Using Intercultural Competencies to Remove Unconscious Bias When Leading

Session Submission Type: Workshop

Short Description

As populations become more diverse, many leaders struggle to relate effectively to all of their followers. Our skills as leaders must include the ability to recognize, reduce, or remove biases, and the intercultural competencies to work effectively with others. Based on foundations of global and intercultural competence frameworks and implicit bias theory, this interactive session will utilize brief lecturettes, small group exercises, and facilitated discussions. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of implicit bias, learn how to apply intercultural effectiveness competencies to lessen conflict and turmoil, and consider how to apply these principles and practices to their own organizations.

Detailed Abstract

According to the CIA Factbook (2015) there are more than 5000 ethnic groups that exist in the world today. Many of these groups are sub-groups of what is viewed as a major ethnic or racial group and within the sub-groups, new cultural norms and worldviews have been created. Leading across these dynamics is difficult and sometimes turbulent. Our skills as leaders must include the ability to recognize our biases, reduce or remove them, and reconcile with others to create a culture, community and world of hope and inclusion.

As leaders we bring to organizations, skills that contribute to its success but we also bring invisible baggage that can be counter-productive. This is known as implicit or unconscious bias. Unconscious bias is a bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control. It is developed at an early age and continues throughout our life span (Dore, Hoffman, Lillard, & Trawalter, 2014). Biases happen automatically and are triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assumptions of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences. Unconscious biases have real world effects on behavior (Dasgupta, 2004). They are malleable and one can take steps to minimize their impact (Dasgupta, 2013; Dasgupta & Greenwald, 2013). According to McCormick (2015), “there are more than 150 identified unconscious biases” (p. 5). Results of bias behavior is often hostility, separations and turbulence, and it is created unintentionally. In early research by Greenwald and Banaji (1995), they discussed attitudes and how these attitudes can be defined as implicit. Implicit attitudes are “introspectively unidentified (or inaccurately identified) traces of past experience that mediate favorable or unfavorable feeling, thought, or action toward social objects” (p. 8).

Even though these actions and biases may not be known to the leader, it does not mean that leaders must work in this diverse society carrying assumptions, bias and negative stereotypes that often result in conflict and misunderstanding. Derven (2016) proffered unconscious bias “is dysfunctional in contemporary organizations and inhibits full contribution” (p. 3). She further suggested leaders in today’s world must be inclusive and aware of biases they possess as to not limit performance and interaction with others.

As the world has become more open, but still living with borders and boundaries, bias has gone beyond the individual. Ross (2008) argued that our unconscious biases and behaviors also impact the culture of an organization. Pless and Maak (2004) defined an inclusive culture as one where “an organizational environment that allows people with multiple backgrounds, mindsets and ways of thinking to work effectively together” (p. 130). Organizational leaders who are aware of the conflict and turmoil within and outside of their organization realize that reducing and/or removing unconscious biases must be continually in the forefront of their plans. According to Broadnax (2010) and Rangarajan and Black (2007) organizational inclusion must be a priority for today’s leaders. Leaders need resources to build a more inclusive workplace, while developing employees to recognize their own negative stereotypical biases and change behaviors (Bendick, Egan, & Lanier, 2010).

Intercultural competencies have mostly focused on the expatriate. However, to successfully lead in times of conflict, turmoil and turbulence, these skills and competencies can serve all leaders well and help to reduce unconscious biases by creating an awareness of self. Intercultural competence has been defined by various scholars as it relates to ones’ behavior when interacting with individuals who are different from them. At a person/group level, Bird, Mendenhall, Stevens, and Oddou (2010) contended some of the primary competencies are building relationships, emotional connectedness, conflict management, accountability, integrity and personal literacy. These competencies provide leaders with a baseline of moving from unconscious bias to conscious consideration as a leader. Nonjudgmentalness, a category within the framework of intercultural competence, explores if an individual is able to withhold quick judgments about others (Kealey, 1996; McCall, 2002). As individuals, negative judgments are formed out of our unconscious biases. Leaders who practice nonjudgmentalness, a skill that can be developed, are better equipped to reconcile differences and be open to the diverse perspectives needed for reconciliation during tumultuous times. The intercultural competence of emotional sensitivity provides the leader with the ability to be respectful to others, have both cultural and interpersonal empathy and tolerate differences (Bird, Mendenhall, Stevens, and Oddou, 2010). Finally, an examination of self-awareness as an intercultural competence provides another mechanism for addressing unconscious bias. Self-awareness examines a leader’s awareness of their interpersonal skills, philosophies and values, impact and influence of their past experiences, and how their values and behaviors impact relationships with others (Bird et al., 2010).

By examining conscious and unconscious bias with the attributes of intercultural competence, leaders will be better equipped to face the challenges of leading in turbulent times.


In this workshop the presenters will provide a brief background of:
• Conscious and Unconscious bias: 10 minutes
• Nonjudgmentalness: A state of being: 5 minutes
• Intercultural Competence: 10 minutes

This interactive session will provide knowledge regarding unconscious bias that both scholars and practitioners can use in their current organizations. The workshop further addresses the role that intercultural competency dimensions and skills can have on reducing bias, developing reconciliation and creating positive relationships. The presenters further engage the participants in hands-on activities in reflective application, solving for intercultural effectiveness (IE), and reconciling cultural differences and unconscious bias that will yield the following learning outcomes:
• Recognizing implicit/unconscious bias: 5 minutes
• Moving from the unconscious to the conscious:10 minutes
• Applying intercultural effectiveness competencies to lessen conflict and turmoil: 15 minutes
• Mapping leadership challenges during turbulent times: 15 minutes
• Applying these principles and practices to their organization: 10 minutes
• Question and answer session: 5 – 10 minutes

The presenters will use multiple modes of engagement:
• Lecturette
• Small group breakouts for each exercise: resolve differences exercises; mapping leadership & intercultural challenges; push back; intercultural effectiveness mini assessment; bias backpack; implementation plan of inclusion and hope.
• Small group discussion on applicability of tools to their organization.

Sub Unit

• Business Leadership

Presenters

• Joanne Barnes, Indiana Wesleyan University

• Allan W. Bird, Northeastern University

• Chris T. Cartwright, Intercultural Communication Institute

• Brad Grubb, Indiana Wesleyan University