They Just Don't Get It...

and probably never will. After many discussions with the boss about our leadership's level of "emotional intelligence" or empathy for their employees, I am afraid that I may be fighting a losing battle. The question goes back to all of the current philosophy on leadership and corporate culture...if leaders do not possess the quality of empathy then they can never "develop" it, as it is an inborn trait, not a learned skill, and before a good organization can achieve greatness, the leaders must possess a great degree of empathy for those that they lead. So it would appear that if my perceptions are accurate, we are destined to remain mired in mediocrity, lead by a group that does not possess the skills necessary to pull us up out of the muck of average-ness, nor are they able to be sufficiently introspective to see their failing, or honest enough to admit it. I have to confess though, that it may be unrealistic to expect them, or any human being with any sense of ego or pride, to be able to admit to such a foundational shortcoming in their leadership abilities. It does make one wonder though, if that was the case, why they would continue to promote our exploration of these philosophies which, if we whole-heartedly embrace and understand them, will lead us to recognize these shortcomings in the very leaders that are encouraging us to delve into them. Perhaps they are so lacking in empathy that they don't know that they don't have it, because they truly have no concept of what it feels like to have it! If so, then I am most likely fighting a battle that I can never win and the one question that I have to ask myself is whether or not I will ever achieve anything other than keeping things constantly stirred up in a vain attempt to fix something when I have no chance of first convincing them that anything is broken? So maybe, in the final analysis, I am the one that doesn't get it!!!

[Listening to: Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers - Hot Fuss (03:54)]