Former social worker David Jacobson is proving the power of humor. In his new book, “Highly Humorous Leadership, A Fun, Effective Approach to Management and Supervision,” he showcases its ability to diffuse difficult situations.
He explained it’s impossible for someone to be angry if they’re laughing.
“The best way to deal with adversity is to find the humor within it,” he wrote.
According to Jacobson, anyone and everyone is a leader. Some are bosses at work, some are leaders in the community and still others are leaders at home. In short, everyone can benefit from reading this book.
Jacobson explained that a quick sense of humor is something anyone can learn — himself included.
“It started as a coping mechanism,” he said. “My father died when I was 8. He had died of cancer. He had a great sense of humor and I’ve been using humor to cope with adversity ever since.”
At age 22, Jacobson was diagnosed with severe arthritis and rheumatic fever; he used humor to cope with that setback.
“After perfecting my coping skills with it, I started to expand into other areas,” he said. “The most important areas are success in management and leadership.”
Jacobson readily admits he’s not a joke teller, but he’s great with humorous observation.
“There are many forms of humor,” he said. “One thing I did was really focus on who my favorite comedians were, what I loved about them. I always liked Steve Wright, his wit. There are certain types of humor that make you think… I started to try to view the world from that perspective.”
He asked himself, how would Steve Wright view this situation?
“That helped me to see things from those different glasses, humor-filtered glasses as I called them,” he said.
Jacobson brought his humor to the workplace and started using it in emails and conversations. He believes that every form of communication can be enhanced with humor.
“I found that, as a leader, if I would use humor in my emails my staff would actually read them,” he said.
However, that’s not to say it’s effective every time.
“There are risks involved,” Jacobson warned. “There is appropriate and inappropriate humor and there’s that borderline. You cross that border and you’re in trouble. I’m careful with my humor but I’m also forgivable because people understand that I’m coming from a benevolent place. I’m not evil or malicious and people understand that my intention is good. People are much more forgiving and more willing to forgive you for mistakes if you’re coming from that sort of perspective.”
That’s why he most often uses self-deprecating humor.
“It is the safest form of humor around,” Jacobson said. “A lot of my humor is self-effacing, but not putting myself down all the time. That is different.”
He warns that people with fragile self-esteem or self confidence should not use that type of humor. However, it can be used to communicate other important information.
“If I make fun of my arthritis, I’m telling you it’s not a topic that’s forbidden or bothers me,” he said.
However readers choose to use humor, Jacobson reiterated that it’s a powerful tool.
“If you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel and you can use humor to change the way you think,” he said.
Humorous Leadership is also for a 2024 Best Book Indie Award. The outcome will be announced in June.
"Highly Humorous Leadership, A Fun, Effective Approach to Management and Supervision"
By David Jacobson
davidmjacobson.com
Find it on Amazon: rb.gy/jcb2bz
