How My Social Identity Has Biased My Decisions

Nowadays, on the Internet, in newspapers, books and magazines, we can find the latest trends in management and leadership. Many authors focus their articles discussing the key elements of being a good manager. Throughout my experience as a student in the module “Thinking about thinking” at the MBA, I learned a new dimension of being a leader. Now, I feel I have acquired improved decision making skills and balanced management approaches by being aware of the four factors that affect how we think: social identity, emotions, unconscious and certainty.

How my social identity has biased my decisions
In 2009, I was hired by Cardenas Lawyers (CL) as a Marketing and Communications Manager. The Firm created this position based on the recommendation
The person who I hired for IT had experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He came with ideas that he had implemented in his previous company. I remember the first meeting when I explained to him the Marketing Plan. I disregarded his examples and the information of his practice since I considered that they "were not applicable" to a law firm. I easily ascended the ladder, including only the data that validated my strategies. I assumed that his contribution was not valid because it corresponded to a person without experience in law services. Unconsciously, my attitude led me to the conclusion that I did not have to change anything in the marketing plan. I made my decisions without the input of others. Once more, I ignored the Reflexive Loop. The eagerness to show results to the Board of Directors did not give me the time to ask myself if I was making the right decisions. According to Marian N. Ruderman and Christopher Ernst (2010), understanding the dynamics of the own social identities helps to have a better appreciation of the views of others. If I were more aware of my “educated” social identity, I probably would have been more receptive to the IT analyst’s