You know you are still carrying the scars of workplace bullying when a speech about kindness by an Illinois Governor brings a tear to your eye.
Earlier this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave Northwestern University graduates practical advice he learned from some of his favourite characters on the TV show The Office.
At one point he quoted Dwight Schrute, who once said: “Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.”
“The best way to spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel,” Pritzker told graduates.
“When we see someone who doesn’t look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us—the first thought that crosses almost everyone’s brain is rooted in either fear or judgment or both. That’s evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things we aren’t familiar with.
“In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway. Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges.
I’m here to tell you that when someone’s path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct. They never forged new mental pathways to overcome their own instinctual fears. And so, their thinking and problem-solving will lack the imagination and creativity that the kindest people have in spades.”
“Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true—the kindest person in the room is often the smartest,” Pritzker said.
As he spoke, a cruel boss sprang immediately to mind. There have been a few awful ones, but he’s right, the cruel one never forged mental pathways to overcome her fears and chose bullying as her defense.
Part of me pities her and I often think how lonely it must be to live that way.
But I also loathe her, even years later, for the nasty way she treated me and others who worked for her.
And, a bit like the Carly Simon song, if that woman still follows my blog and thinks this post is about her … she’s right.
As an aside, the Chicago Sun Times reveals that according to the governor’s office Pritzker didn’t know one of the stars of the show would actually be there in person until after his speech was written.
Actor Steve Carell was in the audience to celebrate his daughter’s graduation from the university.
The pair met briefly afterwards and Carell congratulated him on the speech.
How sweet is that?
Song of the day: Carly Simon “You’re so vain”
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