Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

"Find humor in tense moments."

There's probably nothing more powerful in defusing tense situations, whether with customers, suppliers or workers, than humor.

Keeping in mind that we definitely need to let people know we're attentively listening to them, humor is still a great tool at releasing the air out of tense moments.

Humor doesn't mean attempting to be hilarious or creating a prepared comedy monologue. It could be laughing at ourselves if we did something wrong to create part of the problem; letting people know how dumb we feel. I've seen that work great when people see you not only accept responsibility, but can laugh about the outcome with them.
 
With myself, I've found just talking light about the circumstance without pointing fingers or blame is a great strategy that works with most situations.

When I say talking light, I don't mean, again, ignoring that it's important to the one talking to you, it simply means taking the seriousness the other person takes in the situation and helping to pull them out of it with some spontaneous humor that eases things so that it can than be talked about meaningfully.

Kelleher did this all the time at Southwest (LUV). What it did was cause people to let down their guard and get past venting, so the real reason behind the problem could be taken care of.

We can't underestimate the power of humor. We don't need to have the temperment of Kelleher to make this work for our business or workers, but we do need to remind our people to include it as one of their tools in working with people they encounter on behalf of the business.

What causes tense moments can't be dealt with until the tension is released and people are made ready to talk. Humor is one of the best ways to make that happen.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

Special Event

Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher

The CEO as Brand Guardian

Herb's way

Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky

Have Fun, Make Money

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