Bias blocking your view? Time to change your filter

No one is born with confidence, writes Frank Sonnenberg, who argues that it is a quality that leaders earn through preparation, practice, courageous action and reflection on their values and ethics. "Confidence is a gift that breathes life into dreams, rendering the tallest mountains conquerable and the greatest challenges surmountable," Sonnenberg writes.

Put it into practice: One of the best ways to develop confidence is by seeking a supportive community that provides helpful feedback and acknowledges your strengths and progress, Sonnenberg writes. "The more you prepare and practice, the more confident you become in your abilities."

Unconscious filters can lead to bias even when we're consciously trying to be inclusive, writes Sara Taylor, a diversity and inclusion strategist, who advises leaders to actively check their filters. "The good news is anyone can develop that ability and, in turn, begin making less biased, more truly equitable decisions," Taylor writes, who adds that seeing the world without filters leads to a Technicolor experience instead of black-and-white.

Put it into practice: Identifying your filters is the first step to recognizing bias. "Regardless of whether our actions are effective or not, whether they are biased or not, whether our decisions are equitable or not, they all originate with our filters," Taylor writes.

Scott Elbin, the founder of the Elbin Group, found a pleasant employee lightened the mood where you'd least expect it: during jury duty. Elbin writes that the experience made him "reflect on the power of approach and attitude in our interactions," adding that if a jury services clerk can treat everyone with a hospitable attitude, then you can too.

Put it into practice: Are you guilty of approaching interactions with others in a perfunctory way? "Next time you have the opportunity to serve others, ask yourself: How can I make this experience unexpectedly positive?" advises Elbin, who relies on author Will Guidara's idea of "unreasonable hospitality."

A leader must understand the financial underpinnings of their company but will only be effective if they clearly communicate a common goal for their team and create a culture of well-being where employees want to come to work, says Sabina Belli, the group CEO of global jewelry brand, Pomellato. "This is what motivates me: accomplishing tasks, seeing improvements, and sharing those moments of success with the team," Belli says.

Rhythms and pitch arrangements of popular music in the US became simpler between 1950 and 2022, according to a study of the most popular songs on Billboard year-end singles charts, while the average number of notes per second increased, as did the complexity of harmonic structures, sound quality and sound blending. The study in Scientific Reports identifies especially big drops in melodic complexity in 1975 and 2000, with a slightly smaller one in 1996, and proposes that genres like disco, new wave and stadium rock could account for the 1975 dip, and hip-hop or digital audio editing could be linked to the 1996 and 2000 decreases.

I was timid in my teens and 20s, so much so that when someone would ask me a direct question, my then-partner would answer it -- and I would allow that! I didn't have much confidence in my skills, but thankfully, others along my career path did. During that very shy period, I was a reporter for a radio station, which required you to go out and ask questions of strangers and city and county officials.

At some point, the station manager came to me a offered me an afternoon-drive talk show. He made that offer to the shy kid! I took it because this kind of opportunity doesn't always come knocking, but it was a difficult job that required me to call strangers and ask them to be on my talk show. Of course, it was an easy sell, being on the radio talking about what you wanted to promote or communicate.

That job was the biggest confidence booster I ever had and propelled me into other jobs, including the confidence to talk before large crowds and even get up and play my music. I would have never done any of that if that station manager hadn't seen something in me that I couldn't.

How do you build confidence? Not just in yourself but in those around you. That station manager took a big gamble on me. I could have been terrible! But it paid off, and my show was very successful in the station's mid-market.

Who on your team needs you to see their potential and give them a chance to boost their confidence? Confidence, writes Frank Sonnenberg, "fills you with a deep sense of empowerment, propelling you to seize the world with unwavering effort and determination."

We could all use more of that!

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