Humor In The C-Suite

On this episode of Humor in the C-Suite, I sit down with leadership trainer Amie Fox, founder of A Fox Consulting and author of Mind the Blind Spot: Decision to Done. We talk about why you need to follow current affairs before you joke with a global team, the difference between empathy and sympathy, what to do when a joke bombs, and the keynote where the lights came up and Amie was on the wrong end of the stage.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

MB Seminary President Mark Wessner once opened a sermon for a church deciding whether to hire him with a game of two truths and a lie: I've done cocaine. I've been in prison. I have a tattoo. He doesn't have a tattoo.

Mark joins Kate Davis to talk about using humor to lower the guard that comes with hierarchy, from all-out Nerf battles with his team to the evaluation that told him to be more presidential. He also breaks down the four languages leaders communicate in, what the Birkman Method reveals about why we joke, and his one rule for humor at work: if anyone's paying for the joke, make it you.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

Kevin Dias doesn't think he's funny, but he's built a company where everyone else gets to be. From his home in Oyama, Japan, the founder of Ambiki talks with Kate about leading a fully remote startup with levity: jokes flying in the Zoom chat, the teammate who told him a joke about a customer crossed the line, and the annual hackathon that keeps turning play into real product features.

In this episode:

• Why humor has to start one-on-one before it works in a group
• Laughing at a situation vs. laughing at a customer
• Using self-deprecation to get past imposter syndrome
• The cynicism trap, and why the wins deserve as many jokes as the losses
• Two days, four teams, and a hackathon that ships

Connect with Kevin:

• Website: https://www.kevinsdias.com/
• Ambiki: https://www.ambiki.com/
• The Problem-First Method: https://problem-first-method.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-dias-ambiki/

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

Leadership development, resilience, and humor in leadership take center stage as Kate sits down with NAVAC founder Lintao Lu, author of In Through the Window, for a conversation on grit, authentic leadership, and turning closed doors into opportunity.

In this episode, Kate and LT talk about:

• Why "sometimes you have to realize this building is not for you" — and how to build your own instead
• Turning a workplace mishap into trust and team cohesion instead of embarrassment
• Bridging US-China cultural differences in the boardroom
• How humor eases the pressure cooker of corporate life and boosts employee engagement
• Why laughing at yourself is the fastest path to authentic leadership and psychological safety

LT's story — from a childhood during China's Cultural Revolution to seven US patents and a career spanning engineering, marketing, and the C-suite — is a lesson in workplace culture built on hope, humor, and grit.

LT is the author of In Through the Window: On Forging Your Own Path to Success, available now.

Connect with LT: lintaolu.com | linkedin.com/in/lintao-lt-lu-10255b5

Find Humor in the C Suite wherever you get your podcasts.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

This week, Kate sits down with Pavithra Venkatesan, author of Archetypal Remembering and pattern intelligence practitioner, for a conversation about the identities we build to survive, and the exact moment those identities turn funny.

Pavithra traces her path from software engineer to author and life coach, a shift that began the day she became a mother and started questioning whether the life she was living was actually hers. She walks through her framework of archetypes as adaptive roles built for safety, belonging, and freedom, and why humor only appears once you become the observer of your own performance rather than the performer. The conversation moves through workplace culture (why the "manufactured seriousness" of most organizations quietly sidelines the most playful people), a cross-cultural look at humor in India versus the US, and the "hardened softness" archetype she sees most often in women who've learned to look like they don't need anyone.

Themes covered: authentic leadership, workplace culture, psychological safety, archetypes, self-awareness, pattern intelligence, and humor in leadership. Plus, the breakfast table story about her husband and one very strong-willed toddler that finally taught her to let go.

You'll Also Love

• The Skill of Vulnerability: How Executive Coach Amy Green Smith Quiets Inner Critic & Builds Trust with Amy Green Smith, since the inner critic Amy describes and the "observer watching your archetype perform" that Pavithra describes are two versions of the same self-awareness
• Coding with Humor: How Gamebasics CEO Jeroen Dewort Built a 200 Million Player Empire with Jeroen Dewort, since his humor-as-survival-mechanism story mirrors what Pavithra says about staying alive inside "manufactured seriousness" during her own software engineering days
• The Flight of Authenticity: Bold Leadership Lessons from Crooked Compass Founder Lisa Pagotto with Lisa Pagotto, for the shared thread of staying yourself across cultures, which runs right through Pavithra and Kate's India/US humor conversation

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

This week, Kate sits down with Amy Green Smith, executive leadership coach, master hypnotherapist, and keynote speaker, for a conversation on vulnerability, trust, and communication that's equal parts practical and funny.

Amy explains why vulnerability is one of the most disarming tools a leader has, how humor-based communication systems help teams say the hard things without the blowup, and why confrontation avoidance always comes with a hidden cost. She also talks about her background as a master hypnotherapist, breaking down what hypnosis actually is at a scientific level and why it's able to quiet the inner critic, the internal guard that usually blocks new beliefs from sticking.

Themes covered: authentic leadership, psychological safety, trust building, hypnosis, the inner critic, workplace culture, and humor in leadership. Plus, the story behind "q-tip stick," a phrase that will make sense once you hear it.

Connect with Amy Green Smith 

• Website  
• LinkedIn
• Instagram  
• Free Private Podcast Series: Boundaries Over Burnout

Other episodes You'll Also Love

• The Trolley Scenario: Neuroinclusive Leadership and the Hidden Cost of Masking with Ron Sosa
• Two Truths and a Lie: How Heart-Led Leadership Beats Burnout with Isabelle Tremblay
• Work Happy: Why Humor is the Gateway to Mental Health at Work with Greg Kettner

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

Key topics: Leadership development in the age of AI · humor as an icebreaker in corporate IT leadership · Who are the "new zombies"? · why empathy and emotion are what AI still can't replicate · AI hallucinations and the limits of large language models · curiosity as a leadership trait · knowing your room before you use humor · storytelling as the key to retention.

Guest advice: "Own the room. Know the room." Michael's guiding principle for using humor as a leader, learned from a mentor years ago.

Standout quotes:

• "I am copying and pasting, copying and pasting now. I'm a machine now. And that's not what we were built for... We were built for critical thinking. Emotions... And empathy." —Michael Earls
• "It doesn't have a heart. It's like a tin man." —Kate Davis, on AI and empathy

Connect with Michael Earls: 

https://www.michaelearls.com/books/finding-direction-in-the-age-of-ai/

Finding Direction in the Age of AI
Wired for Purpose
The Digital Compass 

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

This week I’m joined by Jeff Arnold: five-time bestselling author, founder of RightSure (North America’s most awarded insurance firm), and a guy who somehow turned standing next to a serious CEO at a drink fountain into a leadership lesson. 

We talk about why self-deprecating humor is the best humor, why “yes, and” belongs in your boardroom and not just your improv class, how Jeff kills his own ego every time he writes a book, and the story behind the most expensive speeding-ticket photo in Arizona history. Bring tissues. You’ll need them for laughing.

Key Topics

• Self-deprecating humor as a leadership trust-builder
• The “yes, and” philosophy from improv, applied to business
• Reframing failure as forward motion
• Using humor to deliver hard news without losing authenticity
• Writing 12 books and learning to kill your own ego on the page
• Humor and AI: deploying technology without losing the human side of leadership
• Rebranding insurance agents as “famously friendly humans”
• Knowing your audience: when to dial humor up, and when to dial it down
• The line between self-deprecating humor and “punching down”

Guest Advice

Lead with self-deprecating humor before anyone else gets the chance to make you the joke. It signals confidence, not weakness, and it’s the fastest way to build trust with a team.

Resources Mentioned

• RightSure Insurance
• Jeff’s book, AI Forward Leadership
• Jeff has written 12 books total, 5 of them bestsellers https://jeffarnold.com/books/
• Jeff Arnold's Website

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

Imagine a trolley hurtling down the tracks toward five people. You can pull a lever and divert it — but there's one person on the side track too. Most people pull the lever. And according to Ron Sosa, that's exactly how most workplaces are built: systems designed for the majority, with everyone else quietly getting run over. In this episode of Humor in the C Suite, Kate Davis sits down with Ron to talk about what it really costs to lead while masking, why humor is one of the most powerful tools for self-advocacy, and what becomes possible when leaders are finally given permission to lead as themselves.

Key Topics Covered

Ron and Kate explore the Trolley Scenario as a framework for understanding how workplace systems are designed — and who they leave behind. They dig into what masking actually costs neurodivergent leaders: the identity erosion, the accelerated burnout, the exhaustion of contorting yourself to meet an expectation that was never built with you in mind. Ron talks about how humor functions as a genuine tool for self-advocacy — not self-deprecation, but the ability to laugh at yourself in a way that makes the hard stuff lighter and the conversations easier. They cover the RISE framework, values-based leadership, and why Ron always starts coaching with personal values rather than professional ones. Kate shares her own experience with ADHD and anxiety, and Ron drops a stat that stops her mid-conversation: neurodivergent children receive an average of 20,000 more corrective comments than their neurotypical peers before the age of ten — and what that does to a person's relationship with humor, validation, and people-pleasing

Standout Quotes

"The ability to laugh at yourself makes the ability to advocate for yourself less heavy." — Ron Sosa

"Nobody is truly toxic. People just have unmet needs they don't know how to express — or needs we don't know how to meet." — Ron Sosa

"You conform to society, put on the leadership mask, and everything becomes heavier. You erode your own identity — and then you burn out faster." — Ron Sosa

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

What does it look like when a shy kid who hated networking accidentally builds a game with 200 million players, survives corporate lawsuits, charms tax inspectors into forgetting why they came, and learns to lead by doing? That's Jeroen Derwort's story. In this episode of Humor in the C Suite, Kate Davis sits down with the former CEO of Gamebasics to explore how humor, humility, and a very healthy relationship with imperfection built one of the most unlikely success stories in gaming history — and what every leader can take from it.

Key Topics Covered
Jeroen and Kate explore how humor functioned as a genuine survival mechanism through the most stressful periods of building and scaling two tech companies simultaneously. They talk about the culture Jeroen created at Gamebasics — informal, creative, and rooted in shared laughter — and how that culture attracted people who genuinely wanted to be there. Jeroen shares how he handled the legal battles and corporate pressure that threatened to end the game entirely, and why having a light-hearted lawyer was one of the best leadership decisions he ever made. They dig into what it felt like when employees left and why Jeroen was genuinely hurt every time — a vulnerability Kate notes in 55+ episodes of the podcast she has never heard a leader admit before. And they cover Jeroen's philosophy on perfection: that doing something and seeing what happens will always beat waiting until everything is right.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios