Picture this scenario.

You are boarding the plane on a business trip. As you take your seat in first class, the person seated next to you asks if you want to be seated together with the two passengers behind you. You turn around, and realize the two passengers behind you are of the same ethnic background as you.

When you casually state that you actually don’t know the couple, she becomes embarrassed, and explains: “Oh, I thought you all came together.” You smile, laugh it off, and tell her not to worry, because it was just an honest mistake—a mistake you wonder whether you could have made if the scenario was reversed.

This is an example of unconscious bias at work.

Even though I always try to treat others with the best of intentions, and believe I care equally for people of different backgrounds, I know that my unconscious biases still lurk under the surface. If I do not make a conscious effort to pay attention to my own biases, I will keep behaving in an unaware manner from my own bias.

Being an individual who works to create healthier company and community cultures, I understand my responsibility to lead by example. To address my unconscious biases, I find it useful to first identify biases I hold based on more obvious observable characteristics, and then explore the less obvious biases.

Biases that are Obvious

Obvious biases typically fall into categories that we can easily self-identify. They include:

• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Height and weight
• Income/economic status
• Marital status
• Education
• Profession
• Country of origin/residence
• Language
• Affiliations (e.g. religious, political, school, company, etc)

Even though I try to be unbiased, I realize that my experiences have shaped the lens I see the world through. When I take the time to explore my biases in each category — for example, when I ask myself how I feel about millennials vs. baby boomers — I bring greater awareness to the (unconscious) judgments I make for every person I meet at the office, at the grocery store, or at a social gathering.

Biases that are Less Obvious

How I think and believe and what I value can also create biases that are less obvious. These may include:

• Communication style (e.g. assertive vs. passive)
• Analytical approach (e.g. structured vs. divergent thinking)
• Role preference (e.g. ideation vs. implementation)
• Personality (e.g. calm vs. energetic)
• Values (e.g. security vs. adventure)

These nuances of the way I think and behave can have significant influences over how I react to people who think and behave like me vs. unlike me. For instance, I find myself favoring people who are structured thinkers and communicators, because that’s the way I was trained to think and communicate. I can get frustrated by divergent thinkers, and often lose patience when it feels like they’re beginning to ramble a bit. Understanding my own bias helps me remain patient and open-minded to approaches different from my own. It enables me to appreciate the strengths of divergent thinkers—who often come up with more creative ideas due to the unstructured nature of their thought processes.

In the same vein, my personal values can create undue emphasis on those with qualities I admire. For instance, because I value vulnerability in people, I find myself trusting the opinion of people who demonstrate vulnerability; even though vulnerability is not correlated with intelligence or wisdom – which are also important considerations for assessing the validity of an opinion. Instead of blindly operating from my gut, an increase in awareness of my personal bias lowers my probability of dismissing those different than me, or giving undue importance to those with qualities similar to my own.

Getting to Know My Blind Spots

I can identify some of my own biases through self-reflection. However, there will always be some blind spots that remain unconscious to me. Engaging others in a discussion about our biases can help us see and identify our blind spots.

Even though I may worry about how others may judge me, sharing my biases makes it okay for others to do so too. Since no one is immune to having unconscious biases, it is important for all of us to create environments where it is safe to discuss these ideas openly, and help each other avoid making biased assumptions.

Though many organizations have already begun taking steps to mitigate the obvious biases from the job applicant screening process, we can benefit even more from building cultures where it’s safe to have honest conversations within our teams about when and where biases tend to show up, and create agreements and processes to mitigate their impact.

Fostering inclusive workplaces begins with identifying our own biases, and creating workplace culture where it’s safe to openly communicate where biases may be impacting our behavior and decisions.

Want to learn more about why it’s so important to eliminate unconscious bias? Click here.