Once Abraham Lincoln was giving a speech when he was interrupted. “You’re two-faced!” a heckler yelled from the crowd. Lincoln responded, “if I had two faces, do you really think that I’d choose to wear this one?” Lincoln understood that using humor could disarm his enemies.
Leaders with a sense of humor are perceived as 27% more admired and motivating than leaders who don’t crack a joke. Their teams are more likely to solve a creativity challenge and 15% more engaged. A dad joke can help you get paid. So when you’re trying to close the deal, tell your counterpart “My final offer is X and I’ll throw in my pet frog.” Adding that lighthearted line at the end of a sales pitch can increase customers’ willingness to pay by 18%, according to multiple studies.
Humor can even help you land your dream job. In a survey of more than 700 CEOs, 98% of them prefer job applicants with a sense of humor and 84% think that somebody with a sense of humor does better work. Dwight Eisenhower said, “A sen
