We all have had at least one manager who thought they knew what was best and was never open to new ideas. Every time you tried to bring up a new way of doing things based on your past experience, they would wave you aside and completely dismiss anything you had to say. And whether this manager was enabled by company culture, or they acted within a silo, the following topics will be able to help you navigate the next time you come across an ignorant individual.
Define Your Individual Goals and Your Company Goals
Depending on the company you work for, they may have their own definition for diversity, equity and inclusion to fit closer to their values which could be different than your own definitions. It is important to keep the company’s definitions in mind, and if they are absolutely atrocious and the opposite of what you believe, then it might be a good idea to start looking for something new.
The dictionary definition of diversity is “the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.” You may have a slightly different personal definition depending on your background, but I think this is a good baseline to use, since by seeking out an array of individuals that have a diverse background and knowledge from your own, you will be able to have insights about things you might never known existed before hand. And through diversity at your job, you will be able to help cultivate a workplace that encourages talent from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.
Equity is the idea of being fair and just, especially when it comes to seeking out and addressing existing inequalities. By understanding current imbalances that could impact others, you can be more compassionate and understanding when those issues arise, in your personal life and at your job. With equity, you can help guarantee that personal backgrounds will not dictate professional outcomes.
By being inclusive, you are allowing everyone to have a seat at the table. This can look different when viewing your job versus your personal life, but the outcomes are the same. At work, you can build and environment where all of your coworkers feel respected, valued, safe and supported. Privately, this will help you become a beacon of light for others by creating a space that they feel comfortable and secure without fear of judgement.
Through DEI, you will be able to enrich both your career and personal lives through compassion and understanding, and who knows. Maybe you will even be able to make a splash in the corporate world and force it to change for the better, opening new doors and opportunities not only for yourself, but for others.
Explore Your Identity and Values
Understanding your identity and values will help you achieve your goals, both professionally and privately. There are so many different pieces to one’s identity: gender, religion, education, talents, experiences, just about anything that makes you, you.
Take a moment to think about your identity. You could even make an identity board if you want, which is a collection of pictures or words that make you. Do you love to hang out with friends and family? You can add a picture of the last time you saw friends or gathered with family. Are you an animal lover? Add photos of your pets or favorite animals. What about your hobbies or job? Write down your favorite words as a writer, colors as an artist, or places visited as an explorer.
Once you have an idea of your identity, I want you to ask yourself a few questions. What parts of your identity help and what parts hinder you at work? How about within your personal life? With your answers, think about how understanding your identity, along with your strengths and weaknesses, will be able to help you implement DEI and construct an environment that will be able to bring out the best in everyone around you.
Make sure that once you understand your story, that you share your story as often as you can. This will help others understand you better, as well as inspire others to share their own stories. Be curious when others share their lives with you, and cultivate a warm environment where everyone feels safe, supported and heard.
Understand Cognitive Biases
Cognitive biases are natural shortcuts that the brain takes to process information quickly, which usually lead to inaccurate judgements and decision making. There are five major biases that we will explore: affinity bias, attribution bias, confirmation bias, conformity bias, and halo/horns effect.
Affinity bias is the tendency to favor people who are similar to use in background, interest or experiences. Birds of a feather flock together, which can be great when you are looking to make friends around the water cooler. But it does not help when you are trying to tackle projects at work, or when trying to gain new perspectives in life. Make sure to give everyone a chance, no matter how different from you they may be. You might just find the best person for the job.
Attribution bias is the tendency to explain other’s behaviors based on assumptions rather than facts. An example of this is assuming that someone’s mistake is due to their character (ie. they are careless) instead of situational factors (ie. they were under a tight deadline or had issues in their personal life). Before you credit an issue to someone’s character, take a breath and realize that they are human, and they have just as much going on within their life as you do yours. By staying compassionate and understanding, you will be able to carve a path forward from the mistake and grapple with your own attribution bias to conquer it.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out or interpret information in a way that confirms our pre-existing beliefs or opinions. We all have confirmation bias. This can be due to our upbringing, or our previous experiences. It is innate to human nature. But by being aware of it, you are able to fight it and overcome it. The first thought caused by confirmation bias will always be there. It is the second and third thought you have that shape how you handle that bias and overcome it, and after much practice, those second and third thoughts will become your first.
Conformity bias is the pressure to align with the group’s opinion or behavior, often to avoid conflict or stand out. This isn’t to say that you agree with the group so you decide to keep quiet, but this is for when you have a differing opinion to everyone else, but you are scared to speak up. That could be due to worry about ridicule or retaliation from coworkers or managers, or be seen as an outsider and treated as such. But in reality, when you don’t speak up, you rob your voice and the voices of all of your coworkers with clashing opinions. Providing a different opinion may be met with resistance, but it will foster a welcoming and open environment for you and your coworkers. And if you are treated differently after speaking up, then it might be time to look for a new job.
Halo/Horns effect is the tendency to let one positive (ie. halo) or negative (ie. horns) characteristic of a person influence overall judgement of them. The easiest example of this is when someone does a good job once, we may tend to overlook mistakes, or vice versa. Treat each time that you review their work or meet with them as though it is the first time, which is easier said than done. But as long as you are aware of the bias, it will get easier each time.
Be aware of each of these biases and how they affect the way you make decisions and react to information. Make sure to give yourself plenty of grace when you do work through these biases, since no one is perfect, and you will find that others have these exact same biases towards you. But with owning these biases and speaking up, you will be able to cultivate a better working life and personal life, and enrich others around you.
Dealing with Microaggressions
Microaggressions are everyday interactions or behaviors tat communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups. These interactions are usually subtle, and while some are intentional, they are often unintentional. Now you may be thinking: what the hell can a young, white, CIS gendered male tell me about microaggressions? And the truth is I cannot tell you much more than how to respond to microaggressions, and do my part to try and rise up as well.
First, you will want to share the facts about what happened. Start your sentences with “I saw…”, “I heard….”, or “I noticed…”. This allows you to layout the facts about what you witnessed and the situation that unfolded, in a non threatening and truthful way. There will be a lot of emotions, especially if you were on the receiving end of the microaggression. But if you can approach the individual who committed it, then you have an opportunity to show them the error in their thinking and help them change.
Next, you will tell your story. This can be done through phrases such as “My perception is…”, “It seems to me that…”, or “My intent as not to…”. These phrases will help you provide your perception of the transgression, and help give context as to what was incorrect, which can be the first stepping stone in helping the perpetrator fix their internal bias.
Finally, you can ask the person who performed the microaggression questions in order to understand their perspective and help them realize the issue with their actions. Inquiries like “How do you see it?”, “Can you help me understand…?”, and “What’s your view on…?” are not accusations, but help the individual to explain their thoughts and for you to be able to comprehend. From that point you are able to help guide them away from their previous biases and misconceptions and push them towards understanding and acceptance of others.
How You Can Help Build Inclusivity
Have you ever felt like if you make a mistake, it will be held against you? Or that you are unable to bring up problems or tough issues, and that you will be rejected for being different? Are you unable to take risks or feel like you are unable to ask for help? These are all indicators you do not have psychological safety.
Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. When you are aware of the different cognitive biases and actively engaged in not letting them dictate your decisions, you are able to build psychological safety in your team and at home. But it won’t be something that can happen overnight. Most likely there is something in this article that you have heard for the first time. So your next step will be to work on what you have learned, and identify what weaknesses you might have that can cause for the cognitive biases to control your reactions. I guarantee your job and private life will be better off with it.
Leave a Reply