Hair on Fire and Conversations about Bias (9-2-15)

Last week we talked about inclusion and superpowerment. This week we are going to look at bias, which is one of the biggest barriers we face. Pretend for a moment that you are looking in the mirror and have just uncovered your hair is on fire. What do you do? Option 1- Talk about it. Option 2- Take action to put the fire out. Which option do you choose?

I know this is a little over the top, but this is the way I feel we treat conversations about bias. We tell everyone it’s okay that we have biases. Then, we try to identify some of our biases and where they come from, and then the conversation abruptly stops. In other words, we identify we are on fire, talk about how it happened, but then we never figure out how we are going to put the fire out. Mirror moment. Be honest with yourself. What is a bias you have and what are you DOING to fight that bias? Below is my example.

I am biased against people who don’t talk/contribute much during meetings. I figure that I’m comfortable speaking up and sharing ideas, so everyone else should be. If you aren’t talking at meetings you aren’t prepared or you lack confidence. I know this rationale isn’t true. There are a plethora of reasons why people might not speak up during meetings. They might be more introverted or want the time to process alone. They might not want to be “that guy/gal” who just repeats what other people say. Maybe they don’t feel safe for a variety of reasons. Bottom line, my bias is wrong.

How I fight this (lessons learned from other leaders, Six Sigma, The Six Thinking Hats, and other articles)

Keep reminding myself that just because I’m comfortable doesn’t mean everyone else is.
If I’m leading the meeting I send out the questions we are going to tackle ahead of time. This gives everyone a chance to process on their own.
I changed the way I run brainstorming sessions.

I used to brainstorm entirely unstructured. We would bring up ideas, kill them, and move on. This was fine with me, but it didn’t lead to the superpowerment of others. Now I do more of a Six Sigma structure. First, all we do is brainstorm ideas. This is about quantity, not quality. I don’t let anyone judge the ideas. If people try to judge ideas, I remind them that we aren’t doing this right now 😉 This makes things safer, because there is no right or wrong at this point. Then we affinitize. Finally we prioritize and weigh the ideas. Combine this with the above bullets, and I believe this process create a safer environment and empowers people to participate.

I’ve found that doing a combination of the above things, paying better attention to body language, and being a better listener have helped us have better sessions and helped me fight a bias I have. Your hair is on fire. What’s your bias and what are you DOING to fight it?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

From Inclusion to Superempowerment (8-26-15)

This week’s blog was partially inspired by an article written by Dr. Gates, “Inclusion is bad for business”. Click HERE for the article. Last week we talked about the silent questions we ask such as: Can I be myself? Does this person value different people and thoughts? Can I trust this person? We also spent time thinking about the difference between diversity and inclusion. Often when people talk about inclusion they talk about creating a safe environment, but I want to challenge us to do more. How can we take inclusion to the next level?

I want you to think about the teams you’ve been on throughout your life. I’ve been on teams where it was safe to jump in and people tiptoed into the waters. I’ll call this an inclusive team. I’ve also been on teams that had some kind of extra magic where you jumped in, cannonball style, unleashing your personality, talent, and abilities for the greater good. I’ll call this a team that practices superpowerment (Super+Empowerment). Which team would you rather be on?

By now you are probably trying to figure out what superpowerment looks like? These are the leaders who go one step further on everything. Inclusive leaders encourage you to be yourself. Superpowerment leaders go out of their way to make sure you understand how your uniqueness is valuable to them, the team, and the organization. Inclusive leaders give you the chance to be visible and Superpowerment leaders ensure you are seen. The bottom line is that an inclusive leader sees a spark and gives it room to flourish, while a superpowerment leader sees the spark and pours gas on it to make it burn brighter, bigger, and longer.

Is inclusion good enough for you? What kind of a leader do you want to be? How can you answer those silent questions and move from diversity to inclusion and then from inclusion to superpowerment?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Diversity, Inclusion, and Silent Questions (8-19-15)

Over the past few weeks I’ve found inspiration from various people, articles, and events, so I want us to spend a few weeks diving into concepts related to diversity and inclusion. This week’s entry is about the “silent” questions that we are always asking and their impact on inclusion.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is that we often use the words diversity and inclusion interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same things. Diversity is about having a group of different people. Inclusion is about creating an environment for that group where people all freely participate.

If we want diversity we can go and grab a bunch of different people and throw them in a room, but this doesn’t mean that we will have inclusion. This doesn’t mean we will have teamwork. This doesn’t mean we will have any synergy. One of the reasons things like inclusion, teamwork, and synergy never occur is because of the way others react to the “silent” questions that we are always asking.

Imagine for a moment that you are in a room full of people. You know some of them, but not all of them. What are some of the silent questions you are asking? In situations like these I’m always asking a few key questions: Can I be myself with this person? Does this person really value different people and thoughts? Can I trust this person? Why should I trust them? What will happen if I do put my trust in them?

I’m going to be very honest and forthright about my skepticism. I don’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt on the above questions. Instead, the entire time I’m spending time with them I’m looking for things that they say and more importantly things that they do that answer those questions. Positive answers lead to my engagement and an inclusive environment. Negative answers take all of the energy out of the room.

It doesn’t matter if you are a peer, a manager, or an upper level leader, people are always asking these questions when they are around you to see if you really believe in inclusion. I think we know people in all levels of the organization who fail and who pass this important test.

The challenge: How are you answering these “silent” questions?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry