Failure Increases Empathy
Failure has been called “The Great Teacher.” One of the greatest benefits of failure is that it teaches us empathy. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when he was imprisoned by the Nazi’s wrote, “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” Failure gives us more empathy for others who have experienced similar setbacks. In the form of an equation it would look like this: Humility + Compassion = Empathy.
Have you noticed that most people are not naturally humble and compassionate? These qualities either have to be modeled to us as we grow up or else we learn them the hard way.
When I was younger I was neither humble nor compassionate. In those early days my co-workers had two nicknames for me, “steamroller” and “gundalateral.” I was “steamroller” because I could get things done fast but failed to take into consideration the people who were unfortunate enough to be in my path. I was “gundalateral” because I thought I knew what was best and didn’t seek the opinion of others. It was one of my first bosses that gave me that name. It was later that I learned the hard way, through a series of failures, to be empathetic.
"When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems." Stephen Covey
