Finding Your Blind Spots

Build bridges, foster better relationships, and establish a more inclusive school community. In her direct yet conversational style, Hedreich Nichols examines discriminatory classroom practices and offers strategies for eliminating them. You'll acquire the knowledge and skills to identify biases that adversely affect your practice and learn how to move beyond those biases to ensure a more equitable, inclusive campus culture. Recognize your own personal biases and how they affect the classroom. Learn how your language can reinforce discrimination and how to choose inclusive language instead. Understand gender and sexuality and how they relate to identity. Discover ways to celebrate and foster diversity daily. Identify microaggressions and how they create barriers to relationships. Contents: Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Bias and Belonging Chapter 2: Bias, Guilt, and Accountability Chapter 3: Bias, Language, and Labels Chapter 4: Bias in Curriculum Chapter 5: Bias and Cultural Expression Chapter 6: Bias and Gender Equality Chapter 7: Bias and Representation Chapter 8: Bias in Action--What Not to Do and Say Conclusion References and Resources Index

“Accessible and authoritative . . . While we may not have much power to eradicate our own prejudices, we can counteract them. The first step is to turn a hidden bias into a visible one. . . . What if we’re not the magnanimous people we think we are?”—The Washington Post I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. “Blindspot” is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases. Writing with simplicity and verve, Banaji and Greenwald question the extent to which our perceptions of social groups—without our awareness or conscious control—shape our likes and dislikes and our judgments about people’s character, abilities, and potential. In Blindspot, the authors reveal hidden biases based on their experience with the Implicit Association Test, a method that has revolutionized the way scientists learn about the human mind and that gives us a glimpse into what lies within the metaphoric blindspot. The title’s “good people” are those of us who strive to align our behavior with our intentions. The aim of Blindspot is to explain the science in plain enough language to help well-intentioned people achieve that alignment. By gaining awareness, we can adapt beliefs and behavior and “outsmart the machine” in our heads so we can be fairer to those around us. Venturing into this book is an invitation to understand our own minds. Brilliant, authoritative, and utterly accessible, Blindspot is a book that will challenge and change readers for years to come. Praise for Blindspot “Conversational . . . easy to read, and best of all, it has the potential, at least, to change the way you think about yourself.”—Leonard Mlodinow, The New York Review of Books “Banaji and Greenwald deserve a major award for writing such a lively and engaging book that conveys an important message: Mental processes that we are not aware of can affect what we think and what we do. Blindspot is one of the most illuminating books ever written on this topic.”—Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D., distinguished professor, University of California, Irvine; past president, Association for Psychological Science; author of Eyewitness Testimony

Each of us has blind spots that can hamper our making and maintaining meaningful relationships. Although over time we may come to recognize them, they are typically hidden, unseen by us, which is why we call them "blind spots." They are aspects of our behavior that do damage to our relationships with others. Some of us are continually reminded of them by others, but we either refuse to see them or simply don't know what to do to eliminate them from our lives. If left alone, they develop and in time can do terrible damage to ourselves and those we love. In this book, author Mark Baxter reveals seventeen of the most common blind spots that foul relationships, and offers examples of how they do and how we can identify them, and process them out of our lives so we can be more Christlike. This book could quite well save a meaningful relationship that you have. Please don't wait until it's too late. God's plan is to conform you to the image of His Son, Jesus. Allow this to be your guidebook, and Mark to be your guide. Rid yourself today of debilitating blind spots today. Get your copy today.

Uncover your blind spots and reset your leadership approach for long-lasting success in any businessFar too many business leaders today are using outdated practices to engage and motivate their people―and they’re failing miserably. Truly resilient, thriving organizations are those that are purpose driven and focus on more than pure profits. Purpose, or an underlying company philosophy, not only drives strategic change, but also encourages customer loyalty and employee engagement. In order to succeed, leaders must be willing to discard old ways of thinking and detrimental business habits—and recognize their blind spots. Authors Jim Haudan and Rich Berens identify the five most common leadership blind spots that hamper success: Purpose, Story, Engagement, Trust, and Truth. They take you straight into the board room of well-known leadership teams to illustrate how these blind spots play out and the impact they have on organizations. You’ll learn how to identify and overcome your own blind spots and embrace positive, forward-thinking new practices. What Are Your Blind Spots equips you with the tools needed for a personal leadership reset. You’ll discover how to increase engagement, productivity, and growth in your own organization. This is an invaluable guide for executives, managers, team leaders, and human resource professionals looking for an effective way to engage and motivate employees at every level of an organization.

When confronted with an ethical dilemma, most of us like to think we would stand up for our principles. But we are not as ethical as we think we are. In Blind Spots, leading business ethicists Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel examine the ways we overestimate our ability to do what is right and how we act unethically without meaning to. From the collapse of Enron and corruption in the tobacco industry, to sales of the defective Ford Pinto, the downfall of Bernard Madoff, and the Challenger space shuttle disaster, the authors investigate the nature of ethical failures in the business world and beyond, and illustrate how we can become more ethical, bridging the gap between who we are and who we want to be. Explaining why traditional approaches to ethics don't work, the book considers how blind spots like ethical fading--the removal of ethics from the decision--making process--have led to tragedies and scandals such as the Challenger space shuttle disaster, steroid use in Major League Baseball, the crash in the financial markets, and the energy crisis. The authors demonstrate how ethical standards shift, how we neglect to notice and act on the unethical behavior of others, and how compliance initiatives can actually promote unethical behavior. They argue that scandals will continue to emerge unless such approaches take into account the psychology of individuals faced with ethical dilemmas. Distinguishing our "should self" (the person who knows what is correct) from our "want self" (the person who ends up making decisions), the authors point out ethical sinkholes that create questionable actions. Suggesting innovative individual and group tactics for improving human judgment, Blind Spots shows us how to secure a place for ethics in our workplaces, institutions, and daily lives.

Do you ever feel like you're experiencing your life at only a fraction of its true clarity and depth? Are your days dominated by a single emotion such as fear, sadness, anger, or disappointment? At work or in your personal life, do you find yourself facing similar relationship patterns or conflicts again and again? From our earliest years, we all acquire blind spots in the way we perceive, feel, and think. Driven by our biology, life experiences, cultural messages, and physical environment, they profoundly affect us throughout our lives. This informative and practical guide invites us to understand: how we get them, how to bring them to light, and how to work with that newfound awareness to improve our lives. Here, author Kelly Boys presents emerging research from many fields of psychology and neuroscience, personal stories, and a wealth of hands-on exercises and practices to help us identify, welcome, and transform our own hidden domains. Join her to explore: What we miss and how we miss it • Attentional blink—gaps in our sensory awareness and our astonishing potential to perceive more in each moment • Decoding your unconscious stories—how they filter the truth and influence you • Hacking your intuition—why our gut instincts are not always accurate, and ways to get it right more often • The defended self—uncovering the core beliefs that shape your emotional landscape • Using moments of crisis to reveal especially elusive blind spots • Falling in love, "crushing," cheating, and wholehearted loving—shining a light into the wilderness of intimate relationships • Three biases that sabotage our judgment and how to counter them • Self-compassion, welcoming, and vulnerability—keys to clearer self-perception • Flow states—becoming fully immersed in what you do without the filters that diminish your natural way of perceiving and being • Seeing yourself as others see you—safely engaging with someone you trust to gain greater self-awareness • Illuminating the biggest blind spot of all—the illusion of an isolated and separate self, and how to free ourselves from the traps it creates • Chapter-by-chapter practices—somatic, contemplative, and mindfulness-based—for self-discovery and change Once we recognize our blind spots, we can't unsee them. We release ourselves from unnecessary suffering and begin to experience each moment more richly. With The Blind Spot Effect, you're invited to illuminate what is right in front of you and within you—for greater wonder, joy, and fulfillment.

Good leaders become great by skillfully managing their own vulnerabilities Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter is a comprehensive guide to recognizing and acting on the weak points that can impair effectiveness, diminish results, and harm a career. Written by a 30-year veteran of the leadership consulting industry and author of Trust in the Balance, the book contains examples, worksheets and surveys that illustrate the practical application of the advice presented. An online questionnaire helps readers discover their own leadership vulnerabilities, and the book provides a roadmap for creating a targeted plan to increase their awareness in the areas that truly matter. The blindspot risk is that leaders fail to respond to weaknesses or threats due to a variety of factors including the complexity of their organizations, over-confidence in their own capabilities, and being surrounded by deferential subordinates. Leadership Blindspots provides a useful model for understanding how blindspots operate and why they persist, but at the same time suggests real, actionable steps to improvement. The book details a range of techniques that make blindspots stand out in sharp relief, so action can be taken before severe damage occurs – to a leader or his or her company. Topics include: A framework to understand the threats posed by blindspots The four most important types of blindspots – self, team, company and markets Detailed case studies of blindspots in leaders across a variety of industries A summary of the most common leadership blindspots Corrective practices that help mitigate the risks that blindspots pose The one characteristic great leaders share is the constant desire for self-improvement. Good can always be better. These weaknesses and threats are called blindspots because they are invisible to the individual but have the potential to wreak havoc on one's reputation and long-term success. Identifying and fixing crucial problems is the leader's job, and sometimes the most debilitating problems are with the leaders themselves. Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter is the first step toward owning and addressing one's vulnerabilities and, as a result, becoming a more effective leader.

Psychologist Van Hecke argues that much of what we label stupidity can better be explained as blind spots. Full of funny, poignant stories about human foibles, "Blind Spots" offers many insights for improving our social and political lives.

Knowledge is built from personal experience and coloured by our needs and values. It follows that all knowledge is personal and incomplete. We all suffer from ‘blind spots’. But when leaders have them, it matters. To guide people on a journey of continuous learning, understanding and adapting to events as they occur, leaders must overcome their own blind spots and those of their organization. Any leader who implements the practices outlined in this book will immediately improve their ability to perform in today’s competitive global environment. Karen Blakeley provides in-depth analysis of how leaders learn on the job - and what gets in the way. Most importantly she offers a systematic approach for accelerating leaders’ learning capacity - and maximising their performance potential.

Our innovation economy is broken. But there's good news: The ideas that will solve our problems are hiding in plain sight. While big companies in the American economy have never been more successful, entrepreneurial activity is near a 30-year low. More businesses are dying than starting every day. Investors continue to dump billions of dollars into photo-sharing apps and food-delivery services, solving problems for only a wealthy sliver of the world's population, while challenges in health, food security, and education grow more serious. In The Innovation Blind Spot, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Ross Baird argues that the innovations that truly matter don't see the light of day—for reasons entirely of our own making. A handful of people in a handful of cities are deciding, behind closed doors, which entrepreneurs get a shot to succeed. And most investors are what Baird calls "two-pocket thinkers"—artificially separating their charitable work from their day job of making a profit. The resulting system creates rising income inequality, stifled entrepreneurial ambition, social distrust, and political uncertainty. Our innovation problem makes all our other problems harder to solve. In this book, Baird demonstrates how and where to find better ideas by lifting up people, places, and industries that are often overlooked. What's more, Baird ultimately outlines how to create long-term success through "one-pocket thinking"—eliminating the blind spot that separates "what we do for a living" and "what we really care about."