No, there is no joke here. By “sense of humor,” we don’t mean you walk around telling jokes, slapping people on the back, and laughing all the time. But, yes, you can tell a joke or funny story — just like everyone else — which is part of this characteristic. If you have a good sense of humor, you can be funny sometimes, but more important is how you approach your daily work and all activities. It’s how you observe things or grasp situations. Your “mental disposition” is to attribute the level of seriousness to a matter starting with the “less” rather than the “most” seriousness.
Your thought pattern is, if we spend a third of our life at work, let’s not be miserable all the time we’re here. Yes, there will be some misery along the way, but we don’t have to “live” there. This disposition allows you to accept and appreciate the good things that happen rather than constantly dwelling on the draconian mental assaults that sometimes befall us.
Don’t get me wrong. Because you have a sense of humor doesn’t mean you can’t be serious. You certainly can — and will be, but when people see you get serious — they take note and pay attention.
Good humor allows us to laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves so seriously. People would much rather be around others who have a good sense of humor than those who don’t. I’ve been around plenty of people with a good sense of humor who were not leaders, but I cannot remember ever being around a remarkable leader who didn’t have a good sense of humor.
This is the last characteristic on the list of 17 I have to offer in this series. It is, by no means, the last characteristic that good leaders exemplify. Everyone has a list of characteristics they think leaders should have, and some lists are better than others. The 17 characteristics we have covered remain an excellent place to start to attain the moniker of “Good Leader.”
Good luck!