Laughter is one of the great unifiers and levellers of humanity. Although different people and different cultures may find very different things to be amusing, the fact is that every society understands the concept of laughter and its therapeutic benefits.
The difficulty for leaders is that while the benefits of laughter and high morale, both personal and collective on the part of the team, is recognized, the use of humour still needs to be carefully controlled.
Occasionally laughing at oneself and encouraging others to do likewise is highly beneficial. It is great for stress relief and allows people to occasionally stand outside of themselves and take a broader perspective of their activities in a much wider and more human context. For that reason, humour and light-heartedness typically play a significant part in certain elements of australian aboriginal culture development program.
However, there is a danger with the misuse of humour.
What one person may find to be amusing and human, another may find to be insulting, mocking or patronising etc. The problem is that it can be extremely difficult to predict, with any degree of certainty, just how a different person or group of people will react to even the best-intentioned joke or witticism.
Another problem for the leader as far as humour is concerned arises from it possibly being misconstrued as flippancy. By definition, someone leading an activity or a group of others needs to be seen, on the whole, to be taking the matter seriously and allocating it a degree of gravitas.
The leader who is seen to be constantly ‘horsing around’ and apparently more intent on having a good laugh than achieving their objectives, can sow unease and concern into others around them. So, the aspiring leader needs to understand the place of humour in a shared enterprise and use it appropriately - but also in moderation and be on guard against it being misinterpreted as a failure to be acting responsibly.
The difficulty for leaders is that while the benefits of laughter and high morale, both personal and collective on the part of the team, is recognized, the use of humour still needs to be carefully controlled.
Occasionally laughing at oneself and encouraging others to do likewise is highly beneficial. It is great for stress relief and allows people to occasionally stand outside of themselves and take a broader perspective of their activities in a much wider and more human context. For that reason, humour and light-heartedness typically play a significant part in certain elements of australian aboriginal culture development program.
However, there is a danger with the misuse of humour.
What one person may find to be amusing and human, another may find to be insulting, mocking or patronising etc. The problem is that it can be extremely difficult to predict, with any degree of certainty, just how a different person or group of people will react to even the best-intentioned joke or witticism.
Another problem for the leader as far as humour is concerned arises from it possibly being misconstrued as flippancy. By definition, someone leading an activity or a group of others needs to be seen, on the whole, to be taking the matter seriously and allocating it a degree of gravitas.
The leader who is seen to be constantly ‘horsing around’ and apparently more intent on having a good laugh than achieving their objectives, can sow unease and concern into others around them. So, the aspiring leader needs to understand the place of humour in a shared enterprise and use it appropriately - but also in moderation and be on guard against it being misinterpreted as a failure to be acting responsibly.
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