Overcoming Unconscious Age Bias and Stereotyping
Leaders each have their own personal styles. They develop through dedicated practice, and almost every attribute or habit can become a powerful asset once a leader learns how to use it.
I say "almost every habit" here because there are some exceptions — and age bias is one of those exceptions. Bias and stereotyping at the leadership level, whether it's conscious or unconscious, can both disrupt your personal leadership practice and diffuse itself throughout your entire organization.
I often find myself noticing unconscious prejudice during my coaching practice, especially when it comes to age groups. I've even noticed it in myself. Here are some of the insights I can provide to help you identify and overcome it.
Listen Past Your Bias
If leadership skills are like golf clubs, then listening is one of the most important clubs in your bag. Your unconscious biases will tempt you to start listening and stop paying attention to people — don't let the temptation overtake you.
You've honed your listening skills to help you deal with this exact type of challenge. They can help you recognize people for who they are and what they can bring to your organization.
Understand the Opportunities
It's easy to say the bias is bad. Almost nobody wants to be racist, sexist, or ageist. Even so, it can be a challenge to do the hard work of self-reflection and improvement just for the sake of virtue and justice.
Luckily, rooting out age bias has concrete benefits for your organization. It helps everybody contribute more and become more part of the company culture. Here's how:
Empowering mentorships: Bias can be particularly harmful at the early stages of multi-generational mentoring programs. The idea of these relationships is to promote the flow of skills, knowledge, and understanding in both directions. That can only happen once age-related biases are set aside.
Providing continuity: Even if your organization hasn't been around for a long time, there's a good chance that your industry, or something like it, has. Setting aside generational bias can help you understand the big picture of where things came from and where they're headed. This understanding helps underline your vision and strengthen the direction of your company.
Embracing diversity: Diverse teams perform better, but only when people from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints can express their ideas openly without facing prejudice.
Putting culture first: Your culture will be strongest when individuals recognize each other as members of the organization first and foremost.
Make It Personal
This applies to you too. Do you have preconceptions about what you can contribute because of your age? How do those biases line up with your performance records, your education, and your skills?
Remember the biases can be positive or negative. Is an age bias causing you to miss opportunities to improve as a leader? Are you not taking chances that you should?
If self-reflection isn't getting the job done, remember that you probably also have some trusted associates within your organization. If not, then a leadership coach could be the perfect person to discuss some tough questions. Are you ready to surpass bias and recognize your true potential?