How Humor Makes Leaders More Effective
19 Sep 2025
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Leaders don’t need to be stand-up comics—but creating space for laughter makes teams more creative, productive, and collaborative.

Listen to the full IdeaCast episode here: https://s.hbr.org/3Vejkvv

How Humor Makes Leaders More Effective 19 Sep 2025 --- Leaders don’t need to be stand-up comics—but creating space for laughter makes teams more creative, productive, and collaborative. Listen to the full IdeaCast episode here: https://s.hbr.org/3Vejkvv

How Humor Makes Leaders More Effective

At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. We try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. 

We encourage comments, critiques, and questions. We expect our community to be a safe space for respectful, constructive, and thought-provoking discussion. We reserve the right to remove or turn off comments at our discretion. We do not tolerate bullying, name-calling, or abusive language related to identity, including race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, age, or region; spam; copyright violation; extreme profanity; or p*rnography.

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At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. We try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We encourage comments, critiques, and questions. We expect our community to be a safe space for respectful, constructive, and thought-provoking discussion. We reserve the right to remove or turn off comments at our discretion. We do not tolerate bullying, name-calling, or abusive language related to identity, including race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, age, or region; spam; copyright violation; extreme profanity; or p*rnography.

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How Humor Makes Leaders More Effective

How Humor Makes Leaders More Effective