A study of over 8,000 people employed in businesses, hospitals, universities, the military and government agencies found that virtually all of the respondents believed that they communicate as effectively or more effectively than their co-workers.

However, research shows that the average person listens at only about 25% efficiency.

It is often the things that are left unsaid, or half-said, that get in the way of open and honest communication.

Perceptions of others - realistic or not - can limit the ability to hear and empathise.

Participants discover they are the champions they’ve been looking for, confidently know they are their own best asset, and realise that they truly are the superheroes of their own lives.

Workplace conflict is commonplace. Unaddressed unconscious biases can fuel conflict as, like a magnet, bias both attracts similar thinking and repels opposite outlooks.

There are four key steps for managing conflict: listen, refuse to get defensive, ask questions and check for biases.

Most people resist change even though we know it is inevitable in any life and workplace.

Managing change is a major skill for leaders.

Key to managing change well is the ability to identify what is holding an individual or an organisation back and what can be used to allow forward movement. However, checking for hidden biases can provide workable alternatives that enable people to embrace change.

Resisting or embracing change are two sides of the same coin.

Workplace culture is built and sustained in two ways, each of which is shaped by a number of different factors:

1. At the personal level. This is where the individual brings the input and influences that shape their lives to bear on how the workplace operates. It is at this level that it is important that individual biases are identified and addressed
2. At the corporate or group level. At this level it is important to know which values are embedded in the culture and whose voices are dominant and why. It is then possible to appreciate how personal and corporate stories intersect and build vocation.

An old Chinese proverb says, “A fish is the last one to know what water is.” A fish swims in water, lives in water and breathes in water. But a fish never questions the existence of that water. In fact, it doesn’t even recognise that water is there.

Bron takes this metaphor of the fish and water and explains in a clear and engaging manner how just like a fish doesn’t recognise the water it’s swimming in we find it difficult to recognise our unconscious biases because they are such a deeply ingrained part of who we are.