Why Fun Is a Leadership Power Tool Women Can’t Afford to Ignore

By Ellen Duffy-Lueb for Global Woman Magazine

In the demanding landscape of women’s leadership, conversations about energy tend to revolve around structure, discipline, boundaries, and resilience. Yet one of the most transformative sources of energy is the one we overlook the most: fun. Real fun. The kind that brings joy, lightness, and humanity back into our lives.

The Power of Fun: An Unexpected Energy Booster for Women Leaders

In the demanding world of women’s leadership, conversations around energy often focus on discipline, structure, boundaries, and resilience. We talk about protecting our schedules, managing our workload, and setting limits in order to stay balanced and prevent burnout. These are all essential. But there is another ingredient, surprisingly simple and often overlooked, that can profoundly elevate our energy and sustain our wellbeing: Fun. Not the forced, productivity-optimized kind of fun that we sometimes turn into a task. But real fun. Lightness. Play. Joy. Moments that make us feel human again, not just responsible. It’s an energy source we underestimate, especially as high-achieving women navigating work, family, teams, and the long list of invisible responsibilities that rest on our shoulders. When life becomes one long checklist, seriousness takes over — and joy quietly slips to the bottom of the list. Bringing it back isn’t indulgent. It’s smart, strategic, and deeply restorative.

When Life Gets Serious, Energy Drains Faster

Women leaders are masters at getting things done. We drive projects forward, hold space for others, anticipate needs, and carry the emotional labour that often goes unseen. But this strength can come with a side effect: We get caught in functional mode. Task after task, responsibility after responsibility, we push through — efficient, capable, and dependable. But in that constant doing, something vital gets lost: a sense of lightness and connection with the things that make us feel alive. And over time, this makes energy harder to access.
Seriousness is heavy. Responsibility is heavy. Even purpose, beautiful as it is, can become heavy if it’s never balanced with joy.

Fun breaks that cycle. It interrupts autopilot. It resets the nervous system. And it reminds us: There is space for enjoyment, not just obligation.

Two Ways to Bring Fun Back Into Leadership and Life

There are two accessible ways to bring joy back into our days: both powerful, both realistic, even for women who feel they “don’t have time” for fun.

1. Weave Fun Into What You’re Already Doing

This approach doesn’t require extra time, just intention. A few small moments can be enough to shift your energy:

• turning on uplifting music while working through emails
• adding a touch of humour to lighten a tense moment
• taking a short movement break to reset
• bringing a spark of creativity into a routine task

These touches may seem small, but they can make the day feel noticeably lighter.

2. Create Space for Fun With No Practical Purpose

This is the one many women resist because we’re conditioned to be efficient and purposeful. But allowing time for joy — purely for the sake of joy — reconnects us to who we are underneath all our roles.

It can be as simple as:

• spending time on a hobby that energises you
• saying yes to a spontaneous outing
• enjoying a moment of laughter with a friend
• dancing in your kitchen
• reading purely for pleasure

These experiences don’t just feel good, they restore energy in a deep and lasting way.

Why Fun Makes Us Better Leaders

Fun isn’t a distraction from leadership; it strengthens it. When women intentionally invite small moments of joy into their day, everything shifts:

• Creativity rises, the mind becomes more flexible and open.
• Stress dissolves faster, fun helps the nervous system reset.
• Interactions become more connected, lightness adds warmth, patience, and presence.
• Perspective sharpens, joy lifts the emotional weight of responsibility.

Fun becomes a performance enhancer: fuelling resilience, supporting emotional balance, and helping women lead from a place of energy rather than depletion. A wonderful resource on this topic is Katherine Price’s book The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again, which offers both insight and practical approaches for weaving more joy into everyday life. Joy is not a luxury. Fun is not frivolous. Play is not childish. They are energy sources. They are resilience tools. They are leadership skills. So ask yourself today: Where can I bring in just a little more fun?
Either woven into what you’re already doing, or created intentionally as a moment that’s simply for you. Your energy will thank you. And so will your leadership.