The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias: How To Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams - by Pamela Fuller
Date read: 2021-01-17How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
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Written by the head of HR and other HR Franklin Covey leaders, this book outlines best practices to battle against unconscious biases that cause bias and prevent creating high-performing teams made of diverse employees and ideas. Great for both leaders and non-leaders who are trying to be less bias in how they work or hire talent.
Contents:
My Notes
In the High-Performance Zone, people feel respected, included, and valued, and are able to contribute their best.
In the Limiting Zone, people feel tolerated or ignored.
In the Damaging Zone, that level of bias can go even further to the point of illegality—harassment or abuse.
“Self-awareness” as the intellectual pursuit of introspection. Increased self-awareness can enable us to identify our biases. Building this muscle of self-awareness, in this context, means that we can pause between receiving information and responding to it emotionally. We can take a step away from those feelings to understand why we’re feeling that way and examine if the feelings are productive.
One of my favorite quotes on this topic is from Martina Navratilova, considered one of the best female tennis players of all time. She once said, “Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.”
When people start referring to “us” and “them”—for example, sales versus marketing or acquisitions versus operations—that’s a sure sign that functional bias is getting in the way.
When we’re following our gut instincts, we’re following our reptilian brain, the least evolved part of our brains, the part focused on whether or not we are going to die. These instincts are wired to focus us on avoiding threat and self-preservation, not on logical decision making and critical thinking.
Consider the following as you work to establish psychological safety in your interactions with others, in particular with subordinates or those with less status in the organization: Are we in my office, your office, or a neutral third space? Are we both sitting or standing? If I feel emotional about an issue, have we communicated via email before the conversation to ensure our expectations are clear and we both have the information we need? Have I shared how important this issue is to me and why I take it personally? Is there someone else in the organization I should bring in to support a neutral starting point?
I have found that in order to embrace self-awareness, there are a couple of questions to consider: Give yourself a moment to reflect and ask yourself why. Why did I choose to say that? Why did I think that? Why did that person react in that way? What am I assuming? Are my assumptions based on fact or experiences, or on something less concrete? Furthermore, are they based on someone else’s beliefs or experiences as opposed to my own?
Anchoring bias is the idea that we rely on the first piece of information we see to make decisions. Say your design team presents three options for a new logo. Anchoring bias means we’ll have an automatic preference for the first one we see, regardless of its actual value.
To counter negativity bias, you need to recognize that no two situations are exactly the same, realizing that there are always underlying factors (often unseen) also at play.
“Telling creates dependency; coaching creates capability.”
Attribution bias is the idea that we judge others on their actions, but we judge ourselves on our intent.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes. Including you. —Anne Lamott, bestselling author of Bird by Bird.
As compared to non-meditators, those who meditate are better at self-regulating their thoughts and emotions and focusing on a goal while resisting distractions; they generally perform better on tasks that require sustained attention.
Many organizations have mastered building talent in their own likeness instead of allowing their people to utilize their unique talents and perspectives.
Vernā Myers, vice president of inclusion strategy at Netflix and and founder of the Vernā Myers Company, states it this way: “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Names can be a very powerful thing. It’s probably the one word that people most want to hear, and when we take the time to get it right, we can implicitly communicate to others that they belong.
High empathy alone is too much about the other person. High curiosity alone is too much about me. Connectedness comes with the balance of both.
Mentorship is about skill building, coaching is about strategy, and sponsorship is about reputation.
A confidant is someone you trust implicitly and with whom you can share your thoughts around being on the receiving end of bias or having biases yourself.
Coaches talk to you. Mentors talk with you. Sponsors talk about you.
You may need to separate yourself from the initial news before you respond—and there’s nothing wrong with that. After you’ve listened empathically and the team member knows you understand their point of view, you do not have to address the issue that very moment. It’s completely okay to say, “I need to take some time to think about this. Can we touch base on that again next week?”
Courage isn’t absence of fear; it is the awareness that something else is important. —Stephen R. Covey, bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Author Mary Anne Radmacher once wrote: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’
Start by making a habit of pausing before assigning someone a task—both high-stakes projects that can put a career in high gear and smaller tasks that can slow it down.
As a leader, consider each member of your team and the assumptions you currently hold about them. Do those assumptions impact your decisions or how you react to their ideas? The best leaders are vigilant about challenging faulty assumptions.
What I realized early on was that success as a leader was not so much about what you think of your role, but rather about a full understanding of what others believe about you. If you don’t consciously think through and work to expose those biases, progress will be hampered. Your team must believe in you and your collective mission. But in order to do so, we must bring to the surface and work through biases that perhaps are shaped by our appearance, others’ experiences, hearsay, speculation, a lack of understanding, or some other factor.
Struggling alone can often heighten these less-than-ideal sentiments. Find a counterbalancing presence in your life. What do I mean by a counterbalance? For me, a counterbalancing force has two facets. First, they know you well. Second, they have a perspective different from your own.
To the extent you can, build a new cultural norm that allows you to receive information and then say, “Let me get back to you tomorrow with a response.” Build in time to consider the strategic response.
Organizationally and interpersonally, people usually expect a response immediately in conversations or meetings. To the extent you can, build a new cultural norm that allows you to receive information and then say, “Let me get back to you tomorrow with a response.” Build in time to consider the strategic response.
So much of proactively choosing a response is about being in touch with the emotions the situation is generating in you. What follows is a quick thought path to proactively choose a response and ensure you are aligned to your professional goals: First, ask yourself: What emotion am I feeling about this? Then, ask: What is my professional goal here? Do I want to get more visibility or support for this project? Do I want to be seen as a collaborative colleague? Is this the moment to speak up? Next, ask: What would the most constructive response to this circumstance be that would support the goal? Then, spend some time planning what you can do or say proactively. Based on the complexity of the situation, this can be two to five minutes at your desk jotting down some notes, or a larger strategy session with a trusted friend or coach. Finally, practice the response to refine it and implement it in conversation.
Privilege, if we think of it in that way, is asking, “Where do I have relative seniority or advantage?” then using that influence to lift up others, to be an ally by acting proactively, extending an invitation, teaming up with others, offering support, and serving as a coach, mentor, and sponsor.
“When it comes to this important distinction, the evidence is also clear: women tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored.”
While mentoring can build skill and coaching is focused on career strategy, it is sponsorship that can really accelerate promotion, addressing the deep gaps in diversity at the senior ranks of most organizations around the globe.
Here are some tips for sharing your story in a larger context: Browse viral social media posts for stories of bias that have entered the collective consciousness and sparked real change. What was their positive impact? Share your story on revealing and addressing bias through media that’s appropriate for you. Make it a human story that helps people see you and understand your context and perspective.
You don’t see diversity change in a month, in two months, in six months. You see it in a year, you see it in two years, in five years. That’s how it works. It’s a long game, and very few companies are in it for the long game…. Leaders have to communicate “I’m in it for the long game, and I won’t stop looking at this.”I —Bo Young Lee, chief of diversity and inclusion, Uber
Consider instituting internships and co-op programs, where people work and go to school, to further diversify your applicant pool.
What does your applicant pool look like? What does success on your team look like? Conduct entry interviews to better understand where candidates are learning about the job and what interested them about it—then document the data instead of letting confirmation bias bolster your preconceptions.
Consider the language in the job description. Avoid gendered terms like “rockstar” and “ninja,” sports language like “tackle” and “heavy hitter,” and jargon or acronyms with no meaning outside of your organization. This language can be unintentionally limiting for applicants.
An inclusive onboarding experience is like adding someone to your game of musical chairs: You can’t add someone new without stopping the music and adding a chair. Creating a meaningful experience means slowing down, making adjustments, and including your new hire.I —Sonja Gittens-Ottley, head of diversity and inclusion, Asana.
The best employees can be those who share the same fundamental beliefs and values yet approach issues in unique ways and provide different and fresh perspectives.
As a leader, consider how you can implement a constant feedback loop through bite-size pulse surveys. At the conclusion of a project, the start of a new quarter, or a month into a new role, send your team a two- to five-question survey.
What was your level of engagement in this project? If less than creative excitement, what could I have done to move you up the scale? Did you feel included, valued, and respected? Why or why not? You might choose to use more pointed questions like: Were you satisfied with the outcome of this project? Did you feel that your voice was heard throughout the project? Was your contribution adequately recognized?