Implicit bias. Everyone has it.
Why does everyone have implicit bias? To make sense of the flood of information our brains receive every second, we all take unconscious mental shortcuts and use stored information to make decisions about the present moment.
As a business leader, your own implicit bias deeply influences your professional interactions and work environment. It can lead to microaggressions, which are unconscious behaviors that unintentionally demonstrate prejudice towards others.
While implicit bias and microaggressions might go unnoticed, they have a negative cumulative impact on employees’ performance, confidence, and mental health.Implicit bias in the workplace also undermines entire teams and companies, inhibiting critical elements of success such as strong relationships and effective communication. It’s essential to have the right tools to uncover implicit bias so that you can create an inclusive environment where teams thrive.
Strategies for Awareness
We can’t change what we can’t see. So we need to recognize our own implicit bias in order to override it.
Our Overcoming Implicit Bias course explores various strategies to overcome unconscious bias. But before diving into this implicit bias training online, here are a couple things you can do to increase your awareness about your own biases:
- Understand Explicit vs. Implicit Bias
Explicit bias vs. implicit bias is an important distinction. Explicit bias refers to overt, obvious displays of prejudice, while implicit bias happens automatically without our awareness.
Though explicit bias poses a major problem in the workplace, implicit bias can be equally insidious since it’s both unconscious and universal. Its negative impact on individuals and organizations can often go unchecked. Knowing the difference is the first step to preventing it.
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Identify Your Blind Spots
The thing about implicit bias is that it’s very hard to see your own. That’s what makes it implicit, by definition.
In order to uncover personal biases we have to first know that they exist, so self-reflection is key to overcoming them. We might not want to think that we ourselves have bias. But remember, it’s universal!
Start by reflecting on personal biases you’re already aware of, even simple ones, and write them down. Then, see if you can dig deeper to reveal others, and write those down too. Putting thought to paper is a good tool to uncover unconscious bias and spark new realizations.
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Ask For Feedback
Other people can often see aspects of ourselves that we can’t.
To reveal more about your implicit biases and track your progress in overcoming them, it can help to ask those around you how you’re doing. For example, you can ask if your words and actions are considered inclusive, and if there is anything you can do to improve.
Strategies for Action
Increasing your awareness is an essential first step, but it’s meaningless without action. Once you start to learn about implicit bias, the impact it can have, and your own personal bias, here are some steps you can take to override it:
- Have Curiosity Conversations
Curiosity conversations are dialogues that allow you to get to know diverse people and their experiences. Deeply listening to others is a tool to uncover implicit bias, since it naturally expands your perspective.
Here are some tips for having the most effective curiosity conversations:
- Designate a time and place for talking, and make it clear that the only goal is to get to know each other better.
- Use only open-ended questions like, “Can you tell me more about that?” and avoid closed questions such as, “Wasn’t it so difficult to go through that?”
- Practice active listening, which means heightened focus and attention free of distraction, without thinking about what to say next.
Our Acting Inclusively course offers more detailed tips for effective curiosity conversations and other strategies for inclusion. The more you learn about your team members, the more opportunity you’ll have to overcome unconscious bias.
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Role Model Your Process & Become a Visible Ally
Leading the charge in overcoming implicit bias in the workplace means that you need to be both vocal and visible about the work you’re doing. In relevant moments, you can share that you’re practicing learning about and shifting your personal biases. Modeling this often has a positive impact on others.
It’s also important to be an active ally for those who want it. Supporting people with diverse experiences can provide you greater insight into your own implicit biases, and more opportunities to overcome them.
Do you want to elevate team morale and productivity for your entire company? Understanding and overcoming implicit bias sets the stage for a truly inclusive and successful workplace. It takes time and commitment, but with the right strategies for awareness and action, and the most effective learning resources, it's not only achievable—it’s worth it.
Learn how to overcome implicit bias. Talk to one of our experts.
