Guest: Rebecca Heiss

From our archives, a special show about our hidden biases.

 

We all have bias. In various forms, it’s built into our brains. But implicit bias creates a disadvantage for leaders and their organizations. Dr. Rebecca Heiss has studied bias extensively, and shares what implicit bias is and how it impacts each of us. As leaders, we need to understand and manage implicit biases because they impact our hiring choices, promotion and succession decisions, company policies – even how closely we pay attention to someone in a presentation. To truly ensure we hire and retain top talent, we need to remove bias from our decision making process as much as possible. During this show, Rebecca shares her research…and what it reveals about the ways we can beat the bias in our business, and our lives.

Here's what Rebecca and Maureen cover:

• What, exactly, implicit bias is – and how it taints your decision-making without you realizing;
• How implicit bias goes beyond major strokes like race and religion, such as the seemingly subtle bias of “Blondes have more fun” which has deep effects in the workplace; and
• The ways bias actually impedes how efficiently (and profitably) your company is achieving its goals.

 

Other episodes for deeper learning:

• The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias – with Gleb Tsipursky
• Reimagining American Identity – with Amiel Handelsman & Jewel Kinch-Thomas
• DEI: Needed Conversations & Understanding – with Laura Morgan Roberts & Courtney McCluney

 

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn . We're on Mastodon, Facebook, and Twitter, too!  

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RESOURCES:  

Dr. Heiss has a fascinating book on dealing with stress and boosting productivity. Instinct is available here .

Her equally fascinating TEDx talk on Ghostbusting Our Evolutionary “Other” is on YouTube here.

There’s more on her website at www.RebeccaHeiss.com .

 

 Our host, Maureen Metcalf, posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here .

She’s also written several award-winning books on leadership development. You can peruse and purchase them here: https://amzn.to/3C4eSX0 .

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Producer: Dan Mushalko

Editor: Connor Carson

Graphics Editor: Devon Mushalko

Podbean Patroller: Luigi Morelli

CONNECT WITH US:

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YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership

Twitter: @IL_Institute

Mastodon: @InnoLeader

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2

Website: InnovativeLeadership.com

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Rebecca Heiss is an evolutionary biologist focusing on human behavior and physiology. She’s the founder and CEO of a measurable stress reduction company, Instinctive Cognition. As a speaker and consultant, Rebecca has developed a passion for helping others overcome blind spots to become their best biological selves.

After earning a PhD with research designated as “transformative” by the National Science Foundation, Rebecca went on to hold multiple appointments in academia, applying her research to solve practical problems in overcoming what she refers to as “biological ghosts” — subconscious behaviors that haunt modern life. A creative thought leader, she delivered a TEDx talk on a portion of her work, and has built her career on helping others break through their evolutionary ethical “blind spots.” Having conquered the business of biology, Dr. Heiss has turned her focus to revolutionizing the biology of business.