All the great leaders I ever had could make me laugh. This doesn’t mean they were jokesters, just that they enjoyed a sense of humor and used it to enhance the workplace. Or, at the very least, they grinned when I told stupid jokes. Like this one, presented by the meme superstar, Bad Joke Eel.
Sense of humor is an important quality in leadership, especially with a small staff association. People remember people who make them smile; that’s why we work so hard to make our customers smile! Also humor can ease a tense situation and add flavor to an otherwise boring agenda. It also fosters an environment of camaraderie and makes a happier meeting or workplace.
Unfortunately, sense of humor is an often-overlooked quality in leadership because it doesn’t seem quite as important as communication, efficiency, and knowledge. Just in case you feel like brushing up the funnier of your leadership skills, here are some tips for injecting a little more humor into your day. You’ll be a happier association executive, and your members will leave you meetings chuckling (in a good way!)
1) Get some daily inspiration
There are a ton of places on line where you can get daily jokes or funny photos sent to your inbox. That doesn’t even count the countless funny groups you can follow on Facebook and twitter, but be careful with those. Occasionally they flirt with the lines of being inappropriate.
2) Go to this website
Not everything on The Oatmeal is suitable for work or association chat, but these jokes are a great way to break tension or start a morning off with a smile. They always get me laughing!
3) Consider the funny side
Try a chuckle when things go bad instead of panic. Sometimes the only thing to do during a disaster is to laugh and shrug at your luck. Consider this: if you take 5 minutes to laugh, will it really set your solution back THAT much? It could change a very tense, panicky moment in your association to something memorable.
4) Follow us!
At MemberClicks we try to bring a smile to your face every day with our morning social media posts. Have you seen them? If you want to see our morning smile, follow us on Facebook, twitter, and Google+ and share them with your groups!
Okay, okay. That was a shameless plug for us. But you have to laugh, right?
