Ed Manfre is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Los Angeles office and a member of Heidrick Consulting.
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I recently led a session with an executive group to improve their team dynamics. The firefighting of the pandemic had forced them into separate corners and made their relationships feel transactional and wooden. Their team performance had suffered. This meeting was a step toward getting it back.
They created a simple agreement of items to hold them accountable for their team health and relationships. Things like, "We will have each other’s backs" and "We will make time to share our feedback." After a final scan, one leader walked to the flip chart, declaring that “something was missing.” He pulled out a marker and wrote “We will have fun,” adding a bold red underline. He made a look on his face to the team as if to say, “How could we forget?”
I watched as it dawned upon each of them, slowly at first, that they could actually have fun in their work. Then came the smiles and laughter. The energy shifted, the conversation elevated and the meeting ended on a much higher trajectory.
The leader had made his point, and for this team, it became the one to tie the whole list together.
Are we having fun yet?
Right now, it’s hard to escape the feeling of our current reality. With the post-pandemic economy stumbling, it seems there's an endless supply of news to feel bummed about. Harvard Business Review summed it up with the title of a recent article, “Stressed, Sad, and Anxious: A Snapshot of the Global Workforce.”
So what on earth does fun have to do with leading in the new era, you ask? Maybe more than we realize.
Fun is important to our sense of purpose.
For some leaders I coach, their work was often a source of enjoyment and fun until they became executives with high-flying expectations from Wall Street and their boards with thousands of employees in their charge. The pressure to deliver and problem solve on a daily basis can squeeze the fun out of it.
This dynamic is so pervasive that one well-known executive coach begins his initial client coaching meeting with a simple question: “Are you having fun?” Sadly, the coach notes, many feel like they don’t deserve to have fun anymore. A large part of reinvigorating their performance rests in finding the spark that “jazzes” them about their work.
Sometimes the solution is in our mindset. When powered by humor and goodwill, difficult problems can appear to us as exciting challenges to navigate with creativity and ingenuity. But from a lower mood state, every hitch in our giddy-up feels like another boulder on our back.
Fun is important for building relationships and trust.
While we often talk about trust as serious business, it might pay to think about a dash of humor and laughter as essential ingredients. Time featured a study on relationships in which one researcher noted: “We can refer to shared laughter as an indicator of greater relationship quality.” They found people who laugh more together often report feeling closer to and more supported by each other. They have even followed these dynamics through to note improved relationship longevity.
To take this idea further, another leadership expert notes: “You laugh with the people you trust.” He also indicates that humor is a “multipurpose leadership skill that should be used often to reduce stress... increase group cohesiveness, and impact organizational culture.”
Fun is important for building healthy, high-performing organizations.
Why stop with a select few teams? If you can solidify a sense of fun and enthusiasm in your key leadership groups, the research shows it pays to scale that spirit across your entire organization. In the recent book Work Made Fun Gets Done, the authors found that 81% of employees at companies ranked as “great” in company surveys described their work experience as fun. The authors go on to note that fun at work “has a positive impact on engagement, creativity, and purpose—increasing employee retention and reducing turnover.”
Furthermore, I have found in my consulting work that organizations ultimately become shadows of their leaders. Employees tend to adopt the attitudes and behaviors of the leaders they work most closely with. If you are in the privileged position of leading others, it is critical you take the time to reflect on the shadow you cast through your words and actions and ask how it aligns with the shadow you want to cast. Leaders who have fun together tend to make it OK—or even an expectation—for colleagues to find ways of enjoying our work.
A world of more fun and meaningful work starts with you.
Imagine a world where humor and fun become central to leading as opposed to being an afterthought. You can make a difference by experimenting to keep the feeling alive.
Reflect on these key questions: Why did you get into your work? What do you love about it? What helps you get the most enjoyment out of your interactions with teammates, customers and clients?
Get back in touch with that spark and watch what happens to your relationships and performance. Maybe you can even be the one to ask your team: Are we having fun yet?
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