(shared at work)
So – How do I break bias?
Earlier in my career, when I started working towards more leadership roles, I received some explicit feedback from an "expert career coach". He said – "You're Asian, you're a woman AND you have a PhD. You invoke a stereotype of someone who belongs in a 'lab' not in leadership ranks." Then he sheepishly added – "after talking to you for 5mins, you bust that bias". "But you should be aware that this bias exists and that you will have to work to overcome it".
This happened years before we started talking about implicit bias at work, so I was grateful that I got that feedback and became aware of the problem that I needed to tackle. And I tried out many strategies to help address it.
Some were good – like I started reading a lot of leadership books and started building my knowledge base – I realized that this is a learnable skillset! I also started seeking out assignments away from my core technical area – I learned so much about other parts of the business and got the opportunity to exercise those leadership skills because I didn't have the relevant technical skills for those jobs! These things worked out great for me in the long run.
But I also did some things that didn't work out so well. I tried "blending in" – I changed my appearance, my clothes, my hair; I dropped the "Dr" in front of my name – a title I worked so hard to earn; and worst of all, and this creeped up slowly, almost unknowingly – I started giving vague answers about where I was from. (I mean, it's a lot easier to say I am from Minnesota, than a village in India that is literally not on the map.) In more ways than one, I became homeless.
All this took a huge toll on me. I started feeling fake, and out of place, and weird, and drained. This breaking bias business was breaking me.
Then I remembered the other part of the feedback – "after talking to you for 5mins, you bust that bias" maybe he had meant it as a passing comment … but THAT was the key insight. How did I miss that? How did I get it so wrong? I was focused on changing my own reality, instead of changing others' perception of it. And by doing so, I was reinforcing the bias not breaking it.
So now I take a totally different approach. Now, I ask for my 5 mins. Any time I have a new team, a new boss, a business partner, or stakeholder – I arrange to meet to introduce myself directly and personally … and unapologetically show up as myself. I own my narrative instead of letting it get filtered and distorted by second-hand bias. It has been a game changer.
So this is how I break bias. How about you?
Unstereotypically Yours,
Ankur Ganguli
#IWD2022 #breakthebias #womenshistorymonth
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