DON’T FORGET THE FUN

Duda Owner IONOS • May 20, 2015

Leadership is an awesome responsibility, a humbling privilege, a complicated challenge, an exhilarating endeavor, and a noble calling. No genuine leader embraces the task flippantly. Rather, he or she is deeply cognizant of all that goes with the task both today and in the relentless ripples of all future consequences.

For all the above reasons, leadership is taken very seriously, as it should be. Nevertheless, one of the best contributions a leader can make to the team is to make things fun. Gary Kelly (president and CEO of Southwest Airlines) articulates this essential life and leadership lesson in just two short words (“How Did I Get Here?: Gary Kelly” Bloomberg Businessweek , 4/6/15–4/12/15, p. 68):

Have fun.

Yes, the tasks are tough, the schedules are crazy, and the pressures are many. As a leader, you know that. Isn’t that all the more reason to have fun? The life and the leadership you save may be your own.





By James Meadows July 13, 2026
What every front desk professional should know about credit card surcharging
By James Meadows September 7, 2025
Is a college degree still worth the investment? It depends of the path you craft.
By James Meadows August 12, 2025
You need to give serious thought to taming the tiger before you are in its cage.
By James Meadows June 8, 2025
My transparent reflection about my five-year post-layoff experience, how I navigated it, learned through it, and identified some wisdom that might inspire others.
By James Meadows June 29, 2024
The earliest days of this series present fundamentally significant leadership content.
By James Meadows August 22, 2023
What we should expect from fidelity to science.
Honesty, honest,  honestly
By James Meadows August 9, 2023
We explore the overuse or inappropriate use of the words "honest," "honesty," and "honestly." Much of the overuse or inappropriate use of these words is in contexts that intrinsically message the audience that the speaker is not trustworthy. I call the overuse or inappropriate use of these words in this context HONESTY VALIDATORS because the speaker believes they validate the truth being spoken. We need a solution to this problem. My solution is to replace these honesty validators with CLARITY VALIDATORS. Instead of trying to be honest, try to be clear. Replacing "honest," "honesty," and "honestly," with "clear," "clarity," and "clearly," produces significantly more benefit to the speaker and to the audience.
By James Meadows August 7, 2023
It's the real thing alright!
By James Meadows May 30, 2023
Reflecting on 30 years as a PC user.
By James Meadows July 26, 2020
What the Boeing 737 Max crashes teach us about training, corporate culture, and communication.