Becoming Bias Free: Your Competitive Advantage

What is the "Becoming Bias Free" keynote?
"Becoming Bias Free" is an involving 60-90 minute presentation that inspires participants to take a fresh look at workplace bias and, most important, provides specific skills for reducing bias in themselves and others.

Who will benefit from this presentation?
Anyone who seeks to overcome the kind of subtle biases that interfere with the development of respectful productive relationships and truly inclusive workplaces.

What skills will I learn from "Becoming Bias Free"?
This presentation will provide five immediately applicable skills for:

• Understanding what bias is and explaining the concept to others in the workplace.
• Identifying subtle bias in oneself and others through the "Watch Your First Thought" technique.
• Uncovering the faulty foundations of your bias and, thereby, weakening its ability to influence your thinking.
• Identifying and creating shared "kinship groups" in the workplace thus creating an environment for reduced bias and increased inclusion.
• Shoving your biases aside and, in turn, making the conscious choice to treat everyone as an individual not merely as a member of a group.

How will these skills benefit me in the workplace?
Learning to reduce bias will result in:

• Improved decision-making skills and, therefore, better business results
• Reduced incidents of "leakage" or micro-inequities that interfere with creating a truly inclusive workplace.
• The improved ability to effectively motivate and meet the needs of individuals of all backgrounds
• The improved ability to work productively with team members of diverse backgrounds
• The improved ability to model bias-free attitudes and behaviors for other members of the organization and, thereby, encourage a diversity-friendly work environment
• Increased opportunities for innovative and creative thinking as team members feel more comfortable and, therefore, more willing to contribute.
• A reduced risk of career damage due to poor decisions resulting from biased attitudes
• Reduced incidents of diversity-related team tension and, therefore, less management time spent mediating those disputes

What is "bias"?
Bias is an inflexible positive or negative, conscious or unconscious belief about a particular category of people.

Can we really defeat bias? I always thought all we can do is become aware of biases and learn to work around them.
Yes, all but the most deeply imbedded bias can be defeated. We are not born biased; bias is a learned attitude. It is an acquired habit of thought rooted in fear and fueled by conditioning and, as such, can be unacquired and deconditioned.

Can the program be customized to our organization or the goals of our meeting?
Absolutely. Prior to the offering of any program, Dr. Thiederman will make every effort to hone the presentation - through client and industry-specific examples - so that it speaks directly to the needs of the audience.

Is this program available in a longer workshop version?
"Becoming Bias Free" is also available as a half-day workshop.  

What is the difference between the keynote and the workshop version?
The workshop allows for increased participation and in depth exploration of the topics covered in the keynote. Also, additional issues are covered including:

• How to use the "Magic If" empathy strategy to reduce bias in your workplace.
• The role of "secondary gains" in the possession of bias.
• Skills for reducing bias by engaging in counter-bias behaviors ("Act as If") and carefully targeted thinking.
• Strategies for using counter-bias images to reduce bias in the workplace.

Take a Look at Sondra Thiederman's Keynote/Workshop