ABSTRACT
Humor plays a fundamental role in social interaction. In this chapter, I introduce the management of humor in the workplace as critical for inclusive leadership. In order to foster participation, contribution, and belonging, managers and leaders need to know about different types of humor, some of the theories about the how and the why of humor, and most importantly, some tips about how to manage humor in order to create inclusion at the workplace. Humor can be aggressive and used to dominate, channel prejudice, dehumanize, or ridicule. Alternatively, humor can be affiliative and used to nurture healthy relationships and cohesion in groups. Humor has been shown to be a central component for leadership effectiveness and for team performance, so in today’s diverse workforce, it is imperative that leaders to know when humor builds and when it destroys. Humor has a dark side with dramatic negative effects leading to discrimination, which harms the individual, the group, and the organization. An inclusive leader needs to prevent prejudice seeping into the organization disguised as humor and to manage humor actively. The consequences of some jokes are just not funny, and inclusive leaders need to make sure that these types of jokes do not enter the workplace.
