The role of humor in leadership

By Karyn Buxman, CSP, CPAE

Great leaders understand the important role humor can play in resilience.

The time was one of the darkest in America’s history: the Civil War. In a meeting with his Cabinet, President Abraham Lincoln began reading aloud from a book by one of his favorite authors, humorist Artemus Ward. At the end of the chapter, Lincoln laughed heartily, while his colleagues looked upon him stone-faced. He looked at them, put his book down, and said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.” One of the greatest presidents in our nation’s history understood the power of humor to help build resilience.

Let’s be real. You and I are not dealing with anything near the magnitude that Lincoln was dealing with. However, we’re all faced with some degree of stress: cranky customers, stubborn employees, a sick family member, budgets, deadlines, phones, paperwork, a bad-hair day — or a no-hair day!

Cumulative of bad and good

Stress isn’t just about the negative things that happen in your life. Dr. Hans Selye defined stress as the body’s nonspecific response to any demand for change. That can mean changes for the good and the bad. And it’s not about how big the change is. Stress is a cumulative effect, so numerous small changes can create as much stress as one big change.

Affects the Whole Person

Stress can negatively affect all areas of the Whole Person concept. This includes relationships, health, education, career, service, financial and spiritual.

Stress insidiously causes all sorts of health problems that eat away at your checkbooks and steal from your bottom line. Did you know that Starbucks spends more on employee health-related issues than it does on coffee? And that GM spends more on its employee health-related issues than it does on steel? “Terminal professionalism” seems to be a sign of the times — but taking yourself too seriously can have some nasty side effects.

Read more in “Strategic humor for leaders.”

Buxman is an international speaker, author, and neurohumorist from San Diego, California. A pioneer in her field, Buxman shows audiences how to build resilience, enhance communication and boost engagement through humor.