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68 2018 AMDC Diversity Spotlight limited just to situations involving majorities against minorities. According to Brown, everyone holds them. "Both men and women hold attitudes about gender," she said. "Being a woman may not necessarily mean that you're not biased against women. Both white and people of color hold attitudes about race. No one is exempt from implicit bias. As business leaders, thinking about how implicit bias may be driving your outcomes in your organization is something that's very important in order to be proactive and get ahead of bias." Brown said people perceive others in their "in-group"—those similar to them—to be more trustworthy, have better intentions, and be more competent, because they see themselves as those things, too. "We also have attitudes about competence and positive traits," Brown said. "When we succeed, we succeed in our in-group because we're great. When our out-group succeeds, well, there must be something in the circumstance or situation." ese in-group/out-group biases are typically stronger in higher-status groups, according to Brown. DIVERSITY VS. INCLUSION Part of addressing these biases is understanding that being diverse on its face doesn't necessarily mean an organization is inclusive. "Diversity is simply the mix you have in an organization," Brown said. "Inclusion is what you do with that mix. You can have diversity at the table. You can have diversity on your team. If you're not leveraging that diversity and using that diversity to advance your business objectives, then inclusion is not happening in your organization." Scott Page, author of e Difference, asserts that this level of inclusion can be game-changing for an organization—especially in more challenging situations. "What Page says in his book, in a quantifiable way, is that diversity done right trumps ability. It trumps even IQ ," Brown said. "You get that extra value based on diversity. e more complex the task, the more complex the problem, the greater the benefit of diversity. With a diverse and inclusive approach, where you're managing and mitigating your unconscious biases, you will bring people together who will see both the opportunity and the problems differently." Self-awareness is the starting point for mitigating these unconscious biases. Brown recommends "paying attention to what stands out to you and thinking about whether or not that is an unconscious bias—something you need to explore further. "It's important, as business leaders, that we do that kind of self-evaluation," she said. "is is the work of self. No one is exempt from it. Look around. Who's in your circle? Should your circle expand to be more inclusive?" TACKLING BIAS AS AN ORGANIZATION In challenging biases within the workplace, Brown said exposure is key. Mentoring— particularly of colleagues with different backgrounds and mindsets—is one of the best ways to get that exposure. "Exposure is important," Brown said. "One of the best tools for increasing exposure is mentoring, mentoring across differences. Work to understand the other person. Observe and educate yourself about their differences. Empathize with a community or group where you may not share any similarity." According to Brown, business leaders need to put themselves in situations that challenge or even counter their existing beliefs. is heads-off affirmation bias and opens the door to innovative solutions that you might not have come up with before. Once leaders can recognize the biases they hold, they can institute checks and balances to prevent them from impacting their decision- making. Accountability partners—people who have a different background or way of thinking— can be key here. "Have people that you can go to and say, 'What do you think?'" Brown said. To root out biases in the hiring process, blind resumes, removing gendered words from job descriptions, and steering away from panel interviews that lead to groupthink can all help, according to Brown. e Boston Symphony instituted a blind hiring process in 1970, using a curtain to hide musicians during the audition process. e effort increased female representation in the group by 50 percent, Brown said. "ey made one additional change that resulted, ultimately, in the increase," she said. "ey had all of the candidates take their shoes off. at's when it changed, because the judges were responding to the candidates differently where they heard heels clicking. Even in our hearing, implicit bias is at work." In the end, the symphony's leaders weren't intentionally rooting out female musicians, but unconscious biases got in the way. "We know that all they really cared about was good music, just like how, as business leaders, we care about good business outcomes, about meeting and exceeding our goals," Brown said. "ese blind spots, these implicit biases, can get in the way. What you're not aware of is influencing you. What you become more aware of, you can influence." THE BENEFITS TO BUSINESS According to data from McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender, race, or ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns higher than their industry average. Companies in the bottom quarter, on the other hand, are significantly less likely to see above-average returns. "at's because diversity breeds creativity," Brown said. "It reduces mindless conformity and gets you off automatic pilot," she said. "It raises team intelligence by increasing social intelligence." In the housing industry, there's even more opportunity to improve through diversity. According to Zillow research, Asian homebuyers were the fastest-growing buyer cohort in the last century, jumping from a homeownership rate of just 10.1 percent in 1900 to 58.1 percent in 2016. According to Brown, there's also an "other" cohort that today's industry participants need to keep on their radar. "One of the fastest-growing demographics is the other category," Brown said. "More and more people are choosing not to deny any parts of themselves, to identify with any one part. We should keep an eye on that, as business leaders." Data shows that 21 of the nation's 25 most populated counties have a multicultural majority. Brown said it's up to business leaders to ensure the industry can meet their needs in an unbiased way. "How well positioned is your company to take advantage of the shift that's happening in our business today?" Brown asks. "Are you positioned from a multicultural, inclusive perspective? Do you have a sense of the biases that could be driving decision-making within your organization?"

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