Coaching, Mentoring and Managing: A Coach Guidebook

people laugh, their mistakes and setbacks are easier to tolerate and

more easily overcome.

Humor ... especially when it comes from the top down ...

communicates a calming message that permeates the very fabric of

a team. The message is: People aren’t perfect and we don’t expect

it. Humor suggests an informal, people-focused organization

where individuals on a team matter and where innovation is

valued. In a wonderful way, humor acknowledges that we are all

in the same leaky boat together, bailing out the water as fast as we

can. Sure, our boat will make it from shore A to shore B, but only

because we are a well-knit team. And only because we bail the

“leaks” with humor!

When was the last time a surprise “over the hill” party was

given for someone in your group? How about a “dubious

achievement” award (i.e., an “I’m allergic to Mondays” poster)?

Have you had a pizza party during the lunch hour where

admittance requires the individual to tell a joke upon entering? Do

you encourage play? Your team needs your endorsement in order

to set in motion the freeing element of humor!

Edwin Whipple said, “Wherever you find humor, you find

compassion close by.” It won’t happen without your help, so let

your team know you endorse humor. More than a character trait,

humor is an art that requires practice.

Case Study ...........................................................................................................

After two years of concept development and testing ... plus

several presentations ... Charlotte Dunn obtained an SBA loan to

produce a line of specialty posters. Key to getting the loan was the

fact that she already owned and operated a moderately profitable

poster line directed to the teen-age market. The new line was to be

targeted to adults for offices and homes and would be sold over

the Internet.

With the loan money, Charlotte added four new people to her

eight-person staff and retained a new sales rep team to market her

products. Unlike the posters Charlotte marketed to teens, the new

adult posters had no words, only pictures. Some were scenic, some

were abstract, but all communicated a fine-art feel ... at poster

prices. Limited testing revealed support for Charlotte’s idea.

Coaching, Mentoring and Managing

2

Laugh at your

weaknesses and

you’ll never run

out of things to

laugh about.

C A S E S T U D Y