Over the course of my NHL career as a player I always sensed that when teammates were having fun and laughing together, the TEAM glue seemed to have extra strength. Then I read Daniel Goleman's book Primal Leadership and the science seemed to line up with my experience. The authors of Primal Leadership share a significant study from Yale University which finds that among working groups, cheerfulness and warmth spread most easily.

Laughter, in particular, highlights the power of the open-loop in operation. Unlike other emotional signals which can be feigned, laughter is largely involuntary. In a neurological sense, laughing represents the shortest distance between two people because it immediately interlocks the limbic systems. This immediate, involuntary reaction might be called a limbic lock. Laughter in the workplace signals trust, comfort and a shared sense of the world.
So with that in mind enjoy...

Ronald Reagan had a favorite story that  always made him chuckle as he told it. Reagan tells of a young newspaper photographer in the LA area who was sent on assignment to get aerial photos of a large bush-fire not far from the city. His boss told him to get to the local airport as soon as he could where a small plane would be waiting for him. He hurried off to the airport and hopped on the small plane which contained a young pilot. They took off and the newspaper photographer pulled out his large camera and asked the pilot to veer over towards  the fire  so he could get the photos that he needed. In lihgt of this new information, with a frightened look on his face the young pilot said, "You mean you aren't the flight instructor?"

Dr. Robert Cialdini always reminds us that "It's what we do before what we do that counts." Before we compete hard with the players on our team it seems wise to spend time building the relational glue, laughing and enjoying each other a little to fill the emotional/relational bank account before we ask for a withdrawal.