building Relations
Using banters, laughter, wisecracks while communicating is a good way to create a bond, a rapport. A leader needs to create that liking and half the battle is won. Such banters help leaders get to know other people and start building genuine relationships.
- Helps improve the presentation and speech
It is a fact that audiences remember the speech that contains humor, and which makes them laugh. Humour is very important and is a must-have trait for better speech and presentation. And a leader would need to deliberately put in humor if it does not come naturally. But, at the same time leader also must keep a balance of the humor. It is just to use that perfect amount of humor to make sure your message is delivered and accepted.
- Creating a happier and lighter work environment
Who doesn’t want to work in a lighter, happier and mood-lifting work environment? The work environment plays a vital role in any organization. There will be people who love their work but not the work environment which might be due to their boss, subordinates or other things which unfortunately leads them to leave the organization.
But, if you see successful organizations, it is mainly due to its work environment and culture that makes them successful. Humor helps to create a lighter mood, dilutes the anger, frustration, stress, and cheers up the employees. So, even if the other person is stressed, or has an excessive amount of work, this will help them relax and work with more focus. Humour goes a long way in the workplace culture. Humour can spread positive energy in the work environment, creating harmonious organizations.
It is quite difficult to inculcate this quality but you must give it a try. Begin including humor in bits and pieces in your speech and see the results. At times you might feel as if you are making fun of yourself and going against your beliefs. However, a part of the goal in loosening up as a leader is to have the ability to mock yourself and still be okay with it. To others, especially people who look up to you, this signals that all is well.
There are various types of humor from sarcastic, to laugh out loud, to observant to clever. Being authentic to your own style further enhances your leadership brand. Usually, you can tell when people are genuinely amused at your jest or if it is faked. So, as you can see, it is not a funny business. Lightening up the environment leads to productive business results.
Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
