We all grow up with biases. These help us get on with our daily lives. Some are self-serving and some are self-restricting. When navigating certain pivotal stages in our lives, being cognizant of these biases can help ensure we base our decisions on the right factors. I look forward to sharing few examples from my career journey, moving between cities, finding my ‘Philia’ peer coaching partner in my friend and continuing to want more from life, while being happy with where I am currently. Presented by: Philia.
Awareness, Action and Adapt
herCAREER: How can we overcome self-restricting biases in order to live (and work) with our full potential?
As the name suggests – self-restricting biases can be overcome by simple action initiated by ourselves. This can be summarized by the 3 As: Awareness, Action and Adapt.
- Awareness of biases helps us recognize them at play in our daily lives and their nature whether self-serving or self-restricting.
- Action plan to identify triggers of our self-restricting biases helps get a deeper understanding into why we fall prey to these biases.
- Finally, understanding of these biases and their triggers can help us adapt ourselves to not let these have an adverse impact in our daily lives.
herCAREER: What are your key learnings that you have made throughout your professional life?
- It is not a sin to take credit for your good work and give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back from time-to-time
- Do not expect your managers to be mind readers. Learning to speak up and asking for what I want has been a key learning until now.
herCAREER: You are rock climbing to overcome your fear of heights. Does it work? And what is your advice on how to overcome fear?
It is working as of now! Not sure if I can still go to the 47th floor of a building and look down without feeling dizzy, but I can go for hikes and climb mountains!
I believe wanting to overcome a fear is half the battle won. Fears are internal manifestations only and therefore in our control. Small actions towards overcoming a fear leading to positive thoughts and beliefs can affect our feelings – simple mantra of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in action.
herCAREER: At herCAREER, the focus is on professional exchanges, which is based on the personal experiences and the knowledge of the sparring partners. As an organizer, it is also in our best interest to support women beyond the exhibition and make our networks accessible. We would therefore like to ask you if you would also act as a sparring partner in addition to the trade fair participation. If so, we would ask you to name the topics for which you would act as a sparring partner in bullet points.
- Unconscious bias or related topics
- Women at work
herCAREER: Are there topics to which you would personally like to find a sparring partner and would like to continue a professional as well as personal exchange. Then, please also name us a list of the subjects you are interested in.
- Unconscious bias or related topics
- Women at work
herCAREER: How can interested women contact you?
Über die Person
Anantika Kumari is a Human Resources professional, currently working in London. Her experience in the banking and financial services started 5 years back in Mumbai, India with Citigroup. She has covered a variety of roles within HR, ranging from specialist roles like learning and development to generalist business partner roles. She continues to develop her passion for helping people realise their full potential, in different ways. Anantika has a Masters degree in Organisational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from The University of Delhi, India.
