Embrace Your Bias!

Change is only sustained with habits. Embrace your bias!

Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer,recommends a brain-based habit-forming model called "If this, then." It's a piggybacking approach that suggests building a new habit is more successful if you associate it with an existing habit. Doing so increases the likelihood that you will form the new neuropathways required to build habits.

"If I catch my biased thoughts, then I will examine them and mindfully choose my actions".

When you embrace your bias, you are acknowledging an existing habit.

Now, I have a question for you. Are you biased?

-Yes.

-No.

-Probably.

-I'm not sure.

Spoiler Alert! If you have a brain, you are biased. Bias is a survival mechanism in the brain to detect and remember potential threats. Remember, your brain is wired for survival, so it's exquisitely tuned to the perception of threat. Your biases are shaped by millions of touchpoints you've had throughout your life. You cannot remove bias from your brain. Unconscious thoughts occur in a nanosecond; you can't stop these pesky thoughts from popping into your head.

Don't lose hope; there is good news. We now have a prefrontal cortex,
which is the one area of the brain that has evolved from our time as cave dwellers. Th is more developed part of our brain allows us to rationalize our thoughts and choose deliberate actions, so we don't operate solely out of instinct like other animals. Inclusive leaders embrace their bias; they don't deny or ignore that they exist. Many people are reluctant to admit they're biased because they fear being perceived as a bigot, racist, supremacist, etc. We are all biased, and to lead inclusively, you must catch your unconscious thoughts; otherwise, they will unintentionally control your actions. These thoughts are typically quiet and so subtle that you ignore them. The question is, "How do you prevent bias from controlling your actions?" I'd like to recommend a four-step process for catching bias, identifying patterns of prejudice, and mindfully choosing your actions.

"If I catch my biased thoughts, then I will examine them and mindfully choose my actions".

We are all biased, and to lead inclusively, you must catch your unconscious thoughts. Otherwise they will unintentionally control your actions. Want to go deeper?