Embedding Bias
Susan Popoola
Human Value Optimisation Specialist: Thought Leader, Author, Podcaster & Speaker. Working with Leaders to create Harmony, Impact and Legacy. Enabling Care Experienced Young People to feel Loved, Valued & Supported.
Today, Kay Burley took Matt Hancock, the British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to task over the potential engagement of former Australian PM, Tony Abbott as a potential Envoy for UK trade, pointing out concerns of him being homophobic and a misogynist amongst other things.
She highlighted a few specific areas of concern:
- He feels threatened by homosexuality
- Elderly people should have been left to die from COVID
- Men are better to exercise authority than women.
Is it appropriate, for him to represent us when he holds such views, she challenged. He’s an expert and we need experts, responded, Hancock. Are we trading one thing against the other she continued to challenge as Hancock continued to point out that Abbott is an expert.
Ref: https://youtu.be/gl7407AyBSY?t=487
Putting politics aside, I went away pondering on this: Is it justifiable to engage someone with such controversial, if not outrightly unacceptable views in a strategic position on the basis of their technical expertise? I’m thinking of this beyond the political realm to what we do within our organisations. How many times do we put people with known prejudices or views contrary to an organisation's ethos and values in crucial positions on the basis of their expertise?
The thing is, if we want organisations that are truly inclusive and fair, how does the engagement of such people in senior, key decision making positions impact on what goes on within organisations – the frameworks, procedures, polices and decisions around and affecting people - which is virtually everything in the long run. Can people with such views – expressed or otherwise, separate their personal views from what they do professionally? Most especially if the issues are not addressed with them and if there are no proper checks on their authority in place.
In reality, when we talk about discrimination and unfairness, it’s not just or even so much about individual behaviour on a day to day basis, but more about the structures and frameworks etc that are developed that reflect the ethos, values and prejudices of the people responsible for creating them – conscious or otherwise; that develop a culture which creates the real problems.
#Selah