Leadership Effectiveness Requires Laughter

Early on in my corporate career, colleagues advised me to learn golf, which they claimed as a great way to network, bond with clients, and create deals. I learned the sport, but I didn’t enjoy the game as much as other people did.

At one of our corporate retreats, my boss and colleagues couldn’t wait to get out on the course with some of the top executive staff. I was a bit confused by this because I knew my boss didn’t really like or get along with this group of people.

I asked him about it and he said that on the golf course, unless you are a pro, there is no pretense; all are on equal footing and all are hitting poorly. The golf experience allowed them to bring down their guards and share the misery of their poor shots. Like golf, laughter allows us to connect with one another, letting our guards down, sans the misery of poor golf shots.Laughter enhances communication by letting our shields down and showing that we are human.

The model of professionalism for too long has instructed us to be super-human. We learned how to work beyond what is humanly possible, denying our natural rhythm for balance. We also learned to check our emotions at the door.While I ascribe to the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI), we are still human; we have emotions. To deny that fact is insanity. EI purports that we understand and acknowledge our emotions, recognize them, and with conscious awareness not let the emotions rule us. This is certainly a healthy approach to emotions, which is very different from the professional corporate model we learned.Here are seven strategies for infusing laughter and lightness in your leadership and life:

  • Start developing your practice of laughter with consciously smiling today. See how many people you can touch and shift their energy with your smile.

  • Begin your meetings on a light note. I have the E*Trade babies’ videos on my favorites list and would start meetings with one or two of those commercials. The more I watch them, the funnier they are.

  • Watch a funny movie, making note of the elements that tickle your funny bone.

  • Listen to a funny tape on the way to work, setting the tone for the day.

  • Laugh for 3–5 minutes every day. Fake it ‘til you make it!

  • Commit to do one silly thing a day to cultivate your playfulness.

  • Start collecting stories from work that are funny; invite everyone to participate and present these stories at the annual holiday party.

What do you do to infuse laughter into your life?

With love and laughter,

Maria

P.S. This is an excerpt from my book!

4 Steps Leaders Need For Keeping Delegation Simple

For many of the leaders I work with, delegation is a real struggle. Leaders resist delegating because we are so accustomed to doing the work ourselves. Many times, fear will rear its ugly head, thinking that if we want the work done correctly, we must do it ourselves. And then there is the time issue of communicating and training others to complete the task for us.

Ahhh, but the benefits of delegation far outweigh the negativity that surrounds this illusive skill. When we delegate, we have more time for our high-priority tasks and we actually get to experience the joy of completing our tasks!

Delegation increases our productivity and is a much better use of our resources.Delegation gives you freedom from chaos and confusion.Since we are not born with the delegation gene, we must learn this skill. It’s not as hard as you think!Just follow these four simple steps and you will be delegating before you know it:

  1. Explain the need for delegating, including the reasons why you selected that person to complete the task.

  2. Clearly set the objectives defining responsibility, level of authority, and deadlines.

  3. Develop a plan to achieve objectives, resources, and give the authority necessary to obtain those resources.

  4. Establish an accountability plan with checkpoints.

True, there are some tasks best kept to ourselves such as personal matters, confidential activities, crises, and activities that are specifically delegated to us. However, we can delegate paperwork, routine tasks, technical matters, tasks with developmental potential, and employee problems that we do not need to be involved in.Somehow we’ve managed to complicate the idea of holding people accountable, and it is quite simple, really, SIMPLE:

S = Set clear expectations – this is the number one complaint and stressors from employees – that the expectations are vague.

I = Invite commitment – some say gain “buy in” but I much prefer to invite commitment. With an invitation, there is a shared sense of ownership.

M = Measure progress – Super important to keep up on this. How you will measure is part of the description of setting clear expectations.

P = Provide feedback – again, super important. Far too often managers will wait until the project is finished to say that it wasn’t done correctly.

L = Link to consequences – consequences are also identified in the setting clear expectations step.

E = Evaluate effectiveness – Do this together and it becomes a powerful activity for you and the person who is accountable.

I want to hear from you!

What are some techniques you use to hold people accountable and why do you think the strategies are effective?

With love,

Maria