The Sword of Truth and the Shield of Empathy

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

– Emma Lazarus

At its very heart empathy in real life terms is more than understanding someone’s struggle – it is not just feeling sorry for them, but doing something beyond a philosophical outlook. To feel sorry as one watches sailors drown whilst standing close to the only rowing boat at the shore is in truth mindless.

Just to be able to Communicate and to Reason does not mean you are Empathic:

To Look but not See

To Hear but not Listen

To Talk but not Think

To Know without clear Knowledge

To Promise only to Deceive

To be Sorry without Regret

As I look with growing fear at a world that is driven by too many Mindless Self – Possessed power players, grandstanding as ‘leaders’, I worry for the children of the world.

How can it be that people may carry for example Nazi Flags through the streets of an American City and not be called out for what they are by those who are meant to keep the country safe, fair, balanced and a global centrifugal force for the assembly of many nations. Is it not true that at its heart the Constitution of the USA was founded upon the promise of freedom and justice? At its very heart it is about understanding and delivering that all important beacon for any human, HOPE .

How can anyone say they are a citizen of Humanity when they are :

Willfully Unkind,

Willfully Thoughtless

Willfully Unseeing,

Willfully Unlistening

Unfortunately there are those who are superb at Communication and Reasoning yet they are not Empathic and thus they cannot be graced with the accolade of “Leader”.

Leaders they are not: Powerful Shifters, that is what they really are. They are able to manipulate, often emboldened by the weakness of others.

It is certainly true that we are not born to hate. We are taught :

We learn to fear.

We learn to deny others.

Considered Persuasion through Careful Listening and Co–creation, powered by authentic motivation and ‘us’ beyond ‘me’ are the hallmarks of successful communities, companies and well intentioned collectives.

Only those who are able to go beyond themselves; those who are able to understand, embrace and show a better way can be called Leaders, no matter their age, their social setting, their color or creed.

Leaders understand the power and the pain of finding the truth and making it a force for clarity and healing purpose.

Great Leaders, in the classrooms, the boardrooms, the school yards, the playing fields and the many corridors of life and living know that to understand is the start, but to co–create, to embrace and to gather is what separates those that shout for attention and those that attend with care.

That to me is True Empathy.

In the end your truth and your accountability determines who you are.

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This blog was originally posted on Alexei Orlov's website here.