Author: larissa@dayonebrands.com

As leaders, executives often pride themselves on making rational, data-driven decisions. Yet even the most seasoned professional carries an invisible lens that shapes perception: bias. Bias isn’t always negative; it’s a natural product of how our brains process information. But unexamined bias can quietly influence hiring, partnerships, strategic choices, and team culture.

At Blacklight Coaching, we believe that leadership transformation starts with courageous self-awareness. Evaluating your bias isn’t about guilt; it’s about growth. Here’s how you can begin:

1. Recognize That Everyone Has Bias

The first step is acknowledging reality: every person has biased tendencies.

• Bias comes from our upbringing, experiences, education, and social environments.
• It helps our brain make “shortcuts” to process information quickly.
• Left unchecked, those shortcuts can turn into blind spots that distort leadership decisions.

Executives who deny bias risk repeating the same patterns; those who admit it gain the ability to adjust.

2. Identify Your Default Settings

Bias often hides in “default settings” you bring into leadership. Ask yourself:

• Who do I naturally trust first?
• Whose voices do I value most in meetings?
• What type of candidate do I see as a “good fit”?

Notice patterns in how you assign value or make choices. These tendencies are windows into your bias.

3. Seek Data Beyond Assumptions

Executives sometimes mistake gut instincts for truth. To counteract bias:

• Compare your assumptions with actual data (performance metrics, customer feedback, market analysis).
• Regularly review who gets promoted, recognized, or assigned high-visibility projects.
• Ask: Is this outcome consistent across different genders, backgrounds, or personalities?

Data doesn’t erase bias, but it helps you see where it may be creeping into your decision-making.

4. Invite Feedback That Challenges You

True evaluation requires voices outside your perspective. Encourage team members, peers, and even external coaches to offer candid feedback. Create safe spaces where people can point out blind spots without fear of retaliation.

• Ask your leadership team: “How do you experience my decision-making?”
• Work with an executive coach who can help uncover patterns you may not see.

5. Turn Awareness Into Action

Self-awareness is powerful, but action is where transformation happens. Once you identify a bias tendency, experiment with new behaviors:

• If you notice you promote extroverts more often, intentionally recognize the contributions of quieter team members.
• If your partnerships lean toward familiar networks, stretch into new communities or demographics.
• If you tend to dismiss ideas quickly, commit to asking three clarifying questions before deciding.

Small adjustments compound into long-term cultural change.

The Executive Advantage of Owning Bias

Bias is not a flaw; it’s a human reality. But executives who are bold enough to evaluate their bias gain a competitive edge: stronger teams, more innovative thinking, and a leadership style rooted in fairness and wisdom.

At Blacklight Coaching, we help leaders move beyond unconscious patterns into intentional influence. Because when you shine a light on your bias, you illuminate a better path for yourself and those you lead.

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Learn what to expect during a coaching session. Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that will inspire you to maximize your personal and professional potential. Your ICF coach will be your partner on the journey toward identifying, clarifying and achieving your goals.

What is coaching? Professional coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. Other service professions, like consulting and psychotherapy, are based on the wisdom and expertise of the professional. In coaching you—the client—are the expert. Your coach’s role is to ask powerful questions, act as a sounding board, provide objective assessment and observations, listen fully and actively, challenge your blind spots, and foster shifts in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives.

What are examples of goals I’d address with a coach? Is there an upcoming opportunity or challenge that you want to leverage? Do you feel “stuck” on the path to achieving your goals? These are two excellent examples of topics to bring to a coaching conversation. Other common reasons for partnering with a coach include: Optimizing work performance Expanding career opportunities Increasing self-esteem/self-confidence Maximizing potential Defining strengths and weaknesses Improving business management strategies Managing work/life balance.

What’s my role? The most successful coaching partnerships begin with a client who has a clear idea of what they want to accomplish and is open to collaboration and new perspectives. As a coaching client, your role is to: Create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful goals Assume full responsibility for your own decisions and actions Use the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives Engage big-picture thinking and problem-solving skills Take the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by your coach and engage in effective forward actions