Everyone Is Biased

Raise your hand if you’ve heard or felt any of these
-Girls aren’t good at Math
-Fat kids aren’t smart
-Older folks can’t pick up new age skills
-Soft-spoken individuals can’t make impactful leaders

Humans aren’t one-dimensional. Our identifies are multifaceted- which is why a woman can be a mother, a professional, a classical dancer, a fabulous cook, and a community leader at the same time.

Every bias has a story. The origins can be traced to upbringing, education, culture, experiences, or innate traits. Like my bias towards educational qualifications stemmed from my upbringing. Ingrained in me since childhood was the value of professional degrees. It took me a while to acknowledge the success through less traditional routes in the professional realm.

Biases can cultivate stereotypes. They can be self-limiting too.
As hard as it is, the key is to develop Self Awareness- understanding the ‘Why’ of the bias. Heightened self-awareness alone can help us identify our intrinsic unconscious biases.

Even the smartest of us have biases. Acknowledge. Account. Allow for reframing. How a 5-degree shift in the camera lens can reframe a shot completely!

I may not be unbiased today.
But I could be less biased than yesterday.

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Now Reading: The Leaders’ Guide to Unconscious Bias by Anne Chow, Mark Murphy, and Pamela Fuller.