Biases Matter (We all have ‘em)

When it comes to the phrase “prejudice,” most of us will deny or decry that there is even a hint of it within.  More often than not, this is very true.  But equally true is the fact that within all of us lies unconscious bias, that judgmental decision-making directive that is so subtle, it goes unrecognized.

We would be shocked to hear anyone say that someone is not worthy of a position within a company because of their gender, race or age or any one of the differentiators.  But yet, every day we all make decisions based upon biases that lie buried deeply within our culture and lived experiences.  A woman is chosen over a man for an administrative position because “women are more detail oriented.”   Is that bias?  We choose an individual to add to a work team who matches the race profile of the group because we believe they will “fit in better.”  We hire a person 20 years younger than another candidate because we believe him/her to have more “current” intelligence and relevant knowledge i.e. is smarter.  All things being equal, we make assumptions which are often not correct.  We all have biases.  Some superficial, some very deep.  These emanate from our backgrounds, from our cultural environment, from society that telling us how to think and to choose.

Our job as leaders is to tune in closely to our own biases and question what work we need to do to eliminate erroneous assumptions.  Keeping the playing field level and welcoming all to the table benefits everyone. Is it easy?  No. Do we improve the quality of our teams by inviting all to be heard?  Absolutely.