Wit from a leader

In your own company you may feel comfortable making jokes.  People will listen and they will laugh.

Humor used at the right time in the right measure, can lighten things up and be a workplace lubricant.

But be careful.  Don’t go over the line, and it is so easy to do.

Cracking jokes is one thing, but jokes are not what people need from a leader. And there are many subjects now you have to steer clear from in a workplace.

Wit is another.  Wit can be used to shed light on a serious thing using humor.  But use it sparingly and don’t cross the line.  

When you do cross the line, you look awkward, foolish, or worse.

“Wit is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he does not know how to use it discreetly.” – Michel de Montaigne

I can be witty.  Sometimes I am in a mood and on a roll.  And I think it helps in certain situations.  But I have learned, if I am not sure I should say it, in that company or in that moment, just don’t.  You lose nothing by what you do not say.  But you could make everyone uncomfortable if your words or timing are off the mark.

“Wit is a treacherous dart.  It is perhaps the only weapon with which it is possible to stab oneself in one’s own back.” – Geoffrey Bocca