We all have unconscious biases that influence our actions and decisions. These biases can be in favour of, or against, a range of attributes from obvious physical characteristics like race, gender, ethnicity and age, to more subtle ones like education, and work experiences.
Diversity and inclusion make a big difference when it comes to a company’s ability to innovate, attract clients and employees, and keep pace within its industry. As a result, it’s important to raise our awareness and develop truly inclusive leadership behaviours.
A new report by RBC and EY (Ernst and Young) entitled “Outsmarting our brains: Overcoming Hidden Biases to Harness Diversity’s True Potential” was recently released. This report highlights the impact of hidden biases in organizations and how leaders can help overcome them.
“The best leaders challenge the status quo and seek out the visionary thinking and broad perspectives that foster opportunity and growth. We have a responsibility to tackle the complex challenges that create barriers, limit creativity and blind us to the possibilities of our talent and our organizations. There has never been a better time to drive this change; never has it been so urgently necessary” (Gordon Nixon, President and Chief Executive Officer, RBC).
You can access the report at http://www.rbc.com/diversity/docs/overcoming-hidden-biases.pdf.
With diversity and inclusiveness issues top of mind for high performing businesses in Canada and around the world, there has never been a better time to improve our businesses, and our impact as leaders to others when it comes to diversity.
Link provided by Bob Mulligan; Regional Vice President, RBC; Board of Directors, ERIEC