I was just in a training on DEI&B, a framework designed to help people feel supported, equal, and safe in the workplace. I went in curious about bias: how it shows up, and how to catch it when it does. I came out floored by how many biases I have. And I’m pretty sure you do too.
Here’s what shifted for me. I used to think of bias as something separate from me, strong opinions, maybe, or personal preferences. But every preference has a bias underneath it. Every opinion does too. Which means this isn’t about other people. It’s about all of us.
Bias comes from our lived experiences. Our brains are wired to sort, categorize, and make fast decisions based on everything we have ever seen, heard, absorbed, and been told. It’s a preference, a belief, a leaning, conscious or not, that shapes how we see the world and the people in it. It shows up in who we hire, who we listen to, who we trust, who gets the stretch assignment, whose idea lands in a meeting and whose gets talked over.
When bias goes unexamined, the cost adds up in ways that are easy to miss. Teams start thinking alike. Communication quietly breaks down. People stop feeling seen and when that happens, they stop bringing their best. The people most affected are often the ones least able to name what’s happening.
I had no idea there were so many types. Read through these slowly. Answer the questions as you go, honestly.
The biases worth knowing and the questions worth asking.
Confirmation bias. You seek out information that supports what you already believe and unconsciously discount what doesn’t. This one shows up in how you read a performance review, how you interpret someone’s behavior, how you decide who is ready for more responsibility.
→ Where am I only looking for evidence that confirms what I already think about this person or situation?
Affinity bias. You gravitate toward people who remind you of yourself, same background, same communication style, same energy. It feels like chemistry. Here’s mine: I love being around achievers who move fast and get things done. What I’ve had to reckon with is my bias toward people who take more time, the ones who are deliberate, who sort through the facts carefully before they speak. That kind of intelligence is different than mine. And I was undervaluing it.
→ Who do I consistently feel most comfortable with and what does that tell me about who I might be overlooking?
Conformity bias. You shift your position to align with the group, even when your instinct says something different. In leadership, this can silence the most important voice in the room, yours.
→ When did I last change my opinion because of social pressure rather than new information?
The halo effect. One strong positive impression colors everything else you think about someone. They’re great in one area, so you assume they’re great everywhere. One mistake can follow someone far longer than it should.
→ Am I evaluating this person as they are today, or through the lens of a first impression I formed a long time ago?
The contrast effect. You evaluate someone in comparison to whoever came before them. The third candidate in an interview feels stronger than they might be because the second one was weak. Context distorts your read.
→ Am I assessing this person against a clear standard, or against whoever I just spoke to?
Attribution bias. When you succeed, it’s skill. When someone else does, it might be luck. When you fall short, it’s circumstance. When they do, it becomes a pattern. This one erodes fairness quietly and consistently.
→ Am I holding this person to the same standard I hold myself?
Gender bias. Assumptions about how people of different genders should communicate, lead, and show up are so deeply embedded that most people don’t recognize them as assumptions. They just feel like common sense.
→ Would I describe this behavior differently if it came from someone of a different gender?
Ageism bias. Younger leaders get written off as inexperienced. Older ones get passed over as out of touch. Both are assumptions. Both cost organizations real talent.
→ Am I responding to this person’s actual capability, or to an assumption I’m making based on how long they’ve been in the workforce?
Color and culture bias. The lens through which someone sees the world, shaped by race, ethnicity, culture, and lived experience, affects everything from how they communicate to how they’re received. When leaders don’t examine this bias, they miss what the people they lead actually need to grow.
→ Whose cultural context am I not fully understanding and what would it take to close that gap?
Beauty bias. People perceived as more physically attractive are also perceived as more competent, more trustworthy, and more leadership-ready. Most people who carry this bias have never consciously chosen it.
→ What am I actually basing this assessment on?
Hair color bias. Assumptions about someone’s credibility, seriousness, or professionalism based on the color of their hair are real, documented, and still operating in workplaces today.
→ What surface-level details am I letting shape a deeper judgment?
What happens when bias goes unchecked.
Teams start to look and think the same. When leaders consistently hire, promote, and listen to people who reflect their own image back to them, the team loses range, different perspectives, different lived experiences, different ways of solving problems. It feels comfortable. And the team pays for it.
Development becomes unequal. A leader who only coaches in their own style misses what the person in front of them actually needs. And the people most affected are often the ones least positioned to say so.
Awareness is where the real work begins.
The leaders who navigate bias most effectively get curious about it. They notice when a reaction feels automatic. They pause before a decision that affects someone else. They put themselves in rooms where they might feel less comfortable, on purpose. And they ask: what am I actually basing this on?
That pause is where bias loses some of its power.
Here’s what I’m doing with this. I’m going to take stock of which bias comes up most for me and then actively counteract it. I’d invite you to do the same. Pick one. Just one. Notice where it shows up this week and try something different.
When I went through that list, I saw myself in almost every single one. Because every preference I have, every opinion I hold, there’s a bias underneath it. That’s true for me and it’s true for you. Your bias shapes your world, who you let in, who you pass over, what you build, and what you never think to question.
Get uncomfortable. Shake up your assumptions. Step into rooms and relationships that stretch you. That’s where leadership, and life, actually changes.
Bias doesn’t get solved. It gets noticed, examined, and managed, over and over again, across every stage of your leadership. The leaders who do this work are more honest with themselves than most. And that honesty is one of the most powerful things you can bring to the people you lead.
With you,
Gretchen.
