HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace

CHAPTER 15

How the Best Bosses Interrupt Bias on Their Teams

by Joan C. Williams and Sky Mihaylo

Companies spend millions on antibias training each year. The goal is to create workforces that are more inclusive and thereby more innovative and more effective. Studies show that well-managed diverse groups outperform homogeneous ones and are more committed, have higher collective intelligence, and are better at making decisions and solving problems. But research also shows that bias prevention programs rarely deliver. And some companies don’t invest in them at all. So how can you, as an individual leader, make sure your team is including and making the most of diverse voices? Can one person fix what an entire organization can’t?

Although bias itself ...