Recently, in a training session with a group of new leaders, a topic arose: where does the boundary of good humor lie when it comes from a leader? Particularly tricky is when the leader grew out of his/her team and humor has been more on the lines of dark humor, sarcasm and irony.
As always, humor can be liberating and joyful, but it can also be demeaning, patronizing, or even offensive. Perceiving this boundary can be quite a challenge. In our group discussion, we concluded that when it comes to jokes, a leader should be more cautious, as if a joke contains judgment towards someone or a group (such as gender distribution for example), it subconsciously reflects leader’s inner thoughts or feeling toward this person or group of people.
When making a joke as a leader, it is important to keep in mind some aspects to ensure well-being and professionalism:
๐น ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐: Understand the humor preferences and limitations of team members to avoid offending anyone. And be aware that leader is always (at least subconsciously) seen little bit different.
๐น ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ: Avoid jokes that may demean, offend, or embarrass anyone, even if anyone seems not to know the people who you’re making joke about. You never know actually.
๐น ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค: Be open to feedback from team members about your humor style and openly ask this from your team. By the way, people might not say, read also body language and open up yourself so that they see that vulnerability is fully accepted with you.
Good-natured humor is a great way to create a positive atmosphere, but it is important to understand that behind every joke is an ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. If you notice people feeling uncomfortable or hurt, consider deeply what your intention was. And if you are the “victim” of a malicious joke, do not hesitate to say that it hurt you.
๐ Where do you think the boundary of humor lies? Share your thoughts!
PS. For my followers who speak Estonian, in our new podcast episode, number 100 of the “Juhtimine juhtimiseta” podcast, we delve deeper into this topic and share our experiences with Reelika Jeferjev
PPS. This picture was taken many years ago when I was waiting in front of the Viru Hotel with my team, and a guy approached and offered to play his “kannel” (a traditional Estonian string instrument). Laughing about situations is always the best option.
