Two weeks ago, millions of people watched Mark Zuckerberg take a sip of Guinness, grimace, and push the pint away. His reply was four words. If you want to know how to be funny at work as a leader, start there.

What happened

On the Cheeky Pint podcast, hosted by Stripe co-founder John Collison, the Meta CEO took a sip of Guinness, grimaced, hesitated, and set the pint as far from himself as he could. A 12-second clip of it drew somewhere between 5 and 7 million views on X, depending on the outlet. One viewer joked that he looked like he was trying human food for the first time.

Then Zuckerberg replied on X: “That’s just my face.” IBTimes and SmartCompany have the details.

Four words

I am not here to judge Zuckerberg, his company, or his taste in beer. I am here for those four words.

Think about how that could have gone. Silence while the jokes piled up. A statement from the comms team. A post explaining that he actually likes Guinness. He did none of it. He took the joke, owned it, and moved on.

That is emotional awareness in public. The trigger is millions of strangers laughing at your face. The emotion is embarrassment. Then comes the half second where you choose the response.

How to be funny at work: three rules

You do not have to be a comedian. Here is how to be funny at work without it costing you anything.

• Start with yourself. Aim the joke at your own mistake, not at the team’s. A typo, a bad guess, a plan that flopped. Say it before someone else does.
• Never at your people. Humor aimed at your own mistake builds trust. Humor aimed down breaks it, and nobody forgets which one you did.
• Keep it short. His reply was four words. Explaining a joke kills it, and so does explaining yourself.

In the Teams, we ribbed each other constantly. Everyone got it, usually for the mistake they had just made. It was not cruelty. It was how a platoon told the truth under stress and stayed close. The men I trusted most could take the joke. The ones who could not were the ones I watched.

A team laughs at itself only when it feels safe.

Apply it this week

1. Pick one small, harmless miss. A bad guess, a typo in the all-hands, a joke that flopped.
2. Say it first, with a smile. Tell your team before anyone else does. Keep it to a sentence or two.

The next time the room laughs at you, remember the four words. Then give them the laugh. That is how to be funny at work and still be the one they follow.

Keep your eyes on the target. — Errol