Who are you calling bias?

Who is truly objective? How can good leaders ensure they have all the right information and ideas when making decisions? Mark Prisk explains some of the themes he applies when coaching business and civic leaders.

We all like to think that we are objective - about our colleagues, our clients and especially ourselves. That we see the whole picture. However, we are human and as such cannot be truly objective – we each have a perspective framed by our upbringing and experience. This colours how we see the world around us and – especially - how we see ourselves.

So, when working with directors, business leaders and others, my first challenge is often encouraging them to look for and appreciate different perspectives. Its not natural for many people to recruit a disparate team, especially one in which different views are held and expressed strongly. I’ve had a least one coaching client who struggled with this.

emotional intelligence means being alert to what isn’t said

This lack of objectivity is often most acute not in what we think we see or hear, but rather in what we fail to see or hear. For example, a muted or even silent response to a CEO’s new plan can mean several things, from agreement, to reluctant acquiescence to unspoken hostility. Being sensitive to this and exploring what people really think is vital.

In politics, the lack of emotional intelligence is more common than you might think. Its true that successful politicians can sense the broad, political mood, but all too often many of my former colleagues were oblivious to the impact of the words or actions on those immediately around them. The poll tax, a much hated idea which helped bring down Margaret Thatcher, had been pushed through Cabinet without serious consideration of the few muted voices of dissent.

Self awareness can be the most significant insight

Perhaps the best we can hope for is simply to understand that we are not objective and to try and be as independent and neutral when judging the situation or the mood of one’s senior colleagues or Board. Self awareness can be the most significant insight for coachees.

The second lesson follows on from this. The answers you get will often depend on the questions you ask, who you asked, and how you asked. As a Government Minister I had been alerted before taking office that all too often people might give me the answer they thought I wanted to hear. They would avoid the awkward truth.

So I took a special care to seek out alternative viewpoints and challenge officials when convenient options were the only ones offered. Aficionados of The West Wing TV show will know that President Bartlett’s best decisions are often made when his advisors strongly disagree and debate the issue before him. One of the reasons why the real President Reagan proved a good leader was his ability to appoint serious experienced individuals whose views did not always concur, allowing him to be the judge of what the balance of the argument should be. This is key role of any leader.

do I have the whole picture?

The third lesson is always to work from good information and data and to be prepared to change your judgement and decisions if that data changes. We’ve all been in situations where the information is incomplete or inconclusive. We can use our gut instinct, or experience of similar past problems, to make decisions and sometimes we have no choice. However, wherever possible it’s important to judge not just the opinions of colleagues, but also the nature and completeness of the information they are providing, when deciding whether to act.

Some organisations have enabled there to be a “safe space“ in which the dangers of bias – without apportioning blame – can be considered and incorporated into an executive decision is taken. A well run Board of Directors can and should provide that room.

Bias is a word often applied to the media or politicians. Yet its inherent in us all and when we acknowledge that and reflect in our decision making, we can start to become better leaders.

Mark coaches directors and other senior leaders in business, civic organisations and major charities.