In Their Shoes
I’ve become a little obsessed. Every night this week I’ve been watching highlights and matches from the opening week of Wimbledon. And you can bet I’ll be glued to it this week too. In fact I just discovered the Wimbledon iphone app. Now I’ll have scores and highlights at my finger tips. Good thing it’s a short week at work… 🙂
I’ve always been a fan of tennis but since I started taking lessons a year ago, my obsession has grown. The more I understand about the game, the more appreciation and respect I have for the players and what it takes to be the leaders of the sport.
Isn’t this true about other areas of life?
The more we know and understand about someone else’s “game” – their role, responsibilities, challenges, etc – the more compassion we have and the greater our appreciation is for their accomplishments.
As someone who aspires to be a great leader, I find myself more and more sympathetic to other leaders as I learn and grow in my leadership. I can remember being in my early 20’s and questioning the decisions and actions of my leaders. Only now being in a similar role with greater responsibilities do I truly understand the pressure of the game they were in.
I could elaborate on this thought, but I won’t for now. There’s another match for me to watch. 🙂
But seriously, where in life have you developed more respect and compassion for someone else because you gained a greater understanding of what it takes to be in their shoes?
Wimbledon has a great history. Borg, McEnroe, Roscoe Tanner, Jimmy Conners, Chris Evert, Martina, and the rest. Bobby Gee Check out my blog
http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
We’ve joined Seven Hills swim/tennis club so you may have to give me lessons sometime.
Regarding your question, I remember distinctly going from being an employee/subordinate to being the boss and realizing how disrespectful I had been to question my previous boss’ authority. It helped me forgive her for a lot of things that she didn’t know I held against her. I think it all revolves around maturity. In my 20’s, I was serious & self-centered and thought I knew it all. In my 30’s, I realized I didn’t know it all and that it wasn’t always about me. Guess the same goes for tennis, you can always learn new things if you’re willing to be teachable.
Certainly pastors as I’ve had to deal with our transition time. Also mothers as I had children. That may be the biggest one. I respect my mom so much more now that I’ve raised three children – not with 100% success as I’d like either!