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In this article, we draw on audio-recordings of authentic job interviews to explore the various ways in which candidates use humour to establish, confirm or claim co-membership with the recruiter. We not only analyze whether these humorous comments are successful, but also how candidates use humour to construct various identities. We found that the humorous comments are all oriented to the construction of personalized – instead of professional – identities and that their success could be related to the various discourse types in which they occur. Overall, humour may contribute to the construction of multi-dimensional identities for candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how power relations are enacted and negotiated in the largely under-researched non-hierarchal leadership constellation of distributed leadership. Drawing on more than 300 hours of audio-recorded interactions of a corpus of interdisciplinary research group meetings, we analyse how members of a team that does not have an officially assigned leader or chair regularly draw on teasing, thereby enacting and reflecting, as well as sometimes challenging existing power relations. Findings show that the highly ambiguous discursive strategy of teasing enables all members, regardless of their official role or position, to contribute to the team’s leadership performance. However, findings also show that although teasing has the potential to facilitate more collaborative approaches to leadership, the ways in which power is actually enacted in our data resembles more traditional hierarchical leadership constellations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norms of what are considered appropriate and polite ways of communicating are situated in the cultural context in which interactions occur. This crucial role of culture is particularly apparent in a workplace setting: norms regarding appropriate ways of integrating the competing discourses of power and politeness at work are strongly influenced by wider cultural expectations. Drawing on naturally-occurring data recorded in business meetings in New Zealand and Hong Kong, and using Locher and Watts' (Journal of Politeness Research 1: 9–33, 2005) framework for analyzing relational work, this paper explores how leaders from two white-collar organizations achieve their various workplace objectives while simultaneously adhering to culture-specific politeness norms and expectations. The analysis focuses on just one of the discursive strategies which these leaders employ when performing relational work: humour. This strategy constitutes a versatile and multi-functional tool which assists leaders in achieving their various leadership objectives. It is particularly useful for building rapport with subordinates and mitigating the impact of negatively affective speech acts. The analysis explores how the leaders' use of humour is consistent with culturally specific politeness norms negotiated in the leaders' community of practice; and how by drawing on it the leaders also meet cultural expectations concerning the enactment of effective leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Workplaces constitute important sites where individuals construct and negotiate their various social identities. And one of the most crucial sites where this identity construction takes place is in working groups (which often form communities of practice). Over time, these groups may develop a shared repertoire of linguistic norms on which members regularly draw when interacting with each other. Drawing on over 40h of authentic discourse data, this paper illustrates how three leaders construct their professional identities by using teasing humour in ways that exploit the specific discursive norms that characterise their respective working groups. Teasing comprises a valuable component of the linguistic repertoire negotiated among group members. This discourse strategy not only constitutes a prime means for identity construction but also assists the leaders in achieving their various workplace objectives. A comparison of the ways in which the leaders use teasing humour indicates substantial pragmatic differences in their choice of teasing style. These differences reflect, contribute to and reinforce the normative communicative behaviours which characterise the leaders’ working groups. By systematically drawing on the discursive style developed in their respective community of practice, the leaders “do leadership” in ways that are considered appropriate and normative in their workplace. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Communication not only constitutes one of the crucial aspects of leadership performance, but leadership can productively be viewed as a communication process. Humour is one of the prime means which enables leaders to achieve their various transactional as well as relational objectives. This article aims at exploring some of the ways in which women leaders make use of this particularly versatile discursive strategy in order to enhance their leadership performance while also resolving the challenges of being the 'odd girls out' in a predominantly masculine work environment. Drawing on authentic discourse data collected in two New Zealand organizations, and pursuing a discourse-analytical approach, this article illustrates that women leaders skilfully employ humour to portray themselves as effective leaders while at the same time negotiating and performing their gender identities in a masculine domain. Findings also indicate the advantages of a discourse-analytical approach for an assessment of the complexities of the leadership process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the ways in which leaders in ethnically diverse workplaces in New Zealand construct themselves as effective leaders in interaction with subordinates, whilst also taking account of the politeness norms of their specific workplaces. Case studies of two leaders, one from a Pākehā and one from a Māori workplace, illustrate that shared ethnic values and attitudes impact on the behaviour of all members of the leaders’ communities of practice. The analysis of meeting openings and the use of contestive humour demonstrate that what is considered appropriate behaviour in one organisational context, and what is perceived as constituting polite behaviour by group members, may be considered inappropriate and even impolite by members of another organisation. By behaving in ways that are in accordance with the norms developed in their ‘ethnicised’ communities of practice, leaders and other organisational members reinforce, maintain and shape these politeness norms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite its status as the global game, football has been noted for having problems with racism, and yet relatively little research has actually looked at this topic from a discourse analytical perspective. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the use of racial humour in a German male under-19 football team. Drawing on audio-recordings of interactions among the players on the sideline and substitutes’ bench during, before and after football matches and training, as well as interviews with players, and team observations, we analyse and critically discuss some of the ways in which team members make humorous comments about specific racial, ethnic or national groups when constructing and expressing team membership and negotiating their own and others’ identities within the team. Findings illustrate that, on the one hand, team members express their appreciation of the cultural diversity within their team in an attempt to maintain or enhance team cohesion, but on the other hand, they often use racial humour to create distinctive subgroups thereby fragmenting the team and assigning and foregrounding racial identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]