The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias

by Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow

A timely, must-have guide to understanding and overcoming bias in the workplace, from the experts at FranklinCovey.

Unconscious bias affects everyone. It can look like the disappointment of an HR professional when a candidate for a new position asks about maternity leave. It can look like preferring the application of an Ivy League graduate over one from a state school. It can look like assuming a man is more entitled to speak in a meeting than his female junior colleague.

Ideal for every manager who wants to understand and move past their own preconceived ideas, The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias explains that bias is the result of mental shortcuts, our likes and dislikes, and is a natural part of the human condition. And what we assume about each other and how we interact with one another has vast effects on our organizational success—especially in the workplace. Teaching you how to overcome unconscious bias, this book provides more than thirty unique tools, such as a prep worksheet and a list of ways to reframe your unconscious thoughts.

According to the experts at FranklinCovey, your workplace can achieve its highest performance rate once you start to overcome your biases and allow your employees to be whole people. By recognizing bias, emphasizing empathy and curiosity, and making true understanding a priority in the workplace, we can unlock the potential of every person we encounter.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Psychology, Professional Development, Self Help, Management

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2020

Reviews

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written to be an extremely gentle, hand-holding guide for people in power who have never had to deal with their own biases before. It is executed perfectly.

If you HAVEN'T been under a rock, you will find yourself occasionally rolling your eyes and thinking "My goodness, white folk are SO FRAGILE" but it is what it is, man, do not despise these small beginnings.

Even if you "don't need" this book, it's worth reading. It's well written, short and sweet. You will probably get a notion or two from it. I, for one, felt that it gave me some really good vocabulary to use when advocating for diversity in my organization.

[Carmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read to point out biases in every day life, but the authors' perspective definitely comes from a "professional" work environment (Franklin-Covey--a consulting firm). This isn't a horrible thing, as I think more offices and workplaces in general could use more bias training, but as a teacher, my work seems completely different from the scenarios outlined here (travel, interviews, project management).

Bias is complicated but something that almost everyone needs to work through. This is a great book for most people to get started--I'd say it's not recommended for those in education (there are better books for you) but for those in a leadership role or development role--this is a must-read.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

"As leaders, we have an obligation to help each of our team members develop a career as robust and rewarding as they desire it to be..." - Anne Chow, CEO of AT&T Business

From the leadership experts at FranklinCovey, "The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias" is an extraordinary guide to reframing bias, cultivating connection, and creating high-performing teams. Written in a remarkably accessible and practical style, "The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias" starts with a basic truth - unconscious bias is impacting organizational performance whether we know it or not.

From there, FranklinCovey chief thought leader on inclusion and bias Pamela Fuller joins co-writers Mark Murphy, a Franklin Covey senior consultant, and AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow in crafting a four-part framework to identify bias, cultivate connection, choose courage, and apply against the talent lifecycle.

The end result, both applicable and inspirational, is a book that equips readers with tangible tools to create the best environment for all of their team members and to mitigate possible negative impacts of workplace bias.

I wasn't much past the preface to what I'll start calling "Unconscious Bias," a preface sharing that between the time the authors sent their manuscript to the editors at Simon & Schuster on May 15th, 2020 and two weeks later when they received it back for review that the world had dramatically changed as the impact of quarantine had begun to be overshadowed in powerful ways by global protests about racial injustice.

While the connection between injustice and bias, especially within a corporate setting, may seem thin, the truth is they are interwoven. "Unconscious Bias" asserts that bias is, in fact, part of the human condition and how our brains work.

To be human is to have bias.

The power of "Unconscious Bias," a book that challenged me in ways big and small, is that it simultaneously speaks to the corporate world while tapping into the humanity that we all bring into our roles as employees, leaders, and human beings. While speaking to organizations, "Unconscious Bias" encourages each reader to explore vulnerability, develop curiosity, and build empathy - essential choices to be made in moving past our negative biases and choosing courage.

Tackling our biases does take courage.

"Unconscious Bias" explores best practices and strategies applicable to the Talent Lifecycle and speaks to building high-performing teams AND high-performing individuals and creating the high-performing cultures that will foster both of these things.

Yet, it was the final paragraph of the preface that really hooked me, a simple statement shared from FranklinCovey CEO Bob Whitman that "You must do the work your goals require," words shared at a conference yet words that ultimately guide the organizational cultures we create and our work toward a more inclusive world and organization.

Fuller, Chow, and Murphy have crafted an intelligent, insightful, and almost stunningly compassionate book that defines bias, explores the ways in which it helps and hurts performance, and explored tangible ways, many of them documented at the end of each remarkable chapter, we can course-correct when we become aware of unconscious bias influencing our work.

As a professional with a disability, it has been rare for me to see a book addressing leadership skills that gives attention to employees, job seekers, and professional leaders with disabilities.

Yet, "Unconscious Bias" does so and does so regularly throughout the book.

Truthfully? I'll even admit I cried once. Okay, actually, I think I cried and then did a fist bump in the air.

The core of "Unconscious Bias" is the Bias Progress Model, a model that takes the central concepts of identifying bias, cultivating connection, and choosing courage and applies it across the Talent Lifecycle. The power of this teaching for me is found early in the book as we learn to take that lifecycle and go beyond the usual realm of law and policy. Each central concept is associated with a principle, for example "self-awareness," and "Unconscious Bias" beautifully explores both central concept and principle and the ways they work together.

In addition to the wisdom of each chapter, each chapter ends with an extended reflection for individuals along with "Application for Leaders," both essentially practical exercises to help integrate the material more fully.

"Unconscious Bias" became a book that I started with reading.

Then, I read it again.

Then, I re-read it again AND began working through both the reflections and applications. Truthfully? I'm still not done. Each time through "Unconscious Bias" has resulted in seeing something new and having a new "Aha!" moment come to life.

The chapters make sense and flow beautifully.

The first part, Identify Bias, explores identity, an understanding of neuroscience, recognizing bias trips, and embracing mindfulness.

Ah, mindfulness.

In the second part, Cultivating Connection, "Unconscious Bias" explores belonging, curiosity, empathy, the power of networks, and the ever important navigation of difficult conversations.

Choosing Courage explores the courage to identify, cope, be an ally, and be an advocate. While, finally, the actual Talent Lifecycle explores the very real world issues of getting hired, contributing/engaging, and moving up.

All of these areas are addressed in ways that are meaningful to both individuals and organizations and in ways that are inclusive and refreshingly transparent and vulnerable.

If it's not yet readily apparent, I loved "The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias," a powerful and enlightening book both personally and professionally that is beautifully written in a way that makes it easy to read yet also in a way that will make you want to re-read it again and again and again.

I would easily recommend taking the time to explore the exercises at the end of each chapter, exercises that marvelously illuminate the writing and will no doubt help integrate the material so that you'll find, as I have, that the teaching will come to mind the next time you find yourself in a situation where you're experiencing unconscious bias.

In the short time since I read the book for the third time, I've seen myself applying these lessons as an employee and as a leader and there's no doubt this will continue as I work to have the courage to understand bias's role in my life and what I can do about it.

Easily one of my favorite books on business and leadership in 2020, "The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias" is available November 10th from Simon & Schuster.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that readers would be better off buying rather than checking out from a library, because a) there is a lot of information in here and b) some of the exercises are actually worth doing.

Unlike many books on leadership and inclusion, this one is written to include several different perspectives regarding unconscious bias - the person with bias, the person experiencing bias, and the leader trying to fight bias. Many books miss that center piece...or only deal with one type of bias. This book is incredibly well-rounded in this respect and includes many types of bias that even conservative people will be able see existing.

I appreciate that one of the authors is LGBTQ and found his contributions particularly insightful, especially from the perspective of someone experiencing bias.

One minor complaint. The chapter on "mindfulness" was bullshitty and didn't have a place with the rest of the materials, which are based on research, data, fact, and experience. Mindfulness is nothing but bullshit.

The chapters are short, which something I really love to see in nonfiction, because it helps breakdown complex topics into intentional, well-sized portions for the reader.

More broadly, the writing style is easy to get into. The author has a great voice; same with coauthors. It doesn't read like a typical business book. It reads better. Also reads fast.

Overall, this is a worthwhile read on the topic with a lot to draw the reader into the conversation. Pairs well with The Person You Mean to Be (Chugh). It's the book I wish my bosses had read.

I am likely to buy a copy in spite of the mindfulness chapter.

[Analese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Work reading! Progress in myself!

[Aaron Mikulsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The experts at FranklinCovey show how your workplace can achieve its highest performance once you start to overcome your biases and allow your employees to be whole people. By recognizing bias, emphasizing empathy and curiosity, and making true understanding a priority in the workplace, you can unlock the potential of every person you encounter.
To be human is to have bias. If you were to say, “I don’t have bias,” you’d be saying your brain isn’t functioning properly! Essentially, unconscious bias arises from our brain’s capacity problem. We take in an astonishing 11 million pieces of information each second, but we can consciously process only about 40 of those bits. To handle the gap, our brains build shortcuts to make sense of this information. We pay special attention to data that proves our strategy is working and gloss over data that casts doubt (confirmation bias). We unconsciously prefer the first job candidate we meet (primacy bias). And we simply like people who are like us (affinity bias).
Bias is a preference for or against a thing, person, or group, compared with another. We’re sometimes conscious of these biases and can state them directly. Here, the focus is on unconscious bias, also called implicit or cognitive bias. Research shows that we have unconscious biases around gender, race, job function, personality, age/ generation, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, nationality, language ability, veteran status, culture, weight, height, physical ability, attractiveness, political affiliation, virtual/remote working, hair color— even the messiness of someone’s desk or their posture. The Bias Progress Model, which moves beyond awareness of unconscious bias to specific action, is comprised of four parts: Identify Bias, Cultivate Connection, Choose Courage, and Apply Across the Talent Lifecycle.

Identify Bias - Each component of this four-part framework is also associated with a principle. The principle of Identify Bias is self-awareness. Self-awareness is the intellectual pursuit of introspection. Increased self-awareness can enable us to identify our biases. When we build self-awareness, we stop acting automatically and start making better decisions.

Explore Identity - The first step in identifying bias is to know ourselves and examine how personal identity influences and is influenced by bias. In FranklinCovey’s Identity Model, the sources that comprise our identities include Information. What we listen to, what we read, what we hear, what we watch—all of that information shapes our world views, perspectives, and biases.
Education. Our level of education, our field of study, and the specific educational institutions we attended contribute to our sense of self—and our preferences and biases.
Context. Identity can change as our situation changes: where we live, our religious practice, our situational contexts at work—for example, moving to a new organization or team.
Culture. This could be race, religion, ethnicity, or geography.
Innate traits. We have innate preferences that also can contribute to bias and to the way we see circumstances and situations.
Our experiences. Our experiences stay with us, leaving a lasting impression and influencing how we see future experiences and the choices we make.

In FranklinCovey’s Identity Model, these elements and our identity go two ways. These elements influence our identity, and our identity influences them back, both creating biases.
A primary goal of exploring bias is to bring the unconscious to consciousness so that we can improve the quality of our decisions and relationships. Once we bring the unconscious forward and can name it, we can also do some analysis of it.
Dig into your identity. Complete 10 “I am” statements about who you are, representing traits such as age, race, gender, culture, physical abilities but also education, religion/spirituality, skills, family relationships, personality, and defining experiences.
Consider the correlation between your identity and potential or uncovered biases. Do they limit possibilities or expand them? Are they serving you well or getting in the way of what you’re trying to achieve? Do they influence you to put off decisions or lure you to rush into actions you often regret?

Recognize the Bias Traps - Two common biases are in-group bias and negativity bias. In-group bias is our tendency to favor people we like or those who are like us, while excluding those who are different. Negativity bias is when we are more powerfully affected by negative experiences than positive ones. Two common biases under the need for speed are attribution bias, when we judge others on their actions but judge ourselves on our intent, and sunk-cost bias, our tendency to continue our current course of action because we’ve invested time, money, or energy into it. It’s the idea that we have reached a point of no return.

Embrace Mindfulness - Mindfulness is one of the most critical skills required to identify bias in ourselves and others. Our minds are incredibly prone to wandering away from what’s happening in the present moment; we spend almost half of our day thinking about something other than what we’re actually doing. Without mindfulness, decisions become automatic. Mindfulness is a state of mind achieved by concentrating our awareness on the present moment, focusing on our feelings, thoughts, and senses to better understand how we engage with others and react to stimuli. Ultimately, we’re trying to create the pause between information coming in and our emotional reactions to that information. It can be hard to know where to start, so consider these best practices: Build a regular meditation practice. Pause and describe. Set intention.

Cultivate Connection - By intentionally building connection with others, we are essentially filling in the gaps in our supercomputer brains, leaving less room for assumptions and more room for human complexity and nuance. You may have heard the expression “The fish is the last to discover water.” We can’t see our own biases when we’re surrounded by them. When we demonstrate empathy toward others, we’re suspending our own beliefs, agendas, and interests to understand those of others. We make space for real breakthroughs to occur.
Focus on Belonging - Our brain is constantly trying to figure out whether we belong. Most researchers believe the need to belong is a critical psychological need. And yet in so many ways our workplace structures don’t cultivate belonging or promote connection.
Being your authentic self at work is the first step to belonging. It is the open part where you are transparent and honest about your identity: who you are, what fuels you, and how you communicate.

Tap into the power of networks - Mentorship is about skill-building, coaching is about strategy, and sponsorship is about reputation. Making progress requires a safe space. The confidant is someone you trust implicitly and with whom you can share your thoughts around being on the receiving end of bias or having biases yourself. Sometimes the confidant is a trusted colleague and sometimes, a friend. Ideally, it’s not one person but a few people.

Choose Courage - When we bring unconscious biases to the surface, we find they’re often not in alignment with our values. But we don’t necessarily know what to do about that imbalance. In the FranklinCovey framework, choosing courage helps us make progress on bias at all levels, particularly in our teams and organizations. Courage in this context is the mental or moral strength to strive and persevere in the face of uncertainty, fear, and difficulty. Courage is framed in four different ways to allow for the reality of circumstances: Courage to identify, to cope, to be an ally, and to be an advocate.

Apply Across the Talent Lifecycle
How can we genuinely and sincerely apply the principles of self-awareness, openness, and growth to the Talent Lifecycle—not because we’re obligated to do so but because we recognize that diversity and inclusion are critical to sustain a high-performing organization. The decisions of the Talent Lifecycle fall under three categories: getting hired, contributing and engaging, and moving up.

Here were some tips for hiring and interviewing - Create trained hiring panels. Move away from one-on-one interviews. Build a process whereby hiring officials are required to complete training on bias, effective interviewing skills, and determining competency and skill. Require that multiple hiring officials participate in and collaborate during interviews.

[Ruth Millard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a leader's guide in people development to help reframe bias in the presence and in communication. The book was set up to identify bias and help people to be mindful in conversations, and then identify those opportunities to cultivate the connection in conversations. And when faced with an opportunity or situation to help cultivate that conversation, to come to it with the voice and lense of courage nor resentment, resistance, or purpose to win. The last part of the book was focused on the talent lifecycle and its opportunities to engage in conversation around policies, processes and organizational culture. A good read for any looking to learn more about bias but also to assess one's own personal bias.

[Avraam Mavridis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. It should be read by everyone who is any lead role and anyone who is part of an interview process.

[Nikki Lavarias · Rating 4 out of 5]

encouraging me to check my bias on an ongoing basis 🖤

[ISAAC PRASHANTH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a powerful and enlightening book both personally and professionally, which must be on top of your reading list.

The authors did an amazing work by choosing the ways to make this topic more relevant and engaging. This book not only deep-dives into various aspects of bias but also provides a 'how-to approach' and 'how-to reframe' our thought process and awareness. Each chapter provides with 'Reflection for Individuals' and 'Application for Leaders'. This is a must for all team members to strengthen teams and organisations alike.

Quick Summary:

To be human is to have bias. If you were to say, “I don’t have bias,” you’d be saying your brain isn’t functioning properly!

Wait a minute - does it mean I am biased? Yes, we all are. Period. Blame it on the brain's functioning mechanism. Looks like, without bias our brain may be paralysed. Since it is a way our brain gets us through each day with all the onslaught of information coming at us.

Unconscious bias also called implicit or cognitive bias can have a positive, benign or negative impact. Research shows that bias is far more ubiquitous than we can even imagine, and it’s impacting our organisational results - everything from culture, retention, recruitment, innovation and profitability to shareholder return. But the sense that people who have biases are inherently ill-intentioned or morally flawed is one of the paradigms that stops us from making progress on this issue.

The authors provide the below framework to overcome our unconscious bias:

Identity Bias → Self-Awareness
Cultivate Connection → Openness
Choose Courage → Growth
Apply across Talent Lifecycle → Implement

Reframing how we think about bias, cultivating meaningful connection, and choosing courage will ensure we are always poised to build high-performing teams. The aim is move from a Damaging Zone (Abused, Harassed) & Limiting Zone (Ignored, Tolerated) to a High-Performance Zone (Respected, Valued) which increases the likelihood of our operating from the Thinking brain instead of Primitive or Emotional brain.

“The fish is the last to discover water.” We can’t see our own biases when we’re surrounded by them. Making progress on bias often requires us to examine the repercussions of our most deeply held thoughts and beliefs. The Speed of Trust, says, “We tend to judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their observable behaviour.” Solving bias isn't a one-shot deal. We won’t ever have an exhaustive list of all our biases which we will tick off our checklist. It is our constant willingness to change and adapt as and when it arises.

This book provides strategies to embrace our whole selves to confront and bring to light our unconscious biases. We all have them. It’s totally normal. But until we make them visible and begin to understand them, we won’t be able to constructively work through them.

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

I totally agree with the authors that we all, as human beings, have certain biases. It's part of being human. However, problems arise if we aren't aware of our biases and don't work on correcting them.

It's no secret that biases can result in mental shortcuts, likes/dislikes, and other issues which could be devastating, especially in the workplace. They can all impact our decisions when hiring, promoting, or creating high-performing teams. We could miss opportunities.

Overall, The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias is a timely toolkit for understanding and overcoming bias in the workplace. Ideal for every *new* manager who wants to understand and move past their preconceived ideas, primarily if you work with diverse/global teams.

I rated this book 3/5 because some chapters felt too promotional to FranklinCovey. (The company which financed this book, I believe). Also, some topics could have been expanded more. Additionally, I wouldn't say I liked the simple tips like focusing on mindfulness, journaling, etc., when dealing with biases. All sounded a bit too surface-level to me—other than that, not a bad book.

I'd still recommend reading it to anyone who thinks being aware of our biases is critical to improving workplace experience and growing as a leader.

[Shane Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book to participate in a bookclub at work. I wasn’t sure if it would have much of an impact on me and my role as a manager and leader, but after the first few chapters I was proven wrong. The book begins by politely pointing out that we all have bias and anyone who tells you otherwise is incorrect. Our brains are wired to create shortcuts when we see certain situations to quickly make decisions. This can be helpful in some situations, but if not monitored it could lead to negativity bias and influence decision making.

What really impacted me is the discussion on being an ally to marginalized groups. I think many people who are not part of those groups tends to keep their distance and avoid participating in discussions, but those individuals are able to use their privilege to amplify marginalized voices. Leaders should also consider their succession plans and the bench they are building for the future leaders of an organization. Each hiring decision made is going to influence the current AND the future performance of an organization.

I would recommend this book to anyone and would strongly recommend it for those in hiring positions. It’s a constant process of identifying bias and addressing it.

[Ruta Alb · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bias is a natural part of the human condition and how our brain works." The conscious bias is something we talk about once in a while. Probably fight it in some situations and succumb in others. But when we are not at the receiving end of the bias - do we really know and understand the consequences?
This is a great read for any leader out there, for any person out there who has a want and need to make difference in someone else's life.
I instantly connected with this book, vividly saw how I could share the information and the invaluable exercises in a workshop.
For some of the thoughs I was more than ready, because I already live them. E.g. "Organizations are increasingly looking at not just what was achieved but also how it was achieved".
For others I am not ready yet. But I am aware of it. It is the first step, right?
So, what did I take from this book to myself?
"As a leader, you are measured on the results you achieve. But you do not achieve those results directly, you ahcieve them through others".
And
"Courage to be an ally is not a noun. Allies are defined by their actions. - Dr. Makini"

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with any leadership book I have read, there are always some great takeaways.

Essentially, no matter how self-aware one is, we're all guilty of unconscious bias. And I admit I am. Fuller did make me self-reflect. I immediately thought of examples of each kind of bias, as I was learning about them. The one section that I will definitely do an overhaul on, was how I handle the hiring process. Do I judge an individual's application? Yes. Resume attached or no? How do they sound/handle themselves on my follow up phone call, requesting an interview? During the interview, I look at eye contact, if the applicant asks questions, how are their communication skills? Foreign? Are they the required age? Did they attend school? What do I think if they didn't? So yes, I have work to do.

The theme of overcoming/kicking the habit of unconscious bias- did not need to be this lengthy. Like 'Start with Why' by Simon Sinek - Pamela Fuller (along with her co-authors) is extremely repetitive. For the final negative and overall low rating-I felt strong undertones from Pamela's own unconscious bias and judgement. Which kind of put a sour note on this one for me.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In recent years (2015-2020), there's been a strong push towards Diversity and Inclusion in society and many companies have developed training to employees. This book is a great resource support your organizations to continue learning on this topic. Pamela does a great job at dissecting the topic into very specific areas and she gives you actionable items that help you assess your level of self awareness.

This read can be very insightful. I especially enjoyed the sections that address the receiving end of bias. How do you react when you're discriminated against, are the subject of an insensitive joke or perhaps ignored by someone else due to his/her unconscious bias? It's a very unique perspective, and one that we should talk about more. It's easy to say that you're putting yourself in other's shoes, but Pamela does a great job at illustrating what that means - after all it's hard to imagine what growing up and living as a minority is like by just thinking about it for a second (try a lifetime).

[Dan Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very true that Unconscious bias affects everyone. I didn't really clearly understand this until seeing this through the eyes of the authors. We all have various different experiences and we often overlook the bias we all have and work to justify them. This book provides a framework for understanding our personal likes and dislikes and how it affects organizational and personal behavior. We often think that once in the workplace we all perceive a situation as the same and our personal histories and experiences are congruent.

This book helps shed light on how to change your paradigm and improve your perspective as a leader. I think the solutions offered in this well written situational book should be a foundational ready for any organization leader or manager. I sincerely hope they turn this into a course. Do yourself a favor and read this book it will help with adapting to changing perspectives and make you a better leader!

[Statia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not recommend if 1) you prefer action of talking, 2) you are not in a position to make real change, 3) work in government or 4) get turned off by phrases such as "choose courage" in the work place. The concepts of this book are warm and fuzzy but don't actually lead to real change. For a book that is supposed to be about leaders a lot of the "solutions" fall on the employees and there is absolutely nothing mentioned about staff retention. You must be wondering why I even gave this book two stars. Those stars are only, ONLY, because it's a good conversation starter. I've had a few conversations about unconscious bias as a subject with friend and colleagues since reading this book but that brings me back to issue item #2. In my current role, I can't make any real changes in the work place. It also reminds me of White Fragility by Robin D'Angelo because of the 'unconscious' element. Now THAT book you need to read.

[Div Manickam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book, Unconscious Bias, learning the types of biases was a good start to know the difference.

Great leaders challenge themselves as much as they challenge others.

To be human is to have bias.

Workplaces achieve their highest performance when they allow their employees to be whole people

In the High-Performance Zone, people feel respected, included, and valued, and are able to contribute their best.

When an imbalance of power is present in the conversation, we do not feel psychologically safe.

Confirmation bias is the idea that we tend to seek information that supports our existing beliefs.

Anchoring bias is the idea that we rely on the first piece of information we see to make decisions.

In-group bias is our tendency to favor people we like or those who are like us, while excluding those who are different.

Sunk cost bias is our tendency to continue our current course of action because we’ve invested time, money, or energy into it.

[Kevin Hatcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way the book started out - pointing out ways that people naturally carry bias. It helps us process information quickly and make decisions. Just knowing the way our brains have evolved to process information can allow us to take a step back from our snap decision, intuition, or affinity we have towards something to question it and look deeper into the merits of that choice. Very sensical. The other message that I took away from the book was on giving people chances. This theme came up in Glidewell's "Outliers" that a read a while back and Fuller uses it here as a means to create an environment for a high-performing team. I'm on board with that.

Other than these two take-aways, the rest of the book felt like an advertisement for FranklinCovey and got a bit too preachy on how we should lead our lives. The second half of the book was tedious.

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a "management" book, this wasn't half bad. The gentle guide treats workers as human beings- capable of great diversity that should be acknowledged and celebrated, but also biological limitations that create problems like bias. I especially liked that the book addressed internal issues like self-reflection as well as external issues like cultivating connection with others. Not only can you change your frame of mind, but the book will also give you actionable steps you can take within your workplace. Though, like many management materials, it is much more useful for the corporate sector of Accounts and Departments and Clients and Business Travel, and less so for, say, the shift manager at Arby's.

[Zackary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is the information in this book relevant and important, yes. Does this book touch on new concepts or areas of improvement, no.

If you’ve ever read a leadership book, this text will only serve as redundant information. The ideas and concepts go no further than surface level. Even more upsetting, they are not engaging and the message utilizes more first person antidotes that fail to recognize how personal perception is not relevant to the masses. Simply writing in a better tongue and a more inclusive/engaging methodology would improve the writings of this book.

If you’ve never read a book on leadership, this may be a good starting point. However, there are many books better than this one with better writing and more influence.

[Athanasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been looking for years for a book like this, great start to such a difficult subject, hopefully many HR professionals ( and not only) will buy this book and start working on the suggestions provided.

It starts full of enthusiasm and passion on the issue and solutions and half way through transforms to a boring text book like all those "the leader's guide ...." books, ( it feels that they have tried not to though), shame I was expecting more, maybe a re-read might help in changing my mind...

Additionally not available at Audible UK or to international listeners but US only, it's 2020 open the borders to knowledge and creativity!

[Vikrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must do course for leaders as well as followers where we are naturally biased against out of tribe/not like us people which is a conditioning not relevant to modern lives and organizations or even nations.

Its almost ironic that we have become so myopic that we have turned even the farmers anti nationals with our biases with what has transpired politically in India! But we would happily consume 3 square meals everyday produced by these very so called anti nationals. Politicians the world over thrive on our unconscious biases everyday.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read this book as part of the launch team, and it was good enough to where I jumped ahead in the reading schedule. As a white man in leadership, I was challenged to pull others along with me. I am committed to doing this and now aware of so many areas besides the obvious that bias is creeping in. We are made successful by the quality of our teams and the principles in this book will help me to build the best team possible.

[Krizia Irish · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books I’ve read in a long time that I have enjoyed and sincerely learned a great deal from in the process. I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 4 on embracing mindfulness and the examples / stories especially from Anne Chow she shared throughout the book. I highly recommend this book to all of my friends - whether they are a leader/ supervisor / manager or not we are all part of many different “teams” in life.

[Gage Abell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with numerous examples from seemingly similar national corporations, this book covers the basics for creating systems and auditing existing systems to prevent harmful bias from affecting your work.

This downside is that the content mainly applies to a specific group of workers in corporate settings. Some of the advice feels vague and doesn't provide many concrete examples of ways to impact a work environment.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to unconscious bias for those unfamiliar. I enjoyed listening to this was as it had three different narrators (all the authors). They each brought something different to this topic. I tried to download the PDF extras to review (some of it is journaling-type topics) but OverDrive didn't have it available. So if you just want to listen to it - it's great - but if you want to do the homework with it - look for the print book.

[Cassandra Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the biggest challenges in getting individuals to address their unconscious bias is convincing them that they might have unconscious bias in the first place (I am shocked how many people in the workplace truly seem to think that they have no flaws). This book did a great job in introducing the idea in a way that wouldn’t ignite immediate defensiveness in your average person. I thought it was so great that i bought a handful of copies for my workplace.

[David Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lot of it is so tied into American corporate policy that sometimes I felt a bit disoriented, sometimes genuinely shocked (are mentors and mentees really such a big deal on the other side of the pond?).

Still, even if lot of that missed me completely, I received quite a few practical tips on team management and hey, that is pretty great, isnt it? If you are leading medium sized teams with lots of different perspectives, this can be fun.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very straight to the point, and easy to apply to your own experiences. A quote that really stuck out to me, quoting S Covey: “ you can’t talk your way out of a problem you’ve behaved your way into”. Love this. And this book is definitely focused on actionable resources. If you hold any kind of leadership role in your professional career, this is a must read, especially if it’s never occurred to you to investigate your own biases.