020 Network Beyond Bias to Create a Competitive Advantage – Amy Waninger

Bias is a natural human condition, but we can learn to stretch our comfort zone and Network Beyond Bias to create a competitive advantage in our careers. Has a coworker or boss ever just rubbed you the wrong way, and you can’t figure out why? You’d be surprised at how easily one can be biased against another person, and it might be due to something as simple and unconscious as the sound of their voice or even their height relative to your own. So how do we fight back against these unfair, instinctual snap judgements?

Amy Waninger is the founder and CEO of Lead at Any Level, LLC, which helps professionals develop leadership skills and make their workplaces more diverse and inclusive. She is also a certified change practitioner, a professional member of the National Speakers Association, and the author of Network Beyond Bias: Making Diversity a Competitive Advantage for Your Career.

In this episode, Amy discusses the nature of bias, how our own perceptions can be skewed, and the ways we can use bias as leverage in our own careers.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS EPISODE:

(1:49) - Amy elaborates on Network Beyond Bias and why she wrote it.

(2:46) - Examples of subtle and easily overlooked bias that one might encounter in the workplace.

(6:32) - The evolutionary roots of bias and how it has developed throughout history.

(8:31) - Explaining unconscious bias and why it’s the most insidious form of bias.

(9:40) - How to break through our personal biases when networking?

(12:32) - Is there any advantage to bias? Amy pitches her three-step model for working with bias.

(16:24) - Stepping outside your comfort zone when networking at conferences.

(23:17) - Amy’s free, insightful gift to listeners and her parting piece of advice.

TWEETABLES:

“Your brain can’t be everywhere at once.”

“Unconscious bias is really limiting for us in our careers because we don’t know that they’re happening.”

“The great thing about defaults is that you can override them, but you have to choose to override them.”

“When you know what those blinds spots are you can make a conscious effort then to connect with someone who’s different.”

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