Hidden Biased Leaders: What Is Your Hidden Biases?
COWLEY COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Project Implicit
Hidden Biases
11/15/2013
Unbiased: not having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others : not biased
1: free from bias; especially : free from all prejudice and favoritism : eminently fair
2: having an expected value equal to a population parameter being estimated (Webster)
Hidden Bias Tests measure unconscious, or automatic, biases. Willingness to examine your own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society. Hidden Bias Tests measure unconscious, or automatic, biases. Your willingness to examine your own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society. (Project Implict) Learning about your hidden biases help you discover what things you may not be comfortable with. Hidden biases and prejudices can open up surprisingly influential underpinnings to all the decisions we can make in the future. It’s …show more content…
important to discover and uncover your hidden biases so they can be overcome. I feel there are important steps to take to overcome biases so you can become a better leader in general.
Leaders are aware that the unknown haunts every decision. Leaders are not paralyzed by the unknown. They are energized by decision-making opportunities, and, at the same time, they are humbled to be decision makers – to be difference makers. (Jerome) After reading this statement I really think these great leaders took the initiative to discover all hidden biases and have overcome them with strength. To be a good leader, it is imperative that you overcome the biases that haunt your past so you can make good decisions for the future.
A good way to initially uncover some unconscious and hidden biases is to take Project implicit Hidden Bias Test. It’s a series of fourteen tests that determine if there may be some hidden biases. After completing these fourteen tests myself I was completely stunned, I don’t know if I 100% believed everything I was seeing, but it was definitely an eye opener. People of similar thinking often pool together, like raindrops that make a puddle. I feel like some of the people close to me have some of these ways of thinking, and it was almost instilled in the way I think, even if I covered it up and truly didn’t think I felt this way. Bias and prejudice often have been something someone has told you, or that you heard. They 're not always an original thought but one you have picked up. It may have been adopted recently, or a long time ago, and the older it is, the trickier it may be to overcome its influence. Scientific research has demonstrated that biases thought to be absent or extinguished remain as "mental residue" in most of us. (Edited by George AP)
Every day we make decisions, leaders or not leaders. Some are small, domestic, and innocuous. Others are more important, affecting people’s lives, livelihoods, and well-being. How we make these decisions can depend on our bias. Decisions can be made quick, and unconscious , that’s where the problem can come in. When you have hidden biases that haven’t been discovered furthermore, hasn’t been overcome these inappropriate decisions as a leader can cause a lot of problems down the road.
Biases such as gender perceptions can cause a lot of hardships in the workplace. If one gender is favored over the other, the one being favored isn’t going to be as motivated to be a team player or comply to expectations and can hurt the company a lot. After completing the Gender – Career IAT (Implicit Association Test) my data suggested a light association with career and female with family compared to female with career and male with family. I don’t know if I was truly surprised with the results. I personally do work as a female and have had leadership roles in the workplace. Growing up, my dad worked 5-7 days a week; while my mom worked as a professor, but only worked minimal hours a week and took care of us. I do work but spend a lot of my time at home taking care of the kids and house duties. Some people are much more inclined to be assertive and lead than others and that is not gender specific. To be a good leader, you have to be a good team player, and nor is that gender specific.
Qualified, hardworking Americans are denied job opportunities, fired or otherwise discriminated against just because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or their gender in general. The Employment Nondiscrimination Act is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on what sexual orientation or gender of the employees. The act provides basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. Anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, but defined society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race. After taking the African American – European American IAT my data suggested a slight automatic preference for European Americans to African Americans. This did and didn’t surprise me. I was raised in a predominantly white society. My school didn’t have very many multicultural peers, nor did my neighborhood. Now that I’m older some of my best friends are African American. The election of our first African American president has sparked debate over how far we have come as a nation on issues of race. It is one against the law to hire due to race, gender, or many other spectacles. After stepping back and really analyzing my results, and previous jobs, I don’t think that I showed any preference for one race to another. I hired accordingly, and the opportunity for any race was equal. To be a good leader, you must be equal to all people. “People are much more willing to give of themselves when they feel that their selves are being fully recognized and embraced” stated the CEO of Apple. Embracing people 's individuality is a basic human dignity and civil right. It also turns out to be great for the creativity that helps many businesses. When people feel valued for who they are, they have the comfort and confidence to do the best work of their lives. To be a good leader, and run a company your employees have to be motivated to make it to the top.
I understand people are different and have different ways of looking at situations and making decisions. I believe there are some aspects of leadership that everyone should take into consideration when leading a group of people. Leaders should never show favoritism. Being a leader means giving praise to everyone. Motivation is the key to the success of an organization. If a leader gives special privileges to some people and not to others, then the leader loses the respect of some people who could play a vital role in an organization. After taking all of the IAT’s I realize how I do have hidden biases, that I never realized existed, and have a lot to work on if I want to become a successful leader.
Leaders should try to remain unbiased to make good decisions for the organization as a whole. Unbiased leadership is the most respected. People look up to those who lead because they want what is best for the organization, not their own personal life.
Being in a leadership position sometimes means making unpopular decisions to better the organization. Leaders who make decisions based on their personal opinions or to benefit themselves are not truly leaders. Biased leaders need to grow up and take responsibility for their organizations because the decisions they make affect more people than just themselves. A good leader has many defining characteristics. Qualities of an effective leader include active listening, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire others to own a shared vision of the future. To be inclusive means to include and respect all views, not just those that feed one particular standpoint. It is challenging to be unbiased, and we all have lenses through which our worldviews are filtered. However, an extraordinary leader cannot afford to be
biased.
Works Cited
Edited by George AP, C. S. (n.d.). how to overcome unconcious and hidden bias. Retrieved Novemeber 16, 2013, from wikihow: http://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Unconscious-and-Hidden-Biases
Jerome, D. (n.d.). Dr. Jerome Stewart 's Blog . Retrieved 2013 16, November , from Leadership and hindsight bias: http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/leadership-and-hindsight-bias/
Project Implict. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2013, from Teaching Tolerance: http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/test-yourself-hidden-bias
Webster, M. (n.d.). unbiased. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from Merrian Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unbiased
Project Implicit
Hidden Biases
11/15/2013
Unbiased: not having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others : not biased
1: free from bias; especially : free from all prejudice and favoritism : eminently fair
2: having an expected value equal to a population parameter being estimated (Webster)
Hidden Bias Tests measure unconscious, or automatic, biases. Willingness to examine your own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society. Hidden Bias Tests measure unconscious, or automatic, biases. Your willingness to examine your own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society. (Project Implict) Learning about your hidden biases help you discover what things you may not be comfortable with. Hidden biases and prejudices can open up surprisingly influential underpinnings to all the decisions we can make in the future. It’s …show more content…
important to discover and uncover your hidden biases so they can be overcome. I feel there are important steps to take to overcome biases so you can become a better leader in general.
Leaders are aware that the unknown haunts every decision. Leaders are not paralyzed by the unknown. They are energized by decision-making opportunities, and, at the same time, they are humbled to be decision makers – to be difference makers. (Jerome) After reading this statement I really think these great leaders took the initiative to discover all hidden biases and have overcome them with strength. To be a good leader, it is imperative that you overcome the biases that haunt your past so you can make good decisions for the future.
A good way to initially uncover some unconscious and hidden biases is to take Project implicit Hidden Bias Test. It’s a series of fourteen tests that determine if there may be some hidden biases. After completing these fourteen tests myself I was completely stunned, I don’t know if I 100% believed everything I was seeing, but it was definitely an eye opener. People of similar thinking often pool together, like raindrops that make a puddle. I feel like some of the people close to me have some of these ways of thinking, and it was almost instilled in the way I think, even if I covered it up and truly didn’t think I felt this way. Bias and prejudice often have been something someone has told you, or that you heard. They 're not always an original thought but one you have picked up. It may have been adopted recently, or a long time ago, and the older it is, the trickier it may be to overcome its influence. Scientific research has demonstrated that biases thought to be absent or extinguished remain as "mental residue" in most of us. (Edited by George AP)
Every day we make decisions, leaders or not leaders. Some are small, domestic, and innocuous. Others are more important, affecting people’s lives, livelihoods, and well-being. How we make these decisions can depend on our bias. Decisions can be made quick, and unconscious , that’s where the problem can come in. When you have hidden biases that haven’t been discovered furthermore, hasn’t been overcome these inappropriate decisions as a leader can cause a lot of problems down the road.
Biases such as gender perceptions can cause a lot of hardships in the workplace. If one gender is favored over the other, the one being favored isn’t going to be as motivated to be a team player or comply to expectations and can hurt the company a lot. After completing the Gender – Career IAT (Implicit Association Test) my data suggested a light association with career and female with family compared to female with career and male with family. I don’t know if I was truly surprised with the results. I personally do work as a female and have had leadership roles in the workplace. Growing up, my dad worked 5-7 days a week; while my mom worked as a professor, but only worked minimal hours a week and took care of us. I do work but spend a lot of my time at home taking care of the kids and house duties. Some people are much more inclined to be assertive and lead than others and that is not gender specific. To be a good leader, you have to be a good team player, and nor is that gender specific.
Qualified, hardworking Americans are denied job opportunities, fired or otherwise discriminated against just because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or their gender in general. The Employment Nondiscrimination Act is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on what sexual orientation or gender of the employees. The act provides basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. Anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, but defined society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race. After taking the African American – European American IAT my data suggested a slight automatic preference for European Americans to African Americans. This did and didn’t surprise me. I was raised in a predominantly white society. My school didn’t have very many multicultural peers, nor did my neighborhood. Now that I’m older some of my best friends are African American. The election of our first African American president has sparked debate over how far we have come as a nation on issues of race. It is one against the law to hire due to race, gender, or many other spectacles. After stepping back and really analyzing my results, and previous jobs, I don’t think that I showed any preference for one race to another. I hired accordingly, and the opportunity for any race was equal. To be a good leader, you must be equal to all people. “People are much more willing to give of themselves when they feel that their selves are being fully recognized and embraced” stated the CEO of Apple. Embracing people 's individuality is a basic human dignity and civil right. It also turns out to be great for the creativity that helps many businesses. When people feel valued for who they are, they have the comfort and confidence to do the best work of their lives. To be a good leader, and run a company your employees have to be motivated to make it to the top.
I understand people are different and have different ways of looking at situations and making decisions. I believe there are some aspects of leadership that everyone should take into consideration when leading a group of people. Leaders should never show favoritism. Being a leader means giving praise to everyone. Motivation is the key to the success of an organization. If a leader gives special privileges to some people and not to others, then the leader loses the respect of some people who could play a vital role in an organization. After taking all of the IAT’s I realize how I do have hidden biases, that I never realized existed, and have a lot to work on if I want to become a successful leader.
Leaders should try to remain unbiased to make good decisions for the organization as a whole. Unbiased leadership is the most respected. People look up to those who lead because they want what is best for the organization, not their own personal life.
Being in a leadership position sometimes means making unpopular decisions to better the organization. Leaders who make decisions based on their personal opinions or to benefit themselves are not truly leaders. Biased leaders need to grow up and take responsibility for their organizations because the decisions they make affect more people than just themselves. A good leader has many defining characteristics. Qualities of an effective leader include active listening, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire others to own a shared vision of the future. To be inclusive means to include and respect all views, not just those that feed one particular standpoint. It is challenging to be unbiased, and we all have lenses through which our worldviews are filtered. However, an extraordinary leader cannot afford to be
biased.
Works Cited
Edited by George AP, C. S. (n.d.). how to overcome unconcious and hidden bias. Retrieved Novemeber 16, 2013, from wikihow: http://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Unconscious-and-Hidden-Biases
Jerome, D. (n.d.). Dr. Jerome Stewart 's Blog . Retrieved 2013 16, November , from Leadership and hindsight bias: http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/leadership-and-hindsight-bias/
Project Implict. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2013, from Teaching Tolerance: http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/test-yourself-hidden-bias
Webster, M. (n.d.). unbiased. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from Merrian Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unbiased