One thing we have in abundance in Trinidad and Tobago is humor.

We could be facing hardship, bureaucracy, blackout, or bacchanal—and somehow we still find the punchline.

• We laugh in traffic.
• We buss joke in the middle of grief
• We even make memes out of government missteps and personal tragedy.

“Ting to cry for, we laugh.” It’s not just a saying—it’s our national coping strategy.

But here’s the question for us as leaders, entrepreneurs, and solo professionals:

Are we using that humor as a lever for growth—or just a release valve?

The Stoic philosopher Seneca, in Tranquility of Mind (15.2), reminds us that humor, when used well, is productive. And in Moral Letters (8.1), he talks about our ability to move from noise and distraction toward clarity and virtue.

That’s what I want to offer you today.

Humor isn’t just for survival. It’s a portal.

• A well-placed joke can open up space for truth.
• A moment of levity can clear mental fog and reset a tense team.
• Laughter can help you name the elephant in the boardroom, and in the process—dissolve it.

But it has to go beyond the joke. We must learn to ask:

• What’s the insight beneath the laughter?
• What pain are we masking that deserves to be addressed?
• What misalignment is begging for correction—if we’re brave enough to look?

As leaders, humor is one of the most underused tools for engagement, emotional safety, and transformation.

A Stoic Example: Zeno’s Shipwreck and the Laugh of the Gods

Zeno of Citium—who would later become the founder of Stoicism—was originally a merchant. According to ancient sources, he lost everything in a shipwreck. His cargo, his fortune, and his career at sea vanished in a single, fateful moment.

He ended up in Athens.

What happened next? According to legend, Zeno wandered into a bookseller’s stall and began reading Xenophon’s Memorabilia, a text chronicling the wisdom of Socrates. Moved by what he read, he asked where he could find a philosopher like that.

As the story goes, the bookseller pointed to Crates the Cynic, who happened to be passing by. Zeno became his student and eventually studied under several teachers before developing his own school of thought—Stoicism.

He would later say:

I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered shipwreck.

• He didn’t laugh at his loss flippantly.
• He didn’t wallow in despair either.
• He allowed the disruption to become a redirection.

Your Turn as a Leader

You might not have lost a cargo ship.
But maybe you’ve lost a contract.
Maybe you’ve watched a campaign flop.
Maybe you’ve had a team member ghost you the week of a big launch.

Do you laugh? Yes. But do you also listen?

Every disruption can be a redirection. The laughter can crack you open—but only you can decide what gets planted in the space it clears.

Strategic Reflection Prompt
Where in your business or leadership are you laughing to survive, but missing the invitation to align? What might shipwrecks in your world be trying to reveal?

If you want to build a business (or a team) that uses levity and clarity to grow—let’s talk. We don’t just realign when things go wrong. We realign because we’re ready for what’s next.