What's the most fun you've had with your boss? Have you ever laughed out loud, together, as equals? Or have you had the experience where your boss's so-called humour has left you feeling uncomfortable or even humiliated?
Some interesting research has shown that humour can be a form of leadership and a way of establishing effective working relationships between boss and follower. BUT, it has to be the right kind of humour. There are two types of humour; affiliative and aggressive. Affiliative humour is seen as a positive form of humour designed to amuse people. Aggressive humour is much more 'Win-Lose' and is intended to mock people or to emphasise differences in status. It can include sarcasm, 'put-downs' or inappropriate subject matter.
Affiliative humour has been found to improve relationships by improving satisfaction, team cooperation and commitment. It is thought to act as a declaration of self-disclosure by the boss, which helps to establish trust and openess and encourages reciprocal behaviour.
These kind of relationships were not found in leaders who exercised more aggressive forms of humour.
In short, the findings of the research show 'that humour is useful for creating a high-quality relationship between leader and follower when used in an affiliative way but not if it is used in an aggressive way'.
The researchers do qualify their findings - if you are not a natural humourist then don't over-work it; you will only look inauthentic or people misunderstand your intentions. However, it is possible to develop your funny side and the researchers mention the following approach by McGhee in their paper:
The Seven Humour Habits Programme
The research paper is 'Affiliative and aggressive humour in leadership and their relationship to leader-member exchange' by Alexander Pundt and Felicia Herrman, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (2015) 88, 109-125
It's good to see that humour is considered an appropriate part of professional relationships. It is wonderfully effective at putting people at ease, showing leaders are human too and building rapport. I also think if used carefully it can be a very effective way to strengthen a new relationship with a new employee.... emphasis on the 'carefully' though!
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