#287 The Fun Side of Leadership

Leadership doesn't need to be all serious business to be effective; in fact, incorporating whimsy and playfulness creates stronger team connections and trust. Great leaders understand that making room for joy, silliness, and laughter builds the psychological safety teams need to bring their whole selves to work.

• The most effective leaders balance strategy and accountability with opportunities for joy
• When people laugh together, they connect on a deeper level
• "Giddy isn't the opposite of grounded, it's the opposite of stagnant"
• Strong cultures are often led by people who aren't afraid to be a little weird or wild
• Simple ways to incorporate whimsy: tell jokes, use fun project names, start meetings with engaging icebreakers
• Trust often begins with shared laughter

Leave a message after the beep or send an email to Aaron at growthinstigators.com and let me know who's the most delightfully goofy leader you've ever worked with and how you bring joy or whimsy into your leadership style. Visit growthinstigators.com if you would like coaching on how to infuse your team with culture and, as always, keep instigating growth in all you do.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Whimsical Leadership
• 0:47 Why Joy Matters in Teams
• 1:21 Permission for Lighthearted Leadership
• 2:09 April Fools and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Have you ever worked for someone so serious you started wondering if they practiced frowning in the mirror each morning. Or maybe you were that person. Welcome to message 287 of the Growth Instigators hotline, where we ignite your personal and professional development. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. Let's dive into today's insight.

Speaker 1: 0:24

Top Performance Tuesday the fun side of leadership. Let's talk about something that doesn't get enough attention in leadership Whimsy, you know silliness, joking, play, laughter, the random moments when a team collectively loses it over something ridiculous and it somehow brings everyone closer together. We spend so much time talking about strategy, performance, accountability, vision and, yes, those things matter, but if your team never laughs with you like Billy laughs with you, then I promise you're missing something powerful. Great leaders make room for joy. Now, I'm not saying every meeting needs to be a stand-up comedy hour or that you should start emails with bad dad jokes as memos, but honestly, that might not be a bad idea. Here's what I am saying when people laugh together, they connect. When they play, they open up. When they feel free to be human, they bring their whole selves to the table. Giddy isn't the opposite of grounded, it's the opposite of stagnant. Some of the strongest cultures I've ever seen were led by people who weren't afraid to be a little weird, a little wild and a whole lot of themselves.

Speaker 1: 1:41

So today, on this most sacred of whimsical holidays, april Fool's Day, I give you permission to lead with a little more lightness. Tell a joke, name the project something ridiculous, start the meeting with a, would you rather? That has no business being so difficult, because the best leaders guess what? They just don't build teams, they build trust, and trust often begins with laughter. Thank you for calling the Growth Instigators hotline. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a message after the beep or send an email to Aaron at growthinstigatorscom and let me know who's the most delightfully goofy leader you've ever worked with. And also, how do you bring joy or whimsy into your leadership style? And unfortunately, this was my last Growth Instigators episode. No more recordings. Blah, ha ha. Aaron, we get it. April's fools. Tune in tomorrow for another leadership nugget and visit growthinstigatorscom if you would like coaching on how to infuse your team with culture and, as always, keep instigating growth in all you do.