This past weekend, I had some work done on Large Marge. Large Marge isn’t my dog, she’s my competition BBQ smoker.
I bought her last June from a guy in Lexington, KY. I have a smaller one that I used to compete with, but it’s just a little too small. Large Marge is much bigger and built on a trailer so I can just hook her up to my truck and head to the competitions. I can easily smoke 20 racks of ribs on her or have enough room to do multiple ribs, pork shoulders chicken thighs, and briskets. I did some modifications but wanted to get some more welding done on the fire box.
Ron, the guy who did the welding is also a full-time Dickson County Sheriff. He’s a big guy and although he looks like someone you don’t want to be a smart ass with if you get pulled over, he’s super nice.
Ron told me about a program the city does where civilians can experience what police officers go through including handling a traffic stop with an uncooperative driver (played by a cop) as well as go into their “shoot house” to experience the confusion police officers face when chasing suspects.
When I mentioned it was a good way to learn empathy, he agreed.
Empathy is our willingness to see a situation from someone else’s perspective. We often confuse that word with sympathy, but it’s totally different. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone. Empathy is seeing a situation the way they do. Ron told me the distinction is critical. A cop will attempt to see your situation from how you see it, but a good cop will not allow sympathy to cloud their judgement.
When I was a dental assistant in the Navy, I had no control over my schedule. If the dentist wanted to work longer, I had too as well. Most days I ran late into my lunch time and of course rarely could go home on time. At no time in the eight years I sat chairside did I ever have a dentist acknowledge this. It was expected of their techs, even though the techs hated it. Empathy would mean a dentist would watch the clock so they wouldn’t make their techs miss lunch or get home late. They all got to leave on time since they never had to sterilize instruments or clean the treatment room.
When was the last time you really looked at what your team does? I know you know their jobs, but what about their pain points? Annoyances? Frustrations? Are there things you do that make their jobs harder? Are you showing them appreciation? The TV show Undercover Boss does this. CEOs go undercover to see their employees from their perspective. Maybe you can do the same this week. The good news is you won’t have to don a fake-looking beard or wig like they do on TV. Just spend some time seeing the job from someplace other than your office.
And while you’re at it, how about the same thing with family or friends outside of work? Have you ever really seen what they experience? Seems like another good opportunity.
What do you think?