Let’s be honest. I am biased. And so are you.
That title was uncomfortable to write. It made me squirm in my chair. I had an argument in my mind whether or not it was too provocative. That’s when I realized it was the right title.
There is no other way around it. The last week has been terrible in the United States of America. In the middle of a global health crisis, we are being forced to face demons that have existed for 401 years. On the same day a woman weaponized race to attempt to bring the wrath of the NYPD upon a man who was “bird watching while black” and just wanted her dog on a leash, we witnessed George Floyd’s life literally snuffed out by a Minneapolis police officer while he was staring straight at a bystander’s camera.
The time for sympathy is over. As is the time for pity. As is the time for feeling sorry. As is the time for expressing solidarity. We ALL have the ability to take action. Doug Baldwin, the star wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks said this in a series of Tweets: “I keep getting asked by white people ‘what can I do?’ Well, for one, you can stop asking OTHERS what you should do and ask YOURSELF what you should do. Be empathetic. What would you do if that was your son, your brother, your husband, your father? And then, once you connect back with humanity, make a decision to act. Donate your time, your money, your intellectual ingenuity and your human spirit to make change. Don’t be complacent and complicit. And challenge others to not be either.”
If we are going to make impact as business leaders, we must first recognize our own imperfections. It starts with bias. And I’ve got news for you - We are all biased. To be clear, having bias does not mean someone is prejudiced or a racist. However, individual bias can compound to establish a systemic culture of unintentional discrimination within the work environment.
Bias - an inclination of temperament or outlook (according to Merriam-Webster) - is built throughout our lives based on our family upbringing, educational background and personal experiences. Our bias is often exhibited uncounciously; we aren’t even aware our actions are having disparate impact.
One of the most profound moments of my career came during a conference two years ago. Gerry Fernandez, Founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, was invited to speak to a room full of Human Resources executives. He started by sharing some personal information including his favorite type of music - country western. As my head cocked to the side in slight disbelief, Gerry said to the audience, “I bet you didn’t expect that one, did you? Be honest with me by a show of hands. How many of you expected me to say rap? Or hip-hop? Or maybe jazz because white people think it’s cool to like jazz?” As hands tentatively went up around the room, including mine, Gerry calmly stated, “That is unconscious bias.”
After Gerry’s incredibly disarming presentation that had me simultaneously twisting in my chair and laughing out loud, I began to seriously think of my position and how unconscious bias could have such a profound negative impact on the employees who relied upon me to be their advocate. I revisited decisions, actions and thoughts. I began thinking about the fact “minority” employees actually made up the majority of our staff. How was I interacting with them? Was I in tune with what mattered most to them? Did I consider if our management ranks reflected our hourly population?
I kept coming back to Gerry’s central message. Stop fighting a battle with something intrinsic. Instead, make the unconscious front of mind. I started to take action when I had the power to do so, like building relationships with universities that have demographics that would allow us to build a diverse early leadership team organically. I began to speak up when I saw something that wasn’t right, like calling out conference organizers from the stage when I was one of four white, middle-aged male panelists asked to discuss diversity. Most importantly, I began dialogue with our employees and listened.
Action doesn’t have to be big and bold, but in order to affect TRUE change, every single person in any position of power MUST act. That action starts when we have an honest conversation with ourselves and then commit to reaching beyond our bias to make a positive impact.
