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Kym Dakin-Neal
Updated: November 14, 2024
How to mesmerize your audience (and other leadership tips)
By Kym Dakin-Neal, Voice Into Learning LLC
If you are in a window seat of a plane taking off toward cities south of us, you might happen to look out on the South Portland oil tanks, some of them slashed in bright jagged streaks of color. You might also wonder how they came to be that way.
Back in the 2000’s, I was loosely involved with the Maine Center for Creativity during their worldwide contest to get some of these oil tanks painted. The final decision to award the contract was to be made by a small local committee. The final handful of hopefuls included two submissions from Maine artists.
I was asked to assist one of these local artists in strengthening their speaking skills. I was also afforded a ringside seat to the presentations.
One of the presenters stood out from the rest. The artist was Venezuelan, gregarious, extroverted and funny — a true salesman. I watched the faces of the board members — they were starstruck; clearly mesmerized by this flamboyant artist from away.
I knew, in watching them, that his was the proposal that would be accepted. Why? The group was clearly motivated by a desire to elevate little ole Portland, Maine, onto a more global artistic arena, and they were mesmerized by the cache of this spellbinding artist.
Whether his was the strongest proposal is, of course, subjective. Would a different choice have been made if the group acknowledged their unspoken desire, this particular vulnerability? We’ll never know. But they were clearly mesmerized, and their decision could be considered as driven by an unconscious bias.
A mysterious force
The word mesmerize has an interesting origin.
According to Wikipedia, ”Franz Anton Mesmer was either a quack or a genius. In his day, Mesmer was the toast of Paris, and enjoyed the support of notables including Queen Marie Antoinette. He treated patients with procedures involving what he claimed was a mysterious force, an “animal magnetism."
Accordingly, the verb mesmerize is synonymous with hypnotize, “to amaze or captivate.”
Unconscious bias in leadership often operates like a subtle, unperceived force — a kind of hypnosis or mesmerization that influences individuals beneath the surface of awareness. Leaders can be swayed by preconceived notions that shape their judgments, decisions and interactions. Like the spellbinding nature of hypnosis, unconscious bias creates a form of mental fog, leading people to act or react in ways that are not entirely rational or reflective of their conscious values.
Mesmerization (or hypnosis) works by bypassing the critical, conscious mind to access the subconscious, where beliefs, emotions, and desires are deeply embedded.
Similarly, unconscious bias resides in the subconscious layers of the mind, influencing behavior automatically. Leaders may believe they are acting objectively, but biases gently shape their perceptions and behaviors, guiding them without their explicit awareness.
4 steps
Here are four ways leaders can circumvent their own unconscious bias:
Seek out education and raise awareness. Leaders can engage in training to better understand how unconscious biases form and manifest. Increased awareness is the first step to recognizing and managing these biases effectively.
Implement structured decision-making processes. Using standardized criteria for evaluations, hiring, and promotions, leaders can reduce the influence of personal biases. Structured processes ensure that decisions are based on objective factors, not subjective feelings.
Seek diverse perspectives. Leaders can regularly consult a diverse group of people when making important decisions. Input from different backgrounds and viewpoints helps counteract biases by exposing leaders to new ways of thinking.
Use accountability partners. Leaders can work with colleagues, mentors, or coaches who can offer honest feedback and hold them accountable for decisions, pointing out potential biases that a leader may not notice.
We all have biases that influence our decisions, and building this kind of awareness is not easy. Here’s a place to start: The Harvard Implicit Bias test can reveal where your decisions might be influenced by vulnerabilities and habits.
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