Have you ever had a great idea or project that could save the company money, but you felt like your voice wasn’t heard or valued by your leadership? Are you often left out of conversations because you don’t hold a particular title within your organization? As a minority or a woman, have you been talked over while explaining an idea? Even worse, did a leader with a superior title regurgitate and restate your idea and quickly obtain buy-in from the other leaders? It’s pretty disheartening, isn’t it? But why do you think this happens and is so prevalent in the modern workplace? The answer is Title Bias.
Title bias occurs when someone decides to treat another person differently because they don’t hold a specific title or position in an organization, group or team. It’s analogous to excluding a person or group of beliefs based on age, sex, race, religion or other personal attributes. Unfortunately, title bias can create transactional and toxic cultures, dissuade your workforce from participating, and negatively affect your employees’ morale and self-efficacy. However, as leaders, there are several actions we can take to foster a positive atmosphere for our employees. On the other hand, if you are not a leader and fall victim to title bias, there are several tactics you can use to tactfully shed light on the issue, establish boundaries, and sustain an inclusive culture in your organization. So, let’s get to it.
Be Consistent No Matter Who’s in the Room
As leaders, too often, we tend to play status games and pull rank to influence behavior, drive large initiatives and lead teams. On the other hand, as employees, we fall victim to the “authority fallacy,” “sacred cow fallacy,” and sociocentric thinking (groupthink). As a result, you’ll notice that you and your leaders tend to adjust their behavior depending on who’s in the physical or virtual room. But why is that? Whether intentionally or unintentionally, you’re using title bias and attributing value or worth to a person based on their position. To take it a step further, your word choice, demeanor, and even level of respect changes from meeting to meeting and interaction to interaction.
For instance, I had a higher-ranking leader attempt to demand that I give him access to a solution I created for the organization. Instead of becoming angry, I simply asked, “Are you asking me or telling me?” I also asked him, “Would you use the same tone or language if you were speaking to your manager?” But, of course, his response was, “No.”
I replied, “Am I not human, just like them? How do their titles warrant any greater level of respect?” Lastly, I asked him, “Would you be upset if someone was treated differently because of their race, ethnicity, sex, or preference?” He said, “Of course!” My reply: “Isn’t treating me differently because I don’t have the same title just another form of bigotry?” He was stunned. He didn’t know what to say. And immediately apologized for his behavior.
To ensure this type of culture did not exist, I took it a step further to obtain alignment with senior leadership. After receiving confirmation, I worked with leadership to develop a few guiding principles around collaborative language, consistent behavior and balancing out critique with contributions. I firmly believe that shedding light on an issue like title bias can help introduce empathy, equity and collaboration within our cultures. So, the next time you witness or become a victim of title bias, remember that you are a person just like everyone else and deserve to be treated as such.
How to Stop Chronic Interrupters
A chronic interrupter could be someone who intentionally or unintentionally (out of excitement) cuts other people off during their speaking. This is perfectly acceptable when both parties are engaged and excited to share their personal stories. Conversely, chronic interrupters typically stem from authority positions that become impatient with others and may lack empathy for or are not interested in what their employee is saying. Unfortunately, this occurs more with women and minorities, and it often leaves them feeling like they don’t have a voice within their organization or that their input isn’t valued. However, remember that culture starts with one person, and you can establish clear boundaries with your peers and even your leaders. The next time you encounter a chronic interrupter, use the following strategies:
Treat them like they’re on mute – especially if you work remotely. Suppose you’ve patiently waited until the other person stops talking before you jump in—congratulations. In that case, you are employing great active listening techniques and tuned in to what the other person is saying. However, what happens if they don’t return the favor? Keep talking. That’s right, establish boundaries by taking time to finish your sentence and possibly restarting your sentence if you feel that crucial parts were muddled by the interruption. Now, you may fear that this may give you a bad perception; however, in most cases, people will remember the person who kept trying to interrupt everyone instead of the person who stood their ground and didn’t let someone else take their voice from them.
Call out their name once – finish your statement. You don’t need to ask for permission to keep your voice. It’s yours, and no one can take it away from you. When interrupted, simply say that you are going to finish your statement and pass it back to the other person once you’re done. If you work at a place with solid principles or shared values around collaboration and communication, go ahead and cite those to keep everyone aligned. For instance, I’ll usually say: “To support our shared values of collaborating for measurable impact and taking care of each other, I’m going to finish my statement. Afterward, I’ll pass it back to you because I really do value your opinion and feedback.” Remember, just because you don’t hold a particular title doesn’t mean you don’t own your voice or deserve mutual respect.
Reciprocal value and respect. This should be your last resort. In this case, if you are continuously interrupted, tell the other person that you really value what they are saying. You’re giving them the most respect by listening attentively and waiting until they are done before responding. Then ask them whether they can return the favor. As long as you are tactful, you’ll be fine. Just be aware of your facial expressions and tonality when you use this method. There are very few cases where I’ve had to use this step; however, when I do, it’s felt throughout the room.
For instance, a few months ago, I made this statement after being interrupted by a senior leader several times: “I apologize, but I can’t allow you to keep cutting me off. My mother, grandmother and ancestors spent hundreds of years fighting to give me an opportunity and a voice. Therefore, I will do my part and not let anyone take away my voice, regardless of title and role.”
Being a Minority Leader in the Workplace
Rising the ranks is difficult for anyone dealing with office politics, status games and logical fallacies like group think (sociocentric thinking) and the sacred cow fallacy. However, rising the ranks is even more difficult for women and minorities. As a result, you’ll often hear a common phrase echoed amongst minorities: “I have to do twice as much to get half as much.” Unfortunately, many of us were raised with this philosophy.
Finding other people who look like us or share our history and culture in leadership positions can be challenging. This is also relevant because, as minorities, we understand more severe forms of discrimination inside and outside the workplace. So, adding another attribute like title bias can have a harmful side effect on minorities within your workplace. However, as minority leaders, our jobs are to remove roadblocks and barriers for the next generation of professionals and increase exposure for minorities to STEM.
In fact, organizations like Amazon Web Services lead several initiatives to connect underrepresented communities with tech careers, and ISACA’s One In Tech foundation also seeks to create a more accessible digital world for all. While programs like these are outstanding, we must improve our workplace culture and interpersonal skills. Most importantly, we’ll need to empower our workforce to confidently call out “title bias” and other inequities without fear of retribution.
The Path Forward
As leaders, our job is to create culture, one person at a time, and influence antiquated thinking to adjust to modern times. The workplace has undergone significant changes, especially with remote working becoming more commonplace; however, we often lose touch with our company principles, values and commitments. When conflict arises, we should always reference our company’s principles and ensure that we are acting accordingly.
When speaking to our employees, we should be mindful of what we say and how we say it. We don’t know what our employees are going through at any moment. And our employees will take what we say home with them, affecting their loved ones and possibly adding even more stress to unfortunate situations. With anxiety disorders, divorces and suicide rates at an all-time high, we must be mindful of how inequities like title bias impact our workforce’s mental health and self-efficacy. Being an empathetic leader doesn’t make you weak; it makes you human. And sometimes that’s all your employees want from you.
About the author: Dr. Blake Curtis has a proven track record of creating global information assurance programs for government, commercial, international, and healthcare sectors. He leads teams that assess various aspects of risk and ensures compliance with applicable state, federal, and regulatory requirements. In addition, Dr. Curtis manages large initiatives that leverage a combination of governance and security frameworks to develop tailored programs for enterprises.
Dr. Curtis is also a research scientist who led an international study titled "The Next Generation Cybersecurity Auditor," where he discovered a technical competency gap in Big Four IT Auditors and SMEs. His research results can be generalized to 151,000 IT auditors.
Dr. Curtis also helped debunk the 10,000-hour rule. Most importantly, Dr. Curtis is the first scientist to scientifically debunk the "years of experience" fallacy. His study proved that task-based experience is more objective than time-based experience. Dr. Curtis is also the author of "How to Complete Your Master's Degree in One Semester,” which has over 15,000 views and has helped over 150 students complete their master's degrees in record-setting times.