Humor in the C-Suite

What's so funny?

Executives know there are opportunities everyday to display humor and yet, more often than not, they pass them by.  Why?

Before you owned a company, led it or managed one of its divisions, did you have a better sense of humor than you have or allow yourself to exhibit now?

Countless numbers of corporate leaders could be making a huge mistake by keeping their sense of humor under wraps.

We all personally know leaders who, when away from the C-Suite are funny and liberal with a smile, (accompanied by a good snort now and then,) but for some reason, hold back from displaying the same with their colleagues, competitors and customers. Truth is, they are also under-utilizing a prized leadership skill.

"A jest often decides matters of importance more effectively and happily than seriousness."

-  Horace

You understand I'm not talking about what some mistake to be humor when it is crude, vulgar, cynical, sarcastic or directed at an unassuming and indefensible colleague.

We're talking about the wide range of skills needed by every leader, no matter what the battle. It just so happens that the sense of humor each of us either have been born with or developed over our lifetimes, seems to be forgotten or deleted from the portfolio of skills required to lead.

No doubt there is a time and place for everything, just as there is for the use of one leadership skill over another. Lately I've been asking CEOs about their sense of humor and most believe that their natural ability to find humor, even in difficult situations, is something to keep guarded.

I disagree with them on that and urge every business leader who shares that sentiment to reconsider. There's plenty of serious stuff in every day to be serious about, but you know what? An alert, lively and genuine leader also knows there is, or ought to be,  plenty to smile about too. It's all in a days' work.

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid

'Aay Leader Mon; Lively Up Yourself!

Bob Marley's Lesson for Leaders

When this 'pre-post' idea started rattling around my head on Friday, I had no idea that a 'Bob Marley Tribute' was on tap for the 55th Grammy Awards but the timing couldn't have been better.

Reggae, the colors of the Ethiopian flag, green yellow and red horizontal fields, the floppy knit 'Rasta' caps, the cannabis leaf, dreadlocks and Jamaica contribute to the known legacy of the devout Rastafarian Bob Marley evidently was.

One look at me and you'll conclude I'm obviously not a Rastaman and although I did inhale several decades ago, I cannot lay claim to doing so in the pursuit of finding the answers to deeply spiritual concerns.

Here's another thing; for most, cannabis is associated with being laid back, way back. Admittedly, Marley's music held deep meaning as he addressed social concerns, but his performances were not anything close to being laid back. High energy, soulful from the Island Heart is more like it.

DON'T BE NO DRAG

"Lively Up Yourself" is not among his most remembered, I've always liked it.

"You're gonna lively up yourself and 
Don't be no drag... You rock so you rock so
Like you never did before..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDnNqsy7rYE

Leading a company as an owner or Chief executive is also anything but a 'laid back' easy-as-you-go responsibility. Everyone that's been there or is currently doing so gets that. What some miss though is the need to "Lively Up Themselves" and avoid being "no drag" on the organization they lead but instead, to figure out how to "rock like they never did before."

The core competencies required of an executive are many and well documented and this isn't to discount any of them. It has been my experience that one key, one very important key or core competency to superior performance is lost in a leader's lack of 'liveliness' or more plainly, a sense of humor.

HUMOR AS AN EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY

David McClelland's study; "Identifying Competencies with Behavioral-Event Interviews,"[1] concluded that "Several of the emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies most strongly tied to humor were in the social awareness or relationship skill domain, as one might expect, since these are the most visible socially."  Further the author(s) noted, "... that for these gifted leaders the expression of many or most EI competencies often came via the artful use of humor - and that this was in itself a basis for their success as leaders."

Let this sink in. Goleman et al found that, "What's particularly telling, though, was that those successful leaders use of humor strongly correlated with the very emotional intelligence competencies we have found to be key to a leader's superior performance." (Underline, italics, mine.)

You've met enough leaders in your day to know the difference between one who understands the artful use of humor and one that doesn't. You've also worked with or alongside persons who, perhaps by default, are granted or assigned leadership roles that are a drag, personally and professionally. What is striking though is that many leaders, when away from their business responsibilities, possess a sense of humor but find it unthinkable to allow that to be enjoyed with their colleagues, direct reports, customers or whoever may benefit from it.

I've taken some liberty with equating "liveliness" with a sense of humor but, here's the deal; you may be a well-intentioned, skillful, competent and successful leader in your own right. You may even rank high on an Emotional Intelligence scale. The bad news is that if you don't have and don't believe you are able to acquire a sense of humor, you may just have to accept good results. Superior results may elude you.

For those who are recognized by friends or family for possessing this important asset, if it's not being utilized artfully within the scope of your work-a-day responsibilities, readjust your thinking. "Lively Up Yourself" for superior results.

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid

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[1] David C. McClelland, "Identifying Competencies with Behavioral Event interviews," Psychological Science 9 (1998): 331-339; cited in Primal Leadership; Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee; Chapter 3, pg  34; Harvard Business School Press