3 Ways To Harness Humor As A Leadership Strength
Joyce Talag, PCC
Leadership & Business Communication Coach for Multicultural Professionals in Tech Roles – Own your expertise & speak with confidence, even with an 'accent'! | ICF PCC, EMCC Senior Practitioner | TESOL-certified
Back in 2016, my daughter, Krissy, and I had the opportunity to meet the late PH President Benigno Aquino, Jr. (aka PNoy) during his first public appearance as a private citizen.
Krissy was so impressed by the former president that she told him up-close, “You have a great sense of humor!”
PNoy was already attending to another group, but he still turned to look at Krissy. What he told her stuck with me:?
"You need humor to overcome life's hardest trials."
While PNoy’s administration brought pride to many Filipinos as the World Bank saw our country transform from the Sick Man Of Asia to Asia’s Rising Tiger, it was not free from controversies and challenges. I can imagine how humor helped him through those.
As a coach, I do a lot of strengths work with my clients. Clients get disappointed at first when they discover that humor is one of their signature strengths. What for? They ask.
Over the course of our work, these clients realize how humor helps them lead better and attain greater well-being.
Here are three ways you can capitalize on humor as a leadership strength:
Use humor to diffuse a stressful situation
When your team discussions become too heated, humor can relieve the pressure and open up space for a more constructive conversation. Other heads of state who are known for their wit and humor are Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Angela Merkel.
Demonstrate your executive presence and engage your audience with humor
Wielding humor conveys your ability to read and engage the room. We are most likely to remember speakers who know how to sprinkle a dose of laughter on their messages. One of my favorite thought leaders, Susan David, Ph.D. , kept me engaged all throughout her TEDTalk and book, Emotional Agility, because of her ability to infuse lightheartedness in her scholarship.
Look and feel young with a dash of laughter
It’s no secret that laughter is the best medicine. It relaxes your facial muscles and boosts not only your well-being, but also your relationships at work and home. Another favorite, relationship therapist Esther Perel, talks about the value of humor in relationships in this clip.
Used with care and cultural and situational sensitivity, humor can indeed be your leadership and personal strength.
I look forward to hearing about your own experiences with humor as a strength (or otherwise). Share them with our subscribers by writing a comment or sending an email to [email protected].
Humor is not lost in my daughter either. This is a video of her, asking a question to PNoy from the audience.
Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not accept code and embedded videos from Facebook so here's the link instead:
My dad turned 70 just two days after I began my road to 40. Our family has been extremely lucky for having a strong and loving father. I owe a lot of my confidence to my dad who has been a constant fixture in my daughter and I’d lives. Here’s a snap from our quiet dinner celebration in Bakersfield—
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