To illustrate, Brown asks us to imagine encountering someone who is in a deep, dark hole. Brown says, “Empathy fuels connection,” while “sympathy drives disconnection.” Empathy is feeling with people, she states. Maybe you’ve seen the RSA animated video by best-selling author and researcher Brené Brown, who has studied and written about empathy. “Compassion is an empathic understanding of a person’s feelings accompanied by altruism, or a desire to act on that person’s behalf. “ “Sympathy is feeling concern for someone else, and a desire that they become happier or better off, while empathy involves sharing the other person’s emotions,” according to Psychology Today. Psychologists tell us that empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of another person. We often equate empathy with sympathy or compassion, but there is a difference. Empathy, rather than profit, power or recognition, drives his organization. At a moment’s notice, the article notes, Andrés is ready to jump on a plane to help feed those stricken by disaster.

The quote about empathy comes from a Time magazine story with Andrés on the cover in a chef’s jacket. Much has been written about Andrés’ humanitarian efforts in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and, more recently, in U.S.

McKinsey & Company began a recent article on leading with purpose during the pandemic with a quote from celebrity chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés: “Without empathy, nothing works.” The quote, McKinsey said, “highlights the reasoning behind the organization’s mission: to feed the world by being the first food responders in devastated areas.”

The Wayward Journey by Nathan Jefferson