Running Head: IDENTIFYING BIASES 1

Identifying Biases

Matt Jenkins

University of San Diego

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Introduction

Every day, leadership opportunities stand before those in power. How they respond and

the decisions they make shape the future of their organizations. Unfortunately, some of the

decisions are poor and usually as a result of primary, innate biases (Brainard, 2017).

Unconscious biases influence the way in which decisions are made, and well-meaning

professionals can inadvertently harm the very people that they intend to help because they are

unconsciously influenced by the bias (World Bank, 2015, p. 180). By bringing awareness to an

unconscious bias, a leader is less susceptible to making a poor decision as a result. In addressing

the identified leadership challenge, two leadership biases are worth exploring in greater depth:

confirmation bias and fundamental attribution error.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is one of the most important biases to be aware of since it is the

tendency to seek out information and evidence that supports a previously held belief

(PhilosophyTerms.com, n.d.). Under confirmation bias, new evidence or suggestions are viewed

only through a lens that supports the previously held belief, and anything contradictory is

discounted or ignored (World Bank, 2015, p. 182).

In analyzing the leadership challenge that is being addressed, it is important to consider

whether confirmation bias has surfaced and contributed to the problem that exists. The

previously held belief has been that the hiring process (including application review,

interviewing, and backgrounds) will allow highly qualified individuals to rise to the top of the

list, and any applicant that should not be hired would be eliminated through the process. This

system is used throughout government hiring as well as in the private sector. Thus the belief is

that the system works. During the attempts at hiring dispatchers, oral panel members were
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changed for each subsequent eligibility pool to safeguard from groupthink developing about

applicants’ suitability. With each failed attempt and after each resignation, department

administration debriefed the hiring attempt to learn from it and to improve the process. Was

confirmation bias happening?

Being part of the administration could prevent me from seeing the issue clearly; however,

I believe that confirmation bias has not contributed to the current leadership challenge. During

the previous hiring cycle, line-level employees input has been sought, including the identification

of the ideal dispatcher characteristics, interview questions to ask, and direct feedback from sit-

alongs1. Seeking out the opinions of others, including those designated as a devil’s advocate, is

one way to avoid confirmation bias (MindTools, 2018).

Fundamental Attribution Error

Humans naturally look for explanations when something happens, and the explanations

for the observed behaviors are either internal or external (Simmons, 2009). Internal explanations

attribute the behavior to the individual’s personality, attitude, or values. External explanations

point to systems, rules, processes, or training inadequacies. Under fundamental attribution error,

there is a tendency to blame others when something goes wrong rather than looking at the

problem objectively (MindTools, 2018). Typically, an internal explanation is identified for

causing the issue, and the individual himself or herself is blamed (Simmons, 2009). While an

individual’s behavior is usually identified as the cause, an external factor could be the driving

force behind his or her behavior.

1
A sit-along is equitable to a ride-along; however, an applicant sits with a dispatcher in the dispatch center for a
specified period of time. Sit-alongs allow dispatchers to gauge an applicant’s familiarity with dispatcher job
functions.
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Could fundamental attribution error be a contributing factor in the identified leadership

challenge? Thus far, the process of hiring and the training program itself have been identified as

major factors in the inability to hire, train, and ultimately retain dispatchers. These are all

external factors, raising suspicion that there could be some degree of fundamental attribution

error occurring at the line level with training dispatchers and at the administrative level with

evaluating the efficiency of the hiring and training processes. At neither level has an internal

factor been identified, although the administration points to dispatcher attitude as a contributing

factor. If true, the training dispatchers would be experiencing fundamental attribution error

when they point to the administration’s failure to hire the right people.

Traits and Personality Characteristics

Research suggests that personality traits along are not enough to make a leader; however,

certain traits do contribute to effective leadership (Nahavandi, 2015, p. 117). Kirkpatrick and

Locke (1991) identify those traits as: drive, desire and motivation to lead, honesty and integrity,

self-confidence, intelligence, and knowledge of the business. Further research suggests the Big

Five personality dimensions (conscientiousness, extraversion/introversion, openness to

experience, emotional stability, and agreeableness) are keys to success (Nahavandi, 2015, p.

119).

Notwithstanding those traits and characteristics, emotional intelligence will likely be a

key characteristic in addressing the identified leadership challenge using transformational

leadership. Research has found a connection between emotional intelligence and

transformational leadership that enables workers to become fully engaged in their work efforts

(Majeed et al, 2018). Using the Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment in The Art and Science

of Leadership (Nahavandi, 2015, p. 133), I found that I scored high (44 of 50) on the overall
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emotional intelligence scale. Particularly useful for the identified leadership challenge will be

high levels of social skills (14 of 15) and managing emotions and self-regulation (8 of 9). Those

skills will enable me to work with and motivate employees through a cultural change while being

able to empathize with them and controlling my responses to setbacks.

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References

Brainard, M. (2017, September 13). The Impact of Unconscious Bias on Leadership Decision

Making. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/09/13/the-impact-of-

unconscious-bias-on-leadership-decision-making/#13ecf5e05b3f

Kirkpatrick, S. and Locke, E. (1991). Leadership: Do Traits Matter? Academy of Management

Executive, 5(2), 48-50.

Majeed, N., Ramayah, T., Mustamil, N., et al. (2018). Transformational leadership and

organizational citizenship behavior: Modeling emotional intelligence as

mediator. Management & Marketing, 12(4), pp. 571-590. Retrieved 5 Feb. 2018, from

doi:10.1515/mmcks-2017-0034

MindTools. (2018). Avoiding Pyschological Biases in Decision Making. Retrieved from

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/avoiding-psychological-bias.htm

Nahavandi, A. (2015). The Art and Science of Leadership (7th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson.

PhilosophyTerms.com. (n.d.). Cognitive Biases. Retrieved from

http://philosophyterms.com/cognitive-bias/

Simmons, B. (2009, Nov 23). Attribution Errors and Biases [Video File].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cb7HII0lW8

Wood, J. (2015). 20 Cognitive Biases that Affect Your Decisions. Retrieved from

http://mentalfloss.com/article/68705/20-cognitive-biases-affect-your-decisions

World Bank. (2015). World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior.

Washington, DC: World Bank. doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0342-0.