Great bosses understand the value of laughter in the workplace. Not humor that demeans and excludes, just good-natured fun. Since bosses are the ones who often raise the stress level in an organization -- asking people to do more with less, or cutting budgets, or rocking the boat with changes --they ought to pay special attention to keeping spirits up.
Not every leader has a natural gift for unleashing laughter -- or building a culture where fun is the norm. So let me tell you about one who definitely does. His name is
Jim Naughton, and he's the past president of the Poynter Institute. He's retired now, and has just written a memoir of his professional life and his love of laughter at work. It's called
46 Frogs: Tales of a Serial Prankster.
Several of us at Poynter have written about Jim's many pranks and merry adventures -- and what they mean to leaders. You can see those stories
on the Poynter website. I hope YOU have the opportunity to work for, laugh with -- and even become -- a leader who cares about fun at work.
Great bosses understand the value of laughter in the workplace. Not humor that demeans and excludes, just good-natured fun. Since bosses are the ones who often raise the stress level in an organization -- asking people to do more with less, or cutting budgets, or rocking the boat with changes --they ought to pay special attention to keeping spirits up.
Not every leader has a natural gift for unleashing laughter -- or building a culture where fun is the norm. So let me tell you about one who definitely does. His name is Jim Naughton, and he's the past president of the Poynter Institute. He's retired now, and has just written a memoir of his professional life and his love of laughter at work. It's called 46 Frogs: Tales of a Serial Prankster.
Several of us at Poynter have written about Jim's many pranks and merry adventures -- and what they mean to leaders. You can see those stories on the Poynter website. I hope YOU have the opportunity to work for, laugh with -- and even become -- a leader who cares about fun at work.
