I just read a chapter from the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. At first I didn't see a point in reading it.... but after I read the chapter, my first impression seemed ironic!
The reason is- the chapter I read emphasized on how people typically stereotype and give the wrong impression of things unconciously. We all stereotype and give the wrong impression of someone or something at a first glance, and to prove it I took the race version of the IAT test. My result: Moderate preference for African-American compared to European-American. I was surprised to see this because I am usually impartial! I encourage you to take the test yourselves and see the results. You'll be surprised!
The thing that stood out to me the most in this chapter was that appearances can be deceiving. The guy may have had the appearance of a Presidential candidate, but did he actually think like one? Absolutely not! Everyone assumed he would be a good leader just by the way he looked, and not by his logic and reasoning.
By the same token, we need to consider the qualities that make up a true leader. We're not talking about attractiveness or strength, but we are talking about courage, logic, and the ability to look on the positive side in times of frustration. Sure we can undo unconcious biases, only if we are actually concious about the things we do and not make random assumptions about people or groups.
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