787: Better Leadership Through Humor, with Chris Duffy

Chris Duffy: Humor Me

Chris Duffy is an award-winning podcaster, comedian, and television writer. He hosts the podcast How to Be a Better Human and you can find his comedic TED talk, “How to find laughter anywhere” online. He is the author of Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

It sometimes seems like someone with a good sense of humor does everything a bit better. Perhaps leadership is no different – but it’s not about landing jokes. In this episode, Chris and I explore why everyday humor is all about paying attention and generosity.

Key Points

Humor might not make the list of top leadership competencies, but it helps you perform every other competency better.
A good sense of humor is inherently generous.
Effective humor isn’t landing the perfect joke or being the center of attention. It’s noticing the humor is everyday work and bravely calling attention to it.
The first pillar of cultivating humor is simply being present.
Start with times you are least present and most zoned out. Zero in with a “new bathroom” frame of mind.
Celebrate the bad stuff and find humor in it. By doing so, you inherently help people appreciate excellence.

Resources Mentioned

Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy by Chris Duffy (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 235)
Get Better at Deep Listening, with Oscar Trimboli (episode 408)
How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590)

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(790)

786: The Problem with Reorgs and How to Do Better, with Phil Le-Brun

Phil Le-Brun: The Octopus Organization Phil Le-Brun is an executive in residence at Amazon Web Services and a former corporate VP and international CIO at the McDonald’s Corporation. He is a sought-af...

8 Juni 37min

785: Make Your Task List Work for You, with Liane Davey

Liane Davey: Thoughtload For the past 25 years, Liane Davey has researched and advised teams on how to achieve high performance. She is the author of You First and The Good Fight and is a regular cont...

1 Juni 39min

784: How to Protect the Organization You Love, with Eric Ries

Eric Ries: Incorruptible Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup method, and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, The Leader’s Guide, and The Startup Way. Over the last t...

25 Maj 38min

783: How to Take Back Your Evenings, with Guy Winch

Guy Winch: Mind Over Grind Guy Winch is a psychologist and bestselling author who advocates for integrating the science of emotional health into our daily lives. His TED talks have attracted over 35 m...

18 Maj 38min

782: How to Help a Team Get Unstuck, with Gustavo Razzetti

Gustavo Razzetti: Forward Talk Gustavo Razzetti is a culture change instigator, speaker, and CEO of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy. He helps leaders build teams that talk about what ma...

11 Maj 38min

781: Bonni and Dave Reflect on Recent Episodes

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my li...

4 Maj 39min

780: Moving From Self-Sabotage to Self-Mastery, with Shirzad Chamine

Shirzad Chamine: Positive Intelligence Shirzad has been the CEO of the largest coach training organization in the world. He has lectured on Positive Intelligence at Stanford University and has trained...

27 Apr 39min