Latest Book Review: Blind Spot, by Mahzarin Banaji

I've been on a bit of a reading splurge this past few weeks. There seems to have been an insatiable hunger within me for more knowledge. I was hungry to understand more about diversity and inclusion. 

Yes, I educate, speak and train on this subject already - and I am pretty clued up already as a result - but I felt there were gaps in my understanding and generally just more I could be doing to be better informed and even more clued up on exactly why this is so critically important and what differences exist out there in the world that i'm blind to. 

My thirst for knowledge brought me to this book - Blind Spot. And boy, was I not sorry. It was an immense dive into the murky world we all have surrounding blind spots and biases. In my mind, should be a must read book for anyone who wants to create a fair and level playing field for people from all walks of life. I literally had my eyes opened as I begun the process of understanding my own biases and blind spots. 

I wish I could share absolutely everything I learned from these books here but there just simply aren't enough characters in a post to achieve that, so here's a brief overview of each to get the cogs whirring for anyone interested - like I was - in discovering more about how to create a fairer and more equitable society. 

As leaders, we have a responsibility to see the world through the eyes of the people we serve. Social intelligence and self-awareness therefore are the keys to unlocking the performance advantage that diversity offers but which can so easily be stifled or blocked by our inability to see whats stopping that from being realised. Our blind spots make us blind to what the real world really looks like and the problems we exacerbate or create ourselves - even when we think we're doing good in the world.

There is so much still to learn on this subject and if you're interested or even curious in knowing more about diversity and inclusion, I highly recommend starting here 👇 . You wont be sorry.