Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business. We expect our people to maintain high ethical standards in everything they do, both for the firm and in their personal lives.

Goldman Sachs Annual Report 1999

One must remember that every time a national corporation takes a step which is, or appears to be, against the public interest, it reacts on all corporations and is detrimental to our whole system of private enterprise.

Sidney Weinberg, Chairman of Goldman Sachs, 1930 to 1969
(thanks to James Kristie’s “Boards at Their Best” Blog

A few weeks ago I pointed to some remarks by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein as a searing example of the dangers of CEO’s trying to be funny, especially in bad times. Blankfein’s quip that he he was just a banker “doing God’s work,” uttered against the background of his plans to give out billions in bonuses to Goldman executives, set off a firestorm.

Blankfein got the message. First he apologized for doing “things that were clearly wrong,” and said the company would spend $500 million to foster small-business growth. Then, just the other day, he announced that his top executives will not receive cash bonuses this year, instead receiving stock that cannot be sold for at least five years.

And guess what? He made both announcements without even a hint of humor. Good move.

When I’m asked whether CEOs should use humor in a speech, my answer is always, “Be careful.” Humor is very tricky. What works for one audience may backfire with another. Some CEOs can carry off humor well. Others are terrible at it. And in a down economy, humor is even more risky.

If executives do use humor, I tell them the safest form –especially these days–is the self-deprecating variety. Most people get it, and being self-deprecating is a way to break down the barriers between the CEO high up on the podium and the people down there in the audience.

Irony or sarcasm on the other hand…that’s a different story

Consider what happened to Lloyd Blankfein, head of Goldman Sachs. In an interview with the Times of London, he said he was just a banker “doing God’s work.” The Times reported that he said it with “an impish grin,” and I’m sure he meant is as self mockery. But coming from a guy who is make millions (and whose executives are making millions) while millions of people are out of work – it made everyone’s blood boil.

Bloggers and columnists went wild. And I mean wild. Maureen Dowd stuck in this dagger: As far as doing God’s work, I think the bankers who took government money and then gave out obscene bonuses are the same self-interested sorts Jesus threw out of the temple.

So learn from Lloyd and keep the humor in check.