The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank

by Michael Kerr

Your culture is your #1 competitive advantage. But here's the rub: Inspiring cultures don't happen by accident. You can't buy, borrow or fake a great culture. You need to be deliberate about building a truly inspiring culture. That’s where The Humor Advantage comes in.

The Humor Advantage is packed with ideas on how you, your team and your entire organization can put humor to work effectively in any business to get the results you need. But it's not just about fun. The Humor Advantage is a serious business book that describes how dozens of inspiring companies from around the world have built healthier, more innovative and more service-driven cultures.

The books offers ideas on how to attract top talent, motivate employees, build a thriving, inspiring culture, reward and recognize employees, communicate more effectively, manage stress, spark creativity and innovation, and deliver customer service that truly rocks! Plus you'll receive access to bonus resources including 52 fun meeting ice breakers, links to videos that leverage the humor advantage, and 20 ways to grow your sense of humor.

Here's what people are saying about The Humor Advantage:

"This book could revolutionize my culture. You pull information, quotes and case studies from all areas of business and at all levels. It takes any business on a fun ride to get their workplace to a happy place with super engaged people and a culture of belonging. I can’t wait for my executives to read this; they'll have a new set of eyes to see what you can actually do in a business to get serious work done with a fun, positive attitude. This is a fire hose of information and value for anyone trying to turn their culture upside down! You nailed it!" Michael Easton, President and CEO Argus Industries

“The business world has been waiting for this book: Hundreds of insights and specific examples of how you can create humor, deliver humor and profit from humor in your business. ‘Funny’ rhymes with ‘money’ for a reason. Michael gets it...and now you will too.” Donald Cooper, MBA, Business speaker

“Wow! Eureka! Light bulbs popping in my brain! The Humor Advantage gives entrepreneurs a barrel-full of creative ideas to accelerate their sales growth while making your business a destination for great employees and ecstatic customers." Jon Schallert, founder, DestinationUniversity.com

"This book is your strategic plan for creating an exceptionally inspiring workplace - do yourself a favor and buy one copy for yourself and another for your boss!” James Robbins, author of Nine Minutes on Monday

“Leveraging The Humor Advantage in your business will drive outrageous bottom line results that will help you laugh all the way to the bank. But that’s not all! At the same time, Michael’s work will leave your corporate culture will be energized and your employee retention high. What else could you ask for? A must-read for any business that wants to attract and keep top talent, engage employees, boost sales and turn customers into passionate, lifelong fans!” Colleen Francis, Sales expert and author of Nonstop Sales Boom.

Genres: Business

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2015

About the author

Michael Kerr is a Hall of Fame international business speaker and motivational speaker who travels the world researching, writing and speaking about inspiring workplaces and how leaders and organizations use humor to drive outrageous results.

Michael is the author of nine books, including:

Small Moments, Big Outcomes: How Leaders Create Cultures That Fuel Extraordinary Results

The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace

The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank

Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire: How to Recruit, Onboard, and Train New Employees to Live Your Culture Out Loud

Reviews

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Kerr was the opening keynote speaker at a pension and benefits conference I attended in the fall. He was entertaining and lively and spoke about Inspiring Workplaces - The Way Work Ought To Be! I won this book by getting up on stage and doing a brief fun dance (!!). I read a lot but mostly on my iPad. As such, I kept meaning to read this book but then it would slip my mind. It's been a while since I've read a real book

"The Humor Advantage" is about the intersection between play and purpose, seriousness and silliness, business and fun. It's about how a healthy sense of humor, passion and fun can help your organization drive outrageous results. It's about building a culture where people look forward to going to work.

The chapters include:

* Humor as a brand advantage - if you build it right, they will come
* Trumpeting success at work
* To be contagious, make your messages outrageous
* Putting humor to work for less stress and more success
* Turning customers into raving fans

At the end of every chapter, Kerr summarizes the key messages and ideas.

Throughout the book there are examples of how companies (large and small) have put humor to work. There are lots of suggestions and ideas such as building a culture of recognition and appreciation, making meetings fun, efficient and effective, brainstorming, the four different styles of humor (and which are appropriate in the office), creating a more relaxed atmosphere, providing more than just good customer service and a lot more. There are lots of stats from surveys and recommendations of books to read.

I liked the writing style and while it's not the same as having Kerr with you in person, his personality, knowledge and enthusiasm come through.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2018/03...

[Ashley Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice on how to keep the workplace fun and how to make yourself brandable through the use of humor.