“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.”
– Daniel H. Pink, author
And a lack of empathy makes the world a less-better place. Maybe I am getting soft in my old age, but I find myself feeling more than ever. A lack of empathy in business makes for a less engaged and fulfilled workforce. A lack of empathy in relationships makes for one-sided emptiness. And, in team sports, among the most rabid fans, a lack of empathy betrays a lack of depth, intelligence and perspective.
My beloved Green Bay Packers frittered away a “sure-thing” today and lost the NFC Championship game. Many fans have taken to social media and barstools and viciously attacked a young tight end that fumbled away the on-side kick that would have ended the game, had he caught the ball.
Brandon Bostick is a 25-year old kid. He’s not making “millions of dollars” as some have suggested, rather he earned $405,000 — closer to the 2nd-year-player minimum than to even a single million.
Packer fans are upset and sad and frustrated. And tomorrow, we’ll all go off to our jobs and probably make a mistake or two.
I wish Brandon Bostick could be there when we do. And, while he’d be tempted to say that we “suck,” or that we’re “idiots,” or “no-talent losers,” I bet he wouldn’t. Because, on a more public stage than any of us can ever imagine, he’s been there, done that.
And I bet it hurts him a lot more than it does us.
For what it’s worth, I hope that next year, Aaron Rodgers throws the Super Bowl winning touchdown to a pressed-into-action 3rd year tight end, and that Brandon Bostick trots over, hand the ball to the referee and “acts like he’s been there,” because he has, and none of us ever will.
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