When Empathy is Not The Right Response

Gentler community members sometimes put pressure on leaders to make bad calls; here's what they're missing.

Your community needs sheepdogs*. Sheepdogs are people who can set boundaries to protect the sheep from the wolves.

Sheep sometimes judge the sheepdogs for being too aggressive, exclusionary, or unkind, for missing the nuances of someone's bad behavior, or for failing to offer someone enough chances.

Here's why they're often wrong.

While well-intended, an…