Humor can reduce stress, strengthen bonds, and completely shift the mood of your environment. It’s so important that it belongs as a core value in your practice culture. Companies that value a good laugh, in fact, often achieve financial and industry success. Southwest Airlines, for example, encourages its flight crew to be funny. The company’s dedication to a humorous corporate culture earned it a ranking of #14 on Fortune’s 2021 List of the World’s Most Admired Companies, and a ranking of #3 in its industry. But using humor successfully can be tricky. To work for you rather than against you, humor must always uplift, never put down. I call this kind of humor “high performance” and like any other workplace skill, high-performance humor features defined competencies.