How objective are you when it comes to making decisions? While we may think we are objective, we typically are anything but that. Consider what the American publisher and editor Henry R. Luce once said, “Show me a man who claims he is objective and I’ll show you a man with illusions.”
We may have illusions about our ability to make objective decisions because we believe we act without favoritism or hidden agendas. Or, we may put considerable thought into an action, feeling in the end that our decision was unbiased. However, we see the world through our own lens, and our experiences and beliefs affect our decisions without us even realizing it.
For example, assume you are experiencing some tough times in your life and you see a homeless person sitting on the side of the street. You will most likely feel even more empathy toward that homeless person due to your own circumstances than you would otherwise. Some interesting studies have shown that eyewitnesses to staged crime scenes—where actors portray a purse snatching, for example—see the same scene in entirely different ways depending on their current and past experiences.
The bottom line is we are rarely objective. This is no reason to toss your chances for effective leadership out the window; instead you can help offset this natural tendency by recognizing your subjective blind spots. For example, you may have subjective views about people who do not participate in your 401(k) plan or who are somewhat shy. Recognize your subjective blind spots and consider how this affects your interactions with others and how you manage and coach your team. Awareness of how your subjective views influence your decisions and interactions is an important step toward fine-tuning your approach with the team.
Even though the odds are stacked against us ever being consistently objective, the chances are very good that we can become even more effective as leaders by recognizing our subjective views and how they may enter into our decisions.