The One Weakness All Leaders Have

There is one great weakness that all leaders have. It makes no difference if they are a leader by title or position, and it makes no difference if they are an Authentic Leader. That weakness is that they are human beings.

For an Authentic Leader that is also their greatest strength. But they never lose sight of the fact that it is also a potentially dangerous weakness. That’s because, as humans, we “connect” better with some humans than others. There are people we just naturally hit it off with, and there are people we may never “click” with.

Sometimes we know why we “just don’t click.” Oftentimes we don’t. Sometimes the reason we don’t can be an unconscious bias. If your goal is to be an Authentic Leader, you must raise your unconscious bias to a conscious level. That will help you understand and connect with every member of your team.

Not surprisingly, one of the biggest challenges with moving from an unconscious bias to a conscious bias is realizing that you have an unconscious bias. Most people, and therefore most leaders, would tell you that they don’t have any unconscious biases.

I was part of an interview team a while back, and we interviewed a guy who seemed perfect for the role. But another member of the interview team was questioning the candidate’s judgment. When I asked why he said, “didn’t you notice the tattoo on his neck?” I guess I had noticed but didn’t pay much attention to it.

My co-worker couldn’t explain why, but he felt a tattoo on the neck indicated poor judgment. I suspected immediately we were dealing with an unconscious bias. I suggested he keep that thought to himself because the interview team was going to ignore it anyway. I also warned him that HR wouldn’t be exactly impressed with his thought process.

We hired the guy and later learned that the tattoo was a tribute to a buddy who was killed in Iraq, while saving our new hire’s life.

To this day, my co-worker doesn’t think he’s biased in any way towards people with tattoos. He’ll only say that tattoos don’t belong on anyone’s neck.

You’ll never deal with an unconscious bias that you don’t know you have. Uncovering unconscious biases in yourself involves some self-reflection, education, and lots of active, intentional practice.

Here are some steps to help you identify and address your unconscious biases.

1. Self-Reflection and Awareness

• Introspection: Spend time thinking about your own beliefs and values. Consider where they come from and how they might influence your perceptions of others.

• Mindfulness: Practice mindfulness to become more aware of your immediate thoughts and feelings. This can help you catch biases as they arise.

2. Education and Exposure

• Diverse Perspectives: Engage with a wide range of media, literature, and art from different cultures and communities. This can broaden your perspective and challenge stereotypes.

• Learn About Bias: Educate yourself on different types of biases (e.g., confirmation bias, availability bias) and how they play out in everyday life.

3. Seek Feedback

• Ask for Input: Invite friends, family, or colleagues to provide feedback on your behavior and attitudes. Sometimes others can see our biases more clearly than we can.

• Mentorship: Seek mentors or coaches who can provide guidance and perspective on recognizing and addressing biases.

4. Engage in Conversations

• Open Dialogue: Have conversations with people from diverse backgrounds. Listen actively and empathetically to their experiences and perspectives.

• Challenge Assumptions: When you notice assumptions or stereotypes in your thinking, question them. Ask yourself why you hold these beliefs and whether they are based on evidence.

5. Practice Empathy

• Perspective-Taking: Try to see situations from the perspective of others, especially those who are different from you.

• Compassion: Cultivate compassion for others, recognizing that everyone has unique experiences and challenges.

6. Implement Changes

• Set Goals: Establish specific, measurable goals to address your biases. For example, aim to diversify your social circle or consume media from different cultures regularly.

• Take Action: Make conscious efforts to act in ways that counteract your biases. This could involve speaking up against stereotypes or supporting inclusive practices in your community or workplace.

7. Continuous Learning

• Stay Informed: Keep up to date with research and discussions about bias and diversity. Learning is an ongoing process.

• Reflect Regularly: Periodically reassess your beliefs and behaviors to ensure you continue to grow and address any biases that emerge.

Having an unconscious bias doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you’re human. Everyone, that’s a big statement but I really believe that everyone has one or more unconscious biases. By actively engaging in these steps, you can uncover and address these biases. That will allow you to better understand yourself. Understanding yourself is absolutely vital if you want to understand someone who may be different from you.

As humans, we’re all a work in progress. The humans willing to put in the work to overcome their unconscious biases will indeed make progress. Progress towards being a better leader and a better human too.