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It can be hard to understand just how much stereotypes and unconscious bias impact us until you've directly experienced it. I remember a time when I was 26 years old and working at a research firm. I was a junior female executive surrounded by male leadership. My strength for relationship-building scored us a big meeting with a potential client that, if we won, would be a game changer for our company.
My male colleagues were thrilled, and began planning the team who would attend: Paul, John, Mark...My name wasn't on that list. When I asked why, they said it was a man's world. It was a Mad Men moment in my life.
I knew the men were wrong. I wasn't thinking about it from only a gender stereotype perspective; I was also thinking about it from a client perspective: That company had said yes to me, and they were expecting me at the meeting.
It was a heartbeat moment where I had to stand my ground. I said, "Great, I'll cancel the meeting if I'm not going."
Guess what? I went to the meeting. We got the client, and it was a $3 million dollar deal. No one gave me permission to be a badass at the time. I had to find my own voice because no one was there to teach me.
As a woman in the messy middle, you may have experienced unconscious bias—or those automatic quick judgments we make about others based on gender, race or other stereotypes rather than direct experience.
The truth is that we all have unconscious bias that impacts our perceptions of others. Research shows that implicit bias is inescapable. To some degree, nearly everyone of all backgrounds show unconscious preferences for certain groups on the basis of factors such as gender, sex and race. While starting a dialogue about these issues has helped increase awareness, reversing these ingrained thought patterns is far from black and white.
For instance, studies have found that workplaces that consider themselves to be highly meritocratic are actually more biased than other organizations. Implicit bias also goes hand in hand with gender bias: One study found that 66% of women’s performance reviews in the tech industry contained negative personality feedback such as, “You could be less judgmental,” compared to only 1% of men’s reviews.
A key to changing workplace culture is to become conscious of our unconscious, and then actively work to reverse these thought patterns. Here are some ways to eliminate unconscious bias.
1. Skillfully self-promote. To advance beyond the messy middle and into senior management, you need strong reviews. Since implicit bias often impacts performance reviews, you can help your managers focus on your specific achievements by providing concrete evidence and key points on which they can reflect.
I kept detailed notes of my contributions as I was rising the ranks so that I could give my higher ups examples of how I met objective metrics that were important to my role. For example, you might write, “Due to the report I created on January 3rd where I outlined how to increase profit margins, our clients agreed to the following items.” It’s easy to forget what you’ve done over time, but keeping a work journal or a running list on your phone will help provide critical data for these reviews.
2. Don’t forget to listen. Like I said, we all carry unconscious bias. It’s part of being human and your brain’s shortcut since it can’t process every piece of the hundreds of thousands of bits of information you receive daily. Make a mindful effort to slow down and question the assumptions you may be making about your co-workers. For example, you may have assumed that a new dad is more motivated to work longer hours as his way of supporting his growing family, when in fact he may need to leave earlier in the short term as he adapts to a more significant caregiving role.
As you’re managing your team, consciously listen to them as they express their needs and goals, which will in turn help them shine.
3. Call out implicit bias when it strikes. To effectively eliminate implicit bias, we need to make people aware when it happens. As a middle manager, creating a culture of care can help pave the way for having those uncomfortable conversations that lead to transformation.
It’s not easy to confront people when uncomfortable situations arise, but sometimes you have to learn to embrace being uncomfortable in order to make progress. Researchers have found that there are four steps to having courageous conversations: stay engaged, expect to experience discomfort, speak your truth, and expect and accept a lack of closure. You might keep these steps in mind as you practice making your colleagues aware when implicit bias occurs.
Unless you've been interrupted in a meeting or paid 79 cents on the dollar, you don't really get what it feels like. Use your voice and speak up about your experiences: When unconscious bias becomes personal, change happens.
Shelley Zalis is the CEO of The Female Quotient, which is in the business of gender equality. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
