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Why leaders who make people laugh often lead better — and how to keep the laugh from costing you the room
“A little humor is good for the soul”-Richard Branson
“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.”-Dwight Eisenhower
Humour has always been a big part of my life. Perhaps that’s because my late dad had a great sense of humour, and I grew up appreciating the light-hearted moments that humour can bring. Friends had also told me that they love my 'contagious' laughter.
But what has really stayed with me after the toast masters event on humour was that humour needs to be used with sensitivity. What makes one person laugh may make another person uncomfortable — particularly in a workplace where there are different personalities, backgrounds and power dynamics.
That’s something I consciously strive for in my own interactions with people. I enjoy bringing lightness into a conversation, but not at the expense of someone’s dignity or comfort.
humour has also made me more resilient. Being able to find a little lightness in difficult moments doesn’t make the situation less serious. Sometimes, it simply makes it easier to get through.
What the Research Actually Shows
Humor and leadership have been studied seriously for decades, and the findings are more encouraging than most leaders assume. A systematic scoping review of over sixty studies found that leaders who use humor well tend to be seen as more approachable and trustworthy, and their teams report stronger bonds and more creative output (Rosenberg et al., 2021). Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, who teach a popular course on humor at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, point to a related and somewhat sobering pattern: most adults report laughing far less once they enter the workforce, and that decline tends to continue until retirement (Aaker & Bagdonas, 2021).
Their broader argument is that humor is not simply a personality trait some people have and others don't — it is a skill that can be built deliberately, the same way public speaking or negotiation can be built. That reframing matters for anyone who assumes they are simply "not a funny person."
The Real Risk: When Humor Undercuts You
None of this means humor is risk-free, and this is where most advice on the subject stops short. Research from Harvard Business School describes humor at work as a genuine high-risk, high-reward behavior: done well, it builds trust and signals confidence; done poorly, it can look careless, unprepared, or even unkind (Bitterly & Brooks, 2020). A well-documented pattern is that the tone of a joke matters as much as the joke itself.
Humor aimed at oneself tends to build warmth and relatability without much cost to a leader's credibility, while humor aimed at other people — especially anyone with less power in the room — carries real risk of being read as mocking rather than funny. The lesson for a leader who has already earned some standing is not to avoid humor, but to point it inward more often than outward.
A Practical Framework for Getting It Right
A 2024 qualitative study interviewed leaders about specific moments when their humor landed well and moments when it backfired, and distilled the difference into five recurring elements:
🪴reading the context,
🪴being clear on your own intention,
🪴 exercising judgment before speaking,
🪴delivering the line skillfully,
🚀 and paying attention to how people actually react afterward (Rosenberg et al., 2024).
Translated into something usable on stage, in a meeting, or in a piece of writing, that framework looks like this:
Read the room before you read your notes. The same joke that works in a relaxed team stand-up can land badly in a room that just received hard news. Notice the emotional temperature of the audience before deciding whether levity fits.
Know why you're using the joke. Humor used to ease tension reads very differently from humor used to assert dominance or dodge accountability, even when the words are similar. Leaders who are clear with themselves about their intention are less likely to misjudge the moment.
Punch up or punch at yourself, not down. Self-deprecating humor tends to humanize a leader without costing them credibility, particularly once they already have some standing in the room. Humor at the expense of someone with less power rarely has the same effect.
Deliver it, then return to the point. The strongest use of humor in a talk or a meeting is brief. It opens a door and then gets out of the way of the substance that follows, rather than becoming the main event.
Watch the reaction, not just the laugh. A laugh tells you the joke worked in the moment. Whether the audience still takes you seriously thirty seconds later tells you whether the joke worked for your authority.
Being humourous is a skill worth practicing deliberately, whether the stage is a toastmasters event , a leadership meeting, or a keynote.
References
Aaker, J., & Bagdonas, N. (2021). Humor, seriously: Why humor is a secret weapon in business and life (and how anyone can harness it, even you). Currency.
Bitterly, T. B., & Brooks, A. W. (2020). Sarcasm, self-deprecation, and inside jokes: A user's guide to humor at work. Harvard Business Review, 98(4), 96–103.
Rosenberg, C., Walker, A., Leiter, M., & Graffam, J. (2021). Humor in workplace leadership: A systematic search scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 610795. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.610795.
Rosenberg, C., Caballero, C. L., Hayley, A., & Walker, A. (2024). The success elements of humor use in workplace leadership: A proposed framework with cognitive and emotional competencies. PLOS ONE, 19(5), Article e0304650. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304650.
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