5 Ways Leaders Can be Empowered by Unconscious Bias

Dear reader.?

This week I have been speaking about unconscious bias in finance, which should evolve into a truly sexy topic for anyone that holds integrity and a growth mindset as a value.?

Often I'm working on UB as a topic, but this week for the first time I recorded a podcast for First Intuition for their student members to challenge them to think about how this will impact their accounting and finance careers. ?

First comes influence

The to understand unconscious bias is to simply to explore how you form judgements and opinions. Whom you trust, and what you are influenced by.

For instance

• What do you read on linkedin??
• What podcasts do you listen to??
• What news items do you click on, and who wrote them??

Everything around us shapes our conscious and unconscious thoughts, as well as our bias - please understand that this is exactly what is meant to happen. It is a natural process.?

Is it wrong to be biased?

When I train people I see them shifting uncomfortably in their seats as I ask questions about their experiences of race, gender and upbringing.?

“Who do you go to for advice? Are they all white? Did they have the same education as you?”

There is bravery in understanding ourselves

My 4yr old came running to be at the weekend “mummy I’m scared!” We talked about what being brave meant. He said?

“It means not being scared”?

I told him bravery meant feeling scared, and doing what was right. (You are welcome to add to this, that it is just my opinion.)?

My questions bring up discomfort in their realities, and this is where we need to be brave, be curious and be open to different possibilities.?

Talking about our bias, conscious or otherwise can be an uncomfortable subject. It is a vulnerable area. You, like most people, might feel that exploring bias might lead you to expose some negative behaviours that you are not ready to face.?

Your bias is a part of who you are. It’s interwoven in your identity. Understandable that it’s not the easiest thing to challenge.?

Of course, that doesn’t just apply to you, but also to your colleagues.?

Leading with Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is a difficult thing - we want to feel good about ourselves, not worse.?

With that in mind - he’s something I’d like you to mull over;?

Bias can very much be a good thing.?

I invite you to consider that we all have bias, it’s neither good nor bad… In fact, I’d say neurologically speaking bias is hugely important. Think of bias as stored information, a quick link there to stop us from making huge mistakes, or to protect.?

What is bias and how does it affect me??

Mirriam Webster dictionary says?

“: an inclination of temperament or outlook

especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgement”?

It’s how your thoughts and decisions might be impacted by ideas, or beliefs that some people or ideologies are better than others.?

Bias is created throughout your whole life by:

• Your upbringing?
• Your personality?
• Your strengths and weaknesses
• Your inherited beliefs (from parents or guardians)?
• Your education?
• Your religion
• How you think (task-focused / people-focused -introverted / extroverted)
• Your friends?
• Which content you consume

All of these things make you a rich and wonderfully unique human, rich and diverse in your own experiences.?

The question to ask, to be effective at work - is “How does my bias impact my decisions at work? And am I really aware of this?”?

Impact starts with you being brave enough to ask the question.?

What does bias influence in finance??

In finance it's important to be aware of how your brain works, so you can be aware on the impact in your leadership. Group think is the bias where nobody speaks out against the gain, and people agree with one line of thought. This has had huge implications in audits in recent years.

However, bias can influence:

• Hiring decisions?
• Pay?
• Investment?
• Mentoring abilities?
• Data collection?
• Meeting outcomes?
• Financial reports?
• Policies?
• Talent retention and acquisition?
• Culture?

All in all, a huge amount. This is what makes you human, but also - with more automation, machine learning and AI being used it's important to explore the ethics of decisions.

What to consider with unconscious bias:?

1. Your past lessons

Your previous experience can be both positive and negative. Say you had a bad experience public speaking, or you met a loud drunk aggressive football fan, or you ate a dodgy seriously hot curry from that place down the road… your lessons from these experiences created a bias. (as a note, you will certainly have an opinion about any one of those three things… and that is your past experience!)?

This is where bias is trying to protect you? - where a curry might have disastrous results for you, I’d wonder how true that would be of all football fans after a match or every speaking experience???

Your past lessons also might be out of date. Confirmation bias is where we seek to prove ourselves right (unconsciously!), but maybe there are times, particularly in times of change where we need to prove ourselves wrong.

2. Your values?

One of my? laws of being ‘conscious influence” is “It always leads back to values”?

What you value is psychologically important. Values shape your decisions, your motivations and your strengths (i.e. you can be strong at something, but not like it).?

If you value precision and accuracy you may struggle to value someone who is whimsical and vague. Understanding why things are important to you helps you to understand, and find compassion with others.?

In my latest podcast I speak to coach Carol Stewart about common Introvert misconceptions - how we think that they are quiet, then really it;s a different thinking style.?

3. Your background

Your cultural background is a huge influence on you and but can also be the basis of cultural bias.?

i.e. You perceive your education, religion, class and culture as ‘normal’ versus other cultures.?

What is normal for one person, does not mean other experiences are less valuable (depending on point 2 - your values!).?

Your education, your culture and your upbringing will have imposed certain ways of thinking on you. I for one grew up in a ‘bohemian’ family but in a conservative and middle-class area of England. How does that influence my behaviours and decisions??

Well, I will probably go to like-minded people in a networking event, as it is easy to communicate with them due to familiarity (called affinity bias) we associate the familiar with ‘good’. This isn’t always the case.

4. Your trusted advisors?

In times of trouble - who do you implicitly trust to get information and advice from? Our trusted advisors can be the result of a halo effect.?

We like them, they are a good laugh - or as studies show, good looking. We might vote for someone because we think tall people are more successful or if you get on better with women.

They glow under the halo, but is it true?? A positive halo can shine a light on people influencing your opinion of them.

At work, this can be something you need to check in with on a regular basis. Whose advice do you seek? How do you choose these people? How do you know it to be true?

Imagine what happened to create PEPs section in the AML procedure. Our relationships have a big impact in finance.?

5. Your curiosity?

Another of my commandments is “Curiosity creates progress”?

Encourage others to challenge their bias and thoughts by being curious. You’ll notice in this newsletter I’ve written a bulk load of questions. As a coach, it is my job to be curious about the way you think, and how that influences behaviour.?

I invite you to bring that same mindset to your decision making. By being curious we can “Seek truth, Always” (commandment 6).?

I hope you found this valuable. If you are interested in having me visit your organisation with one of my keynotes or workshops then send me a DM or email me here: [email protected]

Listen to the podcast on ways introverts think here:

https://www.speakingambition.com/blog/16-misconceptions-around-introverted-women-with-carol-stewart

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Would you like to learn more?

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