Get Curious With your Bias as a Leader

As Flawed Leaders, we fundamentally accept our imperfect state in the pursuit of our own growth and as a means to support those around us. As part of that imperfect state lies bias that may consciously or unconsciously affect how we lead and the way we show up in our support.

Bias itself can be thought of as a distortion of our approach or view, one that has been shaped over time through our lived experience and conditioning. This distortion often influences thought processes and decision-making automatically based on this conditioning.

It is important to first come into a place of awareness around how bias may be present in your leadership. The most crucial first step in tackling bias considerations is to allow yourself to take ownership that bias may be present so that you can reflect and own how it may show up for you. When starting with owning the likelihood of bias present, you can work to cultivate presence to the specific ways it is present for you.

Owning that you have bias does not make you a bad leader or a bad person.

It is only when a leader fails to confront the possibility of bias and closes to exploration does the presence of bias begins to taint the capacity to lead well. We all have bias in some form or another and that is okay to admit! How we bring ourselves into awareness to lead more intentionally defines who we are as a leader and a person, not the bias itself.

Bias can show up in many ways and will manifest differently for different people. It may show up in very small ways or could show up in the form of fundamental worldviews. Each type of bias along this spectrum can still greatly affect your capacity to support as a leader and how well your people will feel supported.

Bias can show up in the day-to-day simple things

It can affect everything from how you view your team's scheduling and where people work or when they work, to how you're viewing/defining work ethic and how people show up. It will typically manifest as expectations that pull you into a place of judgment.

For example, if someone prefers to work from home but you would prefer them to work in the office, why is this? Can you get to the heart of why this is important, or is it an expectation that you've created around how work 'should' happen? In these moments where you find yourself at the intersection of frustration + judgment, you can use this as an opportunity to come into a place of awareness to question.

Following this same example, perhaps this bias is shaped by the value you find in your personal working style. Maybe you don't have the space at home to set up a proper workstation, or maybe you prefer to directly interact with people. Is this true for everyone though? While that may support your best work, for someone else those same things that you value may be the distractions holding them back from focus. It is always helpful to lean into an element of compassion, both for yourself and for others, when exploring how bias may be at play to release it.

Day-to-day elements like how we define work ethic and how people show up are typically rooted in deeper cultural conditioning and expectations. Working to come to a place of intention can help support clarity around focusing on Outcomes of the work vs the specifics about how the work happens. There is often bias around how people show up and how we define what hard work looks like. People can be 'hard workers' within time boundaries and without sacrificing their personal life and well-being. What is required is not a shift from them but a release of bias from us as leaders.

Bias can show up in systems and process

The hiring and interviewing process is typically filled with a lot of bias. When leaders screen, they may review resumes and make judgments about how far the commute would be, or amount of experience, or gaps in experience, or worse when elements of race, gender, or identity influence the assessment of capability over actual qualifications.

For example, perhaps as a Leader you would not want a commute more than 15 minutes to the office. To review potential applicants through this lens would insert bias into the selection process that could preclude qualified applicants. While you may not want to commute others may be totally okay with this. Beyond personal preference, there are deeper layers at play. If the office location is in a city center or a more social-economically advantaged area, this type of bias could then limit and restrict access to opportunity for those that cannot afford to live so near but that may be qualified for the work.

The way we as leaders approach providing development and feedback can also be influenced by bias. We are often conditioned with expectations regarding how people show up based on gender. Men are typically given more grace while women can be held to a higher standard. Why is this? How does this bias show up for you? Are there any ways in which you let feedback slide for some people but not for others? Bias in feedback and development can create the conditions where people who are less qualified advance more quickly while those that are qualified advance more slowly because they're held longer under a microscope.

Meetings and how they are facilitated can contain bias. Without structure, it can be easy for the loudest voices to take control, and those with the loudest voices may represent communities and identities that exist in a place of privilege already. For example, there may be someone who is more introverted that has a keen understanding of the topic of the meeting. As a leader, we have a responsibility to recognize our duty to create the space for these voices to have the space to be heard and expressed.

Bias can also show up in how we make decisions and assess value of contributions

As Leaders we often think that our perspective and advocacy is driven strictly by our lived professional experience, and by our own professional growth, and that we have 'the' view. But, since we are human beings, we live in a flawed state and thus are the result of a multitude of other conditioning. We must question the why in everything that we do to find and release the bias at play.

For example, when someone challenges our idea or our approach, what does that response look like? One that is one of defense is often rooted in bias. This can be bias to 'being right', this could be bias that is present because of how the person providing the feedback may be perceived through identity, experience, etc. Again, when frustration + judgment intersect, bias is typically at play.

We must step out from this frustration and judgment to wholly receive the feedback and advocacy in those moments. We must be able to examine the ways in which we may be wrong, try to understand the information that we don't have, and be able to explore the ways in which another position or perspective may be able to add value or just straight up be better. It can be helpful to ask yourself what is at stake, and what happens if you let it go and take the different path.

The positive effects of examining and releasing bias

It is no secret that those of minority identities or those that have more intersectionality of their identities tend to lose out on opportunities, growth, and well-being in life and career. Bias is typically cultivated by the conditioning of the majority perspective, which is typically white, anglo, male in nature, and allows only those identities to shine. When bias can be released, everyone wins because we are able to cultivate a light to shine that makes us all brighter in its glow. By opening yourself up and letting go of bias, you open a path for yourself and those you lead, that creates the conditions for everyone to Grow. Together.