Two qualities of the best leaders are empathy and compassion, he says. “If you can empathize with the people you are working with,” explains Betchart, “and have compassion for what they are going through, it’s amazing what it brings out of them.”
Performance expert George Mumford, who has worked with Betchart in the past, originally introduced this idea to the NBA in the 90s through Phil Jackson, former coach of the Chicago Bulls.
“Mumford taught Michael Jordan compassion,” Betchart says. The Pistons players would foul him and bump him to throw him off his game, and at first, it worked.
But when Jordan learned to take a breath, Betchart says, “instead of getting angry at the Pistons, he would let it go and think to himself, ‘Hey, empathize with them. This is the only way you can try to beat me. You’re not as good at basketball as me.’ And that allowed him to not lose all his energy.”
Michael Jordan, as well as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, all credit Mumford’s training for their success.
