The Leadership and Innovation Superpower Few Talk About....How Humor Transforms Everything

Ever notice how the best leaders seem to have this magical ability to turn heavy moments light? When everyone else is getting tense, they drop in a perfectly timed observation that shifts the entire energy of the room. That's not just charm – it's a leadership superpower I call "The Game of the Reframe." They got GAME, baby!

No, it's not being the funniest person in the room.

Humor is a non-negotiable for leaders.

When Heavy Gets Light

Your team's big presentation just crashed and burned.

Or maybe last quarter's performance was off.

Your team is stressed - at home and at work.

People feel uncertain. and they sure don't feet creative.

Then you say, "Part of our plot: get it wrong - unintentionally - so we can make super powerful comeback!!"

Reframe. It's not about making light of serious situations – it's making serious situations light enough to handle, to laugh through, to say "we got this." It's addressing the elephant in the room. Avoidance does not work.

I had to have a tough conversation with my team about our goals when money for the start-up ran low. I KNEW it sucked. I didn't want to go there. I had to.

So when everyone was seated for the meeting, I said:

Before we all get down to business, can I get anyone anything? Coffee? Tea? A running head-start for the exit before I LOCK the door?

We all feel it. It's IMPORTANT to voice the collective feeling. It says, "me too. I got you. Let's move forward together."

The Yes-And Magic of Humor: Building a 'Yes And' Company Mindset

Here's what makes humor a leadership superpower: it's the ultimate "yes, and" move. When you can look at a challenging situation and find the humor in it, you're essentially saying:

• "Yes, this happened, AND we can handle it"
• "Yes, we failed, AND we learned something valuable"
• "Yes, everything went sideways, AND isn't it interesting what we discovered?"

Dealing with the Unexpected (Every Day in Business)

When was the last time everything went exactly as planned? (I'll wait.)

Innovation lives in the unexpected. But here's the trick: people only embrace the unexpected when they feel safe enough to do so. Humor creates that safety net. It tells your team:

• It's okay when things go off script
• We can handle surprises
• The unexpected might be SO MUCH BETTER

Few things in 2024 went according to plan, innovation happens when we accept the unexpected and make connections: I created a new course I hadn't previously considered, I got asked to go back to teaching improv at a theater post-Covid (yay!) and I am now back out doing in-person talks and keynotes all over. I just accepted an invite to talk about humor and learning in organizations.

We can plan all we want; be willing to play, see what happens and adapt as we go. That is a 'yes and' mindset in action.

Your Reframe Game

Here's how humor reframes everything:

Instead of: "This blows." Which I get. Try: "This will be a great story at next year's retreat!"

Instead of: "We missed the mark." Try: "Congratulations! We've found another way that definitely doesn't work! Thanks to my family who believed I couldn't!" (Too real?! LOL)

Instead of: "This campaign and product offering did not work." Try: "This one feature worked, and we have a community that loves it...sure, there's a pile of crap. That means the pony is nearby!"

Instead of: "Everything's going wrong." Try: "Plot twist! Time to get creative!"

It's not about ignoring reality. It's making it safer to try, fail, learn.

Making Innovation Safe

When you respond to challenges with humor, you're showing your team:

• Failure isn't fatal
• Experiments are expected
• The unexpected is an opportunity
• Being wrong can be wonderful and admitting is not a huge deal

Try This

EXAMPLE: I had a boss when I was in tech who would go around the table and ask everyone to say how they failed at something. AND Then everyone - including him, yes he started the activity - stood up and applauded, "Yay, you did it! You failed and learned!'

It works because it 1) levels the playing field and equalizes everyone; 2) it depressurizes stress and we need it; 3) it makes it safe to try and fail and learn. THAT is everything when it comes to innovation.

He didn't know it; he was leading with humor and improvisation thinking.

Real Talk: Why This Matters

Innovation doesn't need more pressure – it needs more play. Every time you use humor to lighten a situation, you're:

• Building psychological safety
• Encouraging experimentation
• Creating space for creativity
• Making it okay to be imperfect allows us to connect the dots

I wrote a piece for Linkedin on leadership and innovation last year with humor that one year later, got me invites to conferences. And doing comedy at comedy clubs which I still do and have for decades, has led to me helping several leaders with their speaking and keynotes around innovation. They happened to be in the audience and hear my jokes about being a former tech leaders.

YOU NEVER KNOW.

Your New Leadership Toolkit: Making Light Means Making Sense

Start practicing the art of the light reframe:

• When tension rises, reframe
• When things get heavy, lighten the load
• When the unexpected hits, welcome it like an old friend
• When failure strikes, treat it like a plot twist

The Innovation Connection

Here's the beautiful thing about humor: it's the perfect partner for innovation because both require:

• Seeing things differently
• Making unexpected connections: maybe a failure here opens a new direction over there - or you see new things you didn't bofore.
• Being willing to play
• Embracing what emerges

The Bottom Line

Leadership isn't about having all the answers – it's about creating the conditions where answers can emerge and where people feel safe to try new things. Humor isn't just about making people feel good (though that's a nice bonus). It's about creating the psychological safety needed for real innovation to happen.

When things get heavy, you have permission to get light. That's not avoiding reality – it's creating the 'YES AND space' to transform it.

So the next time something goes wrong (probably in about 5 minutes), try meeting it with a smile. Your team isn't looking for a hero who never fails – they're looking for a leader who shows them how to fail forward with grace, humor, and maybe a really good punchline.

Innovation is just learning in disguise – and learning is a lot easier when you're laughing.

Reach out

I have worked with global tech, marketing, media leaders and teams to unlock employee potential and bold innovation beyond boundaries. After spending 2 decades leading teams in tech and over 2 decades on comedy stages, I know that playing, experimenting, mindset and environment are everything. Yes, I still perform and teach...when I'm not on business stages.

Want more? Let's chat.