An end of summer gut check

With August winding down and many of us reemerging from vacation mode or a slower pace, this may be a good time to reassess our leadership approach and make some adjustments.

This week, we hear from Kellogg’s Craig Wortmann on how we can reframe negative thoughts and labels—particularly following a major setback—to build resilience. Plus, Kellogg’s Tessa Charlesworth encourages us to keep an eye out for implicit biases.

Reframing negative thoughts

Wortmann, a clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg, thought he knew what resilience was, having spent a lot of his career teaching it.

But then Wortmann found out he had cancer in his leg, which required an amputation. That moment was the start of a “life quake”—an event that significantly disrupted his life’s narrative—forcing him to relearn what it meant to be resilient. He developed a process that helped guide him through that experience, one he hopes can help others get through challenges, too.

The first step is to identify key negative labels or thoughts and then reframe them positively. One of Wortmann’s early negative labels was, “I’ll never run again.” But he realized he could reframe that positively to, “I’ve never worn a prosthetic. Maybe the thing will let me dance. Maybe it’ll let me run. I don’t know.”

The next step is to create goals that are realistically achievable. Wortmann recognized that, before he could even aspire to run, he first needed to learn how to walk again using his prosthesis.

Once leaders hit those early milestones, Wortmann recommends they recalibrate their initial goals into stretch goals that push them to be even better.

“That’s the final phase—it’s just not stopping at ‘[I’m] back,’ but saying, ‘Okay, I really took a hit. I’ve learned a lot of stuff, and now I’m going to turn it into something great.’”

Owning up to bias

For business leaders, confronting implicit bias, both within themselves and within their organizations, isn’t just optional—it’s an imperative, says Charlesworth, an assistant professor of management and organizations and director of the Change Lab.

She shares a couple of tips for identifying and addressing implicit bias in the workplace to ensure an organization can thrive.

To start, leaders need to reflect on their own biases and take accountability for them. This should include taking stock of anything that may be buried in their day-to-day operations.

“One of my first prescriptions that I usually give to people is, just notice the biases in your environment,” she says. “So often, it’s easier to notice the faults that are out there, before we start to turn the lenses on ourselves and notice our own faults and our own decision-making.”

Leaders should also find a trusted colleague to call them out on any personal biases they may have missed.

“People don’t like changing their own minds, and it’s really uncomfortable to reflect on our failings and our blind spots,” Charlesworth says. “So find a buddy that you can trust is being honest and authentic, and have them start to challenge you on some of your beliefs or things you say in meetings.”

Read more on opportunities for leadership growth in Kellogg Insight.

See you next week,

Maja Kos, senior academic editor

Kellogg Insight