The case for CEOs who can laugh at themselves

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Key takeaways

A sense of humor and vulnerability are increasingly recognized as vital traits for effective CEOs.
Supermicro named former Western Digital finance chief Mark Long as its new CFO.
JPMorgan blocks external AI agents from accessing customer accounts over security concerns.

The incident was unfortunate, and a bit embarrassing, but it also gave Advaithi and me an opportunity to talk about being vulnerable and her decision to speak publicly about battling breast cancer as a CEO. The mood in the room was warm and supportive, and our interview had more moments of levity than I’d anticipated when we first sat down.

I thought about that when watching Mark Zuckerberg wince on John Collison’s Cheeky Pint podcast while awkwardly sipping a pint of Guinness. It’s genuinely funny, and I’ve had a similar reaction when trying the beer in Ireland. (“That’s just my face,” Zuckerberg replied on X after the clip went viral.)

The role of humor in leadership

I think one of the underappreciated traits of leadership these days is a sense of humor. Richard Branson has long had it, as has Warren Buffett. Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook often pokes fun at himself, replacing his last name with an Apple logo after President Trump called him “Tim Apple” during a White House meeting and mocking himself for posting a blurry iPhone photo a decade ago.

Humor is a useful tool in any public role. ADP CEO Maria Black and I laughed onstage during the summit about what our Gen Z kids said during the recent Fortune CEO Initiative “generations” dinner. Lumen’s Kate Johnson and EY’s Janet Truncale joked about their first meeting at the Business Roundtable. And Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO who just launched Dazzle AI, has a wry take on some of the men now spouting doomsday rhetoric in Silicon Valley.

As a student at the University of Nairobi, I had an opportunity to write speeches for Mostafa Tolba, the then-executive director of the United Nations Environment Program. His only instruction when writing my first speech about desertification at a conference for the homeless was to “make it funny.” I worked through the night, trying to come up with jokes about climate change and the homeless. Really. Dr. Tolba laughed because they were so bad and I’d clearly misconstrued his instructions. “No, Diane. Don’t joke about serious subjects,” he told me. “Joke about me.” Before we can connect to solve tough problems, he explained, we have to connect as human beings. Good advice that’s stuck with me ever since.

Top leadership news

Supermicro named former Western Digital finance chief Mark Long as CFO, effective immediately, nearly two years after committing to replace longtime finance chief David Weigand. Long joins as the company faces fallout from a $2.5 billion smuggling case and a co-founder’s arrest.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said on an earnings call that the bank blocks external AI agents from accessing customer accounts due to security risks. A bank spokesperson told Fortune that JPMorgan supports secure, customer-authorized data sharing but rejects agents who try to access accounts using customers’ banking credentials.

University of Illinois professor Rakesh Kumar told Fortune that U.S. chip export controls have backfired by encouraging China to develop its own semiconductor industry. He said Chinese AI models are approaching U.S. performance despite the restrictions, though China’s chip workarounds still face cost and efficiency disadvantages.

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