Blind spot
My most defining moment in Bazerman’s book Blind Spot comes right at the beginning of the book in chapter one. Readers are introduced to the fact that most people would overestimate the abilities that they have in doing what is considered the right thing. In reality however, people would act in unethical ways unintentionally. When an individual is confronted with some ethic related dilemma, he/she is likely to believe he can stand up for his moral beliefs.
Contrary to this, the book suggest that human beings are never as ethical as they think they are. Although most people would consider themselves lawful or moral, they in one way or the other fail to make use of critical information and fall victims to bounded awareness. Blind Spot proves that we are all in one way or the other capable of committing some unethical activities like cheating even when we know what we are doing is a wrong thing. Combining bounded awareness of people with bounded ethicality, then the ethical gaps become exponential particularly so within organizations.
Understanding the true meaning of ethical blind spots has greatly helped me shape my ethical values. Some ethical blind spots that I am able to understand after reading in Bazerman’s book Blind Spot include; race and gender biases. These two types of blind spots are greatly manifested in today’s society. Therefore, there is a need for more people to understand the dangers associated with such prejudice. When a person does not know that he/she has these kinds of partiality, he/she is likely to engage in unethical activities without realizing that he/she is doing the wrong thing. For instance, such a person may tend to favor or give priorities to a certain group of people and ignore another. He/she might be affected by a conflict of interest, and might as well over claim credit without necessarily having a reason to do so. Blind Spot has many examples of people who made decisions that they believed to be ethical, but in reality, these decisions violated their standards of ethical conduct. For instance, there are decisions setting the stage for the subprime mortgage crisis.
Defining moments are points in a person’s life when one is made to take a pivotal choice or when one experiences something that changes them fundamentally. My defining moments and personal influences have brought impact to my decision making process in different ways. For instance, they have made me to be an agile leader at my place of work, to be more focused, and has also made me more resilient. The influences have also helped me build trust with the people I engage with at work. Once I was able to gain trust and confidence from my co-workers, I became open to my influence. Being at a higher position, I find it so easy to convey a demand or to assign some task that should be carried out by my juniors. The other influence is that I have become more assertive. This way, I am able to get my ideas quickly noticed, particularly so when competing with other workmates for visibility. I am not able to effectively present my ideas and thoughts with some high degree of confidence and hence indicating my conviction. I understand that applying an excessive degree of confidence could easily be mistaken for arrogance.
Our decision making capabilities at work are influenced by our defining moments. The ability of one to make effective decisions is one of the good leadership skills that help one earn favor with co-workers and may as well help him/her gain promotion. However, negative influences and negative defining moments are likely to hinder once capability to make effective decisions while at work. Every influence/defining moment start with some external stimulus, regardless of whether it is a physical event of it is something that a person said. That ultimately generates some unfelt emotions in a person’s brain and hence ends up causing the body to produce hormones that are responsive. When these hormones go into a person’s bloodstream, they may end up creating either positive feelings or sometimes negative feelings. In other words, people emotions have a direct impact on how they make decisions by creating various feelings.
Through a person’s journey to becoming a leader, he/she is most likely to face many defining moments. That is, such an individual comes across many situations requiring him/her to make some tough decisions. In other words, they are expected to take a stand on an issue. It is therefore essential as a leader to understand your ethical influences and defining moments as they impact decision making styles. One of the reasons why leaders should understand such moments is that they help one to be crystal clear on their own personal values. An individual’s value needs to serve as the main filter in their decision making process. If one is not certain of the values that guide and motivate their life and leadership, then one would as well be just like a rudderless ship set out to a storm. The reason for the need to understand once own defining moment as a leader is that, they help us in developing a leadership point of view. If a leader appreciates his/her point of view, that is, he/she understand what motivates him/her as a leader, then such a person will be equipped better to be able to sort some complex issue that needs immediate attention.
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/analysis-bazermans-blind-spots-book-2373.php
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/blind-spots-were-not-as-ethical-as-we-think
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/08/03/how-to-define-your-defining-moments/#41a0775425d0
https://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/7-ways-to-build-influence-in-the-workplace.html
https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9390.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/05/09/how-your-emotions-influence-your-decisions/#36aa18693fda
Defining Moments of Leadership – Will you define the moment or will the moment define you?