Recently I came face to face with my own subconscious biases. They came as a surprise but were interesting to watch once I became aware of them. I was faced with a series of people who were to be evaluated as objectively as possible by a colleague and I. They walked into the room and talked to us one by one. Some men, some women, some from abroad, some very well dressed, some with an accent, some with facial hair, some suave, some with a lot of hand movements, some hiding their nerves behind an overconfident exterior…

We made evaluations and discussed the interviewees. It was apparent that those who presented themselves well and appeared relaxed made a good impression. We reminded ourselves that even if someone spoke well, our focus must be on the content rather than the delivery. We picked up on body language clues like a mild trembling of the fingers and periodic clearing of the throat.

Couldn’t help thinking back. Saagar spoke well. He had an endearing and calm demeanor. He was clever. He was also a good mimic and actor. He could have easily made his assessors believe whatever he wanted them to, unless they were aware of their own biases and could read his non-verbal language – things that come with years of practice and experience!