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Brainwashed or Brainless? Five Fundamentals to Help You Lead Through Polarizing Conversations

We’ve all been there. An argument at the Thanksgiving dinner table between family members. A blowout about politics, current affairs, the President’s performance, schools, kids these days. It’s as American as apple pie. But today, the divisiveness feels more pervasive than ever. COVID, climate change, voting processes, law enforcement, the economy, international engagement, abortion, social justice, the CDC, even Dr. Seuss. These days, a conversation around any political topic can be a wrecking-ball of relationship-ending opinions held by people we care about, work with or interact within the community. The increased division we are experiencing isn’t the ...

2023-03-06T18:43:12+00:00January 28th, 2022|Cognitive Biases, COVID-related, Inclusive Leadership, Unconscious Bias|

The Universal Bias We Overlook

How Age Bias Harms Us and Our Workplace More than ever, companies and communities alike are beginning to address conscious and unconscious biases. Race. Gender. Sexual Orientation. Class. Culture. Biases in these forms are acknowledged as overtly wrong and worth addressing in society and in the workplace. But there is one bias that generally flies under the radar: Age Bias. Age Bias, or “Ageism”, is defined as the “stereotyping and/or discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age.” Like other forms of bias, age bias can be implicit or explicit. Casual or systemic. What ...

2023-04-10T23:00:48+00:00December 23rd, 2021|Cognitive Biases, Inclusive Leadership, Social Biases, Unconscious Bias|

Sedimentary Whiteness

Racial constructs are used every day to shape our perceptions and understanding of our society and respective workplaces. We’ve come a long way but we still have a long way to go towards ensuring these constructs no longer oppress people of color and exclude a wide range of people from opportunity. The title “Sedimentary Whiteness” is used intentionally to surface images of sedimentary rock. It’s many layers and long history. These two aspects are often overlooked when conversations about race lead to further division and polarization. Recently, I asked participants in a session on this topic I ...

2022-11-02T22:08:07+00:00November 12th, 2021|Social Biases, Unconscious Bias|

Dimensions of Diversity

“The danger of stereotypes is not that they may be true but rather that they’re always incomplete. They make one story the only story.” - Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieClose your eyes. Picture an African-American woman. What are the first associations that you make? What do you assume about her? Now, picture a white woman. Next, a black man. A gay man. A Mexican immigrant. A progressive. A conservative. What you associate with these thoughts is intimately tied to your own experiences and your own identity. What we assume about others is born from our conscious and unconscious biases. Our ...

2024-11-27T20:46:45+00:00July 11th, 2021|Cognitive Biases, Inclusive Leadership, Institutional Biases, Social Biases, Unconscious Bias|

Pronouns? What’s the Big Deal?

I’ve been thinking about pronouns lately. I must say, I’ve spent most of my life not thinking that much about pronouns. One of the more contentious conversations I’ve had with both coaching and consulting clients has been around the use of pronouns, or rather with the practice and sharing and asking what people’s pronouns are. Let me back up. I am a white, middle-aged, cisgender man happily living in a mixed-race family where questions come up all the time that make me check the norms I was raised in. Including the norms of two genders and his/her ...

2022-11-02T22:08:07+00:00June 1st, 2021|Inclusive Leadership, Institutional Biases, Unconscious Bias|

Unlearning During a Pandemic

6 Key Lessons to Help Us Emerge Stronger in the Workplace & Beyond While there are wildly diverse perceptions of truth, it seems that life, as we once knew it, is forever changed. Humans are collectively living through a global pandemic, living history and trying to make sense of it in real-time: It’s impact on our personal lives. Our social lives. Our institutions. The Coronavirus is impacting everyone. Even those that want to turn a blind eye or deny its existence are not immune to its impact. There is no returning to “business as usual.” As we ...

2022-11-02T22:08:07+00:00May 4th, 2021|Cognitive Biases, COVID-related, Inclusive Leadership, Institutional Biases|

The End of the Alpha-Male Era

Why today’s leaders must adapt to a changing landscape I recently met with the CEO of a large engineering company. Bill is a 60-year-old white, alpha- male, command-control leader. Or, as he put it, “old-school.” He was deeply proud of what he had built over the decades, employing hundreds of people and leading a company worth tens of millions. In that very same conversation, Bill expressed frustration with his companies recent, increasingly high turn-over and their growing inability to find, hire and retain new talent. Their experienced baby boomers were retiring in huge numbers and they were struggling ...

2024-06-25T14:34:57+00:00March 22nd, 2021|Cognitive Biases, Institutional Biases, Social Biases, Unconscious Bias|

First, Do No Harm

Addressing & Remedying Implicit Bias In Healthcare After decades of studies, policymakers, media, and medical institutions are finally turning their attention towards systemic inequalities in our healthcare systems. It’s been a long time coming. The data is profound and undeniable: Inequality is inherent in our healthcare systems. But as is common in medicine, acknowledging the research and symptoms is often far more straightforward than determining and curing the disease itself. When it comes to healing inequality in healthcare, the treatment plan can prove an arduous task if we don’t understand where or how to begin. One critical ...

2022-11-02T22:08:08+00:00February 15th, 2021|Cognitive Biases, Institutional Biases, Unconscious Bias|

Bias Ecosystem

Continue reading or listen to the article read by Ed Calder. You’re here because you are interested in bias and how it impacts your organization, how it is showing up in interactions, policies, and decision-making, and how it is blocking innovation and growth. Leading that conversation yourself might feel overwhelming, maybe even contentious. It might get uncomfortable to talk about bias. Some may get defensive. Your mind may begin to seek justifications for avoidance. Our brains are very good at serving up reasons to postpone or punt tough conversations allowing us to remain complicit in ...

2024-06-10T20:39:35+00:00January 25th, 2021|Cognitive Biases, Institutional Biases, Social Biases, Virtual Leadership|

Could 2020 also be the Year Without a Santa Claus?

The Year Without a Santa Claus, an animated short from 1974 (currently available online), has truly weathered the test of time. The title alone is a nearly perfect capstone for 2020. As I watched it with my 11-year old daughter, my curiosity was sparked when she said couldn’t stop seeing Snow Miser as Joe Biden and Heat Miser as Donald Trump. (At this point feel free to take a moment to click on the Snow Miser and/or Heat Miser song either for context or, if you are a child of the 70’s/80’s, for nostalgia.) My daughter’s remark ...

2022-11-02T22:08:08+00:00December 16th, 2020|, Cognitive Biases, COVID-related, Social Biases|

Pronouns? What’s the Big Deal?

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