Influence and Impact

CHAPTER 5What If Bias Keeps You from Being Effective?: Increasing Influence in Difficult Contexts

Contributing Author: Greg Pennington, Ph.D.

Something just happened to you. It may have been one or more of the following things. Someone called you Pat, though your name is Lynn. You offered a contribution to a team discussion that was met with silence just before someone offered a strangely similar contribution that was met with head nods and affirmations. Instead of getting the performance and development feedback you expected, the feedback was surprisingly critical or frustratingly void of suggestions for improvement. Your feedback seemed even more critical when compared to others whose performance numbers seemed subpar compared to yours, and others who at least received constructively critical feedback. You were offered a role with expanded responsibility, it came with an interim title, though you were convinced that someone took on a similar role with what appeared to be the same experience but with a permanent title. Once you were promoted to VP your administrative assistant asked if you had ordered your company car—which no one had mentioned.

Do organizations discriminate? Yes. Individuals and leaders do so as well. Is it against you? Perhaps. If there is a need to make a choice between one person and another, you have to somehow identify a difference and make a decision. ...