Leadership and Light Hearted Humor
Whether you are captain of your sports team, the founder of a new company, or an entry-level employee with dreams of upward mobility, humor (when utilized appropriately) can be an effective tool for leaders of all types.
But what constitutes an appropriate joke? A study, by Caleb Warren (University of Arizona) and Peter McGraw (University of Colorado at Boulder), investigating that very question found that humor is most often perceived in a situation of benign violation. In this particular study, the researchers presented test subjects with either a benign scenario (a pole-vaulter successfully completing a jump), a violation (a pole-vaulter failing to complete a jump and getting seriously injured), or a situation that was both benign and a violation (the pole-vaulter failed the jump but stood up unharmed). With the three types of scenarios, researchers found that people were most likely to laugh and perceive humor in the benign violation.
Now, this is great if you are interested in becoming a stand-up comedian (but want to avoid getting slapped in the face), but why should laughter matter for a leader or in a corporate setting? Qualitative data shows that humor can influence and reinforce hierarchies in groups, build interpersonal trust, and fundamentally shape the way people perceive others’ confidence, competence, warmth, and clarity of communication. Whether an entry-level employee or a VC Angel, people will like you more if you make them laugh. A workplace that encourages light-hearted humor is statistically proven to produce employees with higher productivity levels, as they will house more positive attitudes toward their work, their co-workers, and of course, their fearless leader.
Context is of the utmost importance when it comes to introducing humor into your workplace. Going back to the research study investigating what people perceive as funny, the researchers acknowledge that the line between a benign violation and an extreme one can blur with context. Things strike us as funny when they make us uncomfortable, but do so in a way that is acceptable, and non-threatening. Below are some good rules of thumb:
Inside Jokes can make those on the outside feel like, you guessed it, outsiders. If group cohesion is important, try to stick with jokes that everyone can understand.
Sarcasm is just the best isn’t it? Sarcasm woven into feedback tends to be taken less seriously, so avoid this with new employees. Sarcasm is best received when trust has already been established.
Self-deprecation can be effective in neutralizing negative information about oneself, but avoid this one if in regards to the question of your workplace competence.
The science confirms that humor is cognitively distracting. Just as a magician would divert your attention from their sleight of hand, a successful joke can turn our attention away from certain information. Laughter makes people happy, and you are more likely to trust me now that you are in a good mood.