MANY NEW MANAGERS TAKE THEMSELVES way too seriously. Life is challenging and can be grim. Without a sense of humor, it can be deadly. New managers need to learn not to take themselves too seriously and to develop a sense of humor.
One reason many of us take ourselves so seriously is because of the immediacy of the world in which we move. Our daily activities are important to us because they’re the ones we know most intimately. Therefore, everything that happens at the office looms large in our lives. We should try to do our jobs to the best of our ability, but once we’re sure in our own minds that we have done so, we shouldn’t worry about it. The key phrase is once we’re sure in our own minds. Most of us are our own worst critics.
Of course, the work we do is important. If it were not, no one would part with cold cash in return for our efforts. But we must keep what we do in perspective. It may be important in our office, and it may be important to the people who deal with our office, but it may not seem terribly significant when measured against the history of humankind. When you’ve had a bad day and all seems lost, remember that a hundred years from now no one will care; so why should you let it ruin your year, month, week—or evening, for that matter? Our jobs are important, but let’s keep what we do in perspective.
The English author Horace Walpole (1717–1797) said, “The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.”
It’s much easier not to take yourself too seriously if you have a sense of humor. Nearly everyone has some sort of sense of humor, but it is more keenly developed in some people than in others. Even if you feel your sense of humor is weak, you can improve it.
DEVELOPING A SENSE OF HUMOR
Here’s a news flash that provides some hope: Many people who have a reputation for being funny, clever, and humorously creative don’t really have any of these characteristics. What they have is a terrific memory and a good sense of recall. They can reach back into their memories quickly and find a humorous line they’ve heard or read that is appropriate to the situation at hand. They get a reputation for having a sense of humor, and they do have one, but they’re not necessarily creative. It’s much like the difference between perfect pitch, which some feel a person is born with, and relative pitch, which can be developed and practiced.
So you can develop a sense of humor by reading, by seeing the right kind of humorous movies, and by studying comedy. Watch television personalities who have a reputation for being funny. Watch people who are “ear funny.” A cream pie in the face or a pratfall might be “sight funny,” but you can’t use these gags at the office, and seldom in your social life.
ENCOURAGING LAUGHTER
In addition to developing a sense of humor yourself, as a manager you also need to build a work environment that is fun and where laughter is welcome. If the workplace is a fun and enjoyable place to be, your employees will show up more, work harder, and be more productive. There are many different ways to encourage laughter in your department. Here are a few ideas:
• Start off each meeting with a joke or have one of your employees tell the joke.
• Have a bulletin board devoted to laughter. People can place cartoons, comic strips, or jokes on it for their colleagues to look at and read.
• A California manager turned a storeroom into a laugh room. He put a DVD player in the room and stocked it with tapes of sitcoms and comedians. When he or one of his staff members needed a laugh, they would go into the room, put in a DVD for a few minutes, and come out laughing.
You might want to try these methods or find some of your own.
HUMOR—NOT SARCASM
Achieving a reputation for having a dry sense of humor is acceptable. Acquiring a reputation as the office clown is not. Most people can appreciate the difference. Being witty is one thing; being a buffoon is quite another. But one warning: If you have never said anything funny at the office, break into humor on a gradual basis; otherwise someone will want to check the water supply.
Many people mistake sarcasm for wit. Some sarcasm can be funny, but there’s a twofold problem with being sarcastic. First, you achieve a reputation for being a cynic, which is not a welcome trait in the executive suite. Second, sarcasm is often funny at someone else’s expense. You don’t want people to think you prey on the weaknesses or idiosyncrasies of others. Also you don’t want to offend someone and make an enemy. As a rule, avoid expense humor, meaning humor of any kind that is at another person’s expense. Doing otherwise will make you look petty and insecure.
It’s best if your humorous remarks point inward or are neutral in nature. Making fun of yourself or your own foibles makes you a self-deprecating wit, which offends no one. Trading insults with another person can be fun, but it’s not a practice for beginners and should be avoided.
HUMOR, THE TENSION RELIEVER
A sense of humor is most valuable when things become hectic and tense. A well-placed humorous remark can lighten the mood and relieve the tension. It’s like opening a steam valve so the pressure can escape. It’s healthy to see humor in tense situations. Even when it seems inappropriate to make your humorous remark aloud, thinking about it may put a smile on your face and keep you from getting a migraine.
We are surrounded by funny situations every day, but we need to notice them. As with the beauty all around us, if you don’t make a point of looking for it, you’ll likely miss it. With practice, however, you’ll begin to see the humor in what goes on all around you.
Finally, there’s a compelling reason for not taking this life and ourselves too seriously: None of us is going to get out of it alive anyway. Keep in mind that there has never been a report of a headstone engraved with the words, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”