Leadership Training & Comedy
For every “born” leader, there are ten people who would make excellent ones if they had a little guidance. Leadership training is, in a word, crucial. Some of the biggest names in the game have leadership development programs, from Microsoft to Spotify to Cisco. Think pieces will even warn you that corporate leadership training isn’t optional.
The training can take the form of leadership retreats, one-on-one training, workshops, and more.
Okay, nothing groundbreaking so far, for sure. Maybe you’re even thinking, “Being an effective executive leader requires additional training? That’s like telling a teacher that they need to know exactly how many kids are on the field trip before they leave the bus.”
Let’s bring it back to our first sentence: leadership isn’t necessarily innate. There’s probably a terrific vice president, chief financial officer, or chief operating officer in your midst, but they are being eclipsed by the more gung-ho types. This doesn’t mean the less assertive are less deserving of leadership roles. In fact, we can look at how the Dunning-Kruger effect draws a line between overconfidence and incompetence (to paraphrase), with the ignorant vastly overestimating their competence.
Moreover, the more introverted types are often passed over for leadership roles over their more extroverted counterparts—to be fair, the introverts can also be more hesitant to pursue leadership roles. This can also be a gendered issue, as men tend to be more overconfident and, as a result, rise to leadership positions more quickly than women. Men also tend to think rather highly of themselves and are more likely to put themselves forward for promotions earlier than women.
And then there are the highly dominant types. “Alphas” are often lauded in Western culture, with their overt displays of confidence giving them more influence, making people more liable to listen to and follow them—despite their overconfidence often leading to bad decision-making and negatively affecting overall performance.
Excellent executive leaders are already among you, often the quieter, less dominating personalities. The conundrum is drawing them out and recognizing their potential. In short, getting people to loosen up. To avail themselves of their own potential.
Sounds great, but how do we do that?
Make ‘em laugh.
As we’ll explore in this article, humor can help erect the bridge between your would-be executive leaders, from where they are now to where they could be.
First, let’s get into why humor is an oft-overlooked skill in the leadership toolbox.
Humor’s Role In Leadership Development
It’s not a novel idea that humor is one of the more beneficial leadership skills. Psychology Today has discussed how effective leaders know that humor is well-suited for creating a warm environment (as long as the humor is positive and not scathing). According to the article, leaders who employ humor are seen more positively by their subordinates, and employees who have funny bosses tend to be more satisfied with them.
Okay, but my would-be leader…just isn’t funny. They have a sense of humor, but honestly, they’re not the funniest, so this is a non-starter for us.
Yes, some people are born funnier than others. And some people also seem born to be leaders. But that doesn’t mean someone can’t learn to be funnier, much in the same way the team member you can’t picture in a leadership role can learn how to be a better leader.
According to ScienceDirect, organizations can and should implement humor in the strategic planning of leadership development. They recommend “conducting humor training” and understanding individuals’ comedic styles (part of the issue isn’t that someone isn’t funny, but that the humor is ill-matched to their disposition).
If you’re currently in the planning process for your leadership training and looking for retreat ideas, consider implementing improv training—which has been shown to help with “quick thinking” and enhance “social competence.” This is also where a professional comedian can come in.
Having a comedian as part of your action plan is a great way to have someone lead your improv exercises and get the most out of the experience.
Beyond improv, having a professional comedian assist your corporate leadership training is also a great way to foster creative problem-solving. The school of thought behind this—as per a different Psychology Today article—is that laughter makes “it easier to think more broadly and associate ideas/relationships more freely.”
We’ve talked about helping the humor-challenged among us become funnier and how humor is a boon to the workforce, but what about the potential leaders who are already obviously funny but may lack a certain finesse?
Capitalizing on Funny People
The good news about people who are naturally funny is that they tend to have high emotional intelligence, and the humor tends to be “affiliative humor,” i.e., it’s a more positive type of humor than the type of lacerating comedy you’d see in a roast.
Furthermore, there’s evidence that people who exhibit “dark humor” tend to be smarter than those who prefer it on the lighter side. However, this is where leadership training is particularly useful.
You want your corporate leadership to have a sense of humor, sure, but even if someone who enjoys a good dark joke tends to be smarter than someone who likes knock-knock jokes, it doesn’t necessarily do wonders for executive leadership if one of the higher-ups cracks a dark joke that alienates staff members.
Once again, this is where a professional comedian is integrated into leadership development. While some people need help lightening up, others need help brightening up.
Thus, having a comedian working with small groups can help the underachieving but intelligent team members recognize how to be judicious with their dark humor so as not to be off-putting and potentially cost themselves a climb up the corporate ladder.
Book a Comedian Today!
You likely already have an amazing leadership team among you. Some could use some help getting in touch with their inner funny person; some could use some help in learning how to dial down some of their darker comedic impulses.
Fortunately, The Comedian Company is here to help.
And it’s no exaggeration to say corporate comedians are one of our mainstays (as well as clean comedians).
Enhanced problem-solving, quick thinking, social competence, and improved team dynamics are just a few of the benefits of humor training we’ve discussed.
Ready to get started? Fill out this form, give us a call at (586) 218-8745, or just send us an email at info@comediancompany.com.
We’d love to show you how comedy can give your organization the boost it didn’t know it needed, turning all that potential into profit. What more could you ask for?