Checking Yourself

As a leader, how do you check in with yourself to be aware of any biases you may have to make sure they’re not getting in the way, ensuring that all of your employees feel like they belong and that they are included?

Yeah, I mean, as leaders, we all have good days, and we have bad days. I was asked a question once, when do you feel small? When do you feel like you didn’t have a good day? Or when are you hard on yourself? And I think I’m hardest on myself when I don’t feel like I was able to give 100% in an instance.
And so, I think to go into what your question is and just thinking through some of the elements of how do you balance this? There are going to be good days, there are going to be tough days. But don’t take it too seriously, as long as you’re keeping that long term focus of the impact that you’re seeking to make at the center. And it’s okay to say that you didn’t handle a situation right.
In fact, for me, personally, what I have found and the way to kind of keep those guardrails and checkpoints in place is saying to the team, “Hey, I don’t really feel great about how this conversation went. Here’s what I was trying to do. Can we reopen that discussion?” That’s a really good way to check yourself. And there have been times I felt that way. And the feedback is, “No, it was great.” Like, oh, maybe I should add an extra cup of coffee that day, right? I don’t know. But those are the pieces I see there.