The Great Asshole Fallacy
Was he really an a-hole?<p>It&#x27;s hard for many people to fathom different environments, but sports, sometimes startups, the Army for example ... different communication styles.<p>Even mild &#x27;Military Communication&#x27; would make many people uncomfortable, because of the almost total lack of emotional empathy in most scenarios. But - it works, really well. To the point that some people (maybe myself included) feel that we should all learn to be a little more in control of our emotions and less &#x27;needy&#x27; of our peers and managers.<p>When a manager tries too hard with empathy frankly is feels patronizing, like I&#x27;m a child or diva whose ego needs to be managed. I feel that it&#x27;s coddling, and it shouldn&#x27;t be needed with professionals, other than the very occasional kudos and only when warranted.<p>There are instances of Jordan in public life being a &#x27;real jerk&#x27; ... and maybe some instances of him doing that on the court - but this is not unreasonable for such a long career.<p>Also, here is a good example: Pippin seemed nice, but then famously refused to go on the court once after he didn&#x27;t like the coach&#x27;s call. Some might argue that this is the absolute height of arrogance and jerkoffness, because it&#x27;s the most self-centered thing possible. I don&#x27;t think Jordan ever did this.<p>I watch junior Hockey players get reamed out by their coaches after the 1st period, and they&#x27;re just utterly calm, it&#x27;s just words to them.<p>We need to contextualize what we consider to be real arrogance from merely more aggressive communication or communication that is assertive and lacking in emotional empathy.<p>After watching the special, I&#x27;m not so sure if Jordan was an asshole. Obviously self-centered, and assertive, but that&#x27;s not being an asshole. He was also one part of a unit of other types of characters that seemed to blend.