From the course: Leading with a Growth Mindset

Clearing out unconscious bias

From the course: Leading with a Growth Mindset

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Clearing out unconscious bias

- Inclusive teams accomplish remarkable success by recruiting and hiring talent, not because they necessarily fit the culture, but because they add to it. Often, the primary barrier to building an inclusive team is unconscious bias, or social stereotypes that tend to cloud our judgment. Also called implicit bias, unconscious bias refers to attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes that occur subtly outside our conscious awareness and affect our understanding, actions, and decision-making in an unconscious way. Ultimately, the onus is on your leadership team to create a top-down culture shift that encourages a deeper awareness of unconscious bias across the organization. How does a growth mindset help you regulate and start to clear up any limiting beliefs? It goes back to being mindful. You have to be aware of your thoughts and beliefs in order to change them. So when you notice a negative stereotype or generalization stirred up about someone, pause and ask yourself these three questions. Is this thought true or is this an assumption? Why do I think this is true? How do I know this is true? Let me tell you a story of a manager who, by cleaning up his own bias buried deep in his subconscious, led to the removal of limiting beliefs that were present in his organization. Dan, a city manager, which is basically the CEO of a town or city, found himself facing his own unconscious bias during the hiring and onboarding process for his new chief finance officer. After going through an extensive search process, Dan felt he had found the best person for the job. However, during the recruitment process, he recognized that he was questioning himself and wondering if this candidate, a black woman in her early thirties, would be respected by her peers, a group of 40- to 60-year-old white men who had years of government experience. As soon as Dan picked up on those subtle thoughts that were rising to the surface, he caught himself and realized that they were unfair and blinding him from making a good decision. In front of him was a candidate who had impressive qualifications, not to mention the insight and the skills needed to lead this sector forward. She was hands-down the best, the brightest, and the most qualified for the job, regardless of her age, gender, or race. Because Dan was willing to step back and reevaluate his decision-making, he was able to make a clear and fair choice when selecting the right person for the job. When cultivating a growth mindset, you must be willing to identify your limiting beliefs, the limiting beliefs you hold over yourself and others. Dan was enthusiastic about this candidate and truly believed in the value that she would bring to their team. However, not everyone shared his enthusiasm. At first, they wanted to go around the new young female leader and not get her buy-in when submitting a proposal or a project. They would circumvent the process and go straight to Dan. At first, he would simply sign off on whatever paperwork crossed his desk, but when he realized that they were deliberately going around their new boss, he made a conscious decision to address their unconscious bias. He shifted his thinking from what was easiest to what was right. And from that point moving forward, whenever someone would bring a document without her signature, Dan would remind them to go through the proper channels and point them back in her direction to get her approval first. He used these moments as opportunities to demonstrate the trust and value he has for his CFO. Whether we like to admit it or not, each of us maintains unconscious beliefs about different groups of people, and when left unmanaged, these beliefs can be harmful to the overall health of an organization. The culture will suffer, productivity will be impacted, and creativity will be stifled if you're not intentionally creating an inclusive environment that welcomes differences. Interrupting a quick judgment by being self-reflective provides a mindful moment for you to challenge your perception of a group or individual. The more you shed light on things that challenge you, the more you're growing and the more inclusive you will be.

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