We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.” This quote by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry sums up so many of the problems we see in leadership. Why? Because, just like everyone else, leaders have cognitive and emotional biases.

What Are Mind Knots?

Cognitive and emotional biases — what I call mind knots — are a human condition. No one is immune. Not only that: Biases are at play whether you realize it or not. Deeply entrenched in our human psyche, they shape our perceptions, weaving a narrative in our minds, swaying our thinking and emotions, and often misguiding our judgment, the decisions we make and the actions we take.

Biases can be quite useful in situations that demand a quick reaction to an immediate circumstance. But when it comes to leadership and its complexities, mind knots can more often work against your best interests, prioritizing impulse over intention, the moment over the mission, and the self over service to the people, organizations and strategic initiatives you lead. Left unchecked, mind knots hijack rational leadership.

The problem is, we are usually blind to these unconscious forces. The good news: Learning about these biases can help us to spot and overcome them, both in ourselves and in others.

Avoid the “Ostrich Effect”

Our mind is the lens through which we view everything. If we choose to bury our heads in the sand, a bias known as the ostrich effect, we put ourselves in a vulnerable position, deferring to our biases with no strategy to manage them in situations when we most need to do so. Understanding mind knots will help you avoid the self-defeating consequences they too often cause in swaying your thinking and behaviors in compromising ways. You cannot eliminate mind knots. However, the misperceptions and misdirection a mind knot causes can be avoided with intentional intervention through practices and processes that combine a mind knot with another countervailing mind knot. The pairing of the two countering biases yields what is called “the rational solution,” which harnesses each mind knot’s strengths in synchrony.

When this counter bias or rational solution is employed, each mind knot improves the performance of the other for a combined outcome neither could produce on its own. This strategy underscores a critical insight — since you can’t beat mind knots, you can join them. Intentionally leveraging the competitive tension, the push and pull of each bias, you can achieve a more rational approach to judgment and decisions, allowing your mind knots to work for instead of against you and your organization.

8 Common Biases Impacting Leadership

While there are over 200 cognitive biases, let’s look at eight common ones that can have a profound effect on leaders of every level. Each of them present intrinsic entanglements to leadership in a unique way. However, if you arm yourself with an understanding of these mind knots, their cognitive and emotional currents, and their usual negative consequences, you can find your way to the rational solution.

1. Egocentric bias.

First and foremost is the egocentric bias. Its self-centric pull amplifies self-importance and personal perspective while sidelining valuable perspectives of others. The rational solution to this mind knot leverages the selflessness of altruism to counter the selfishness of ego.

2. The curse of knowledge bias.

Next is the curse of knowledge bias. This silently casts a blinding effect on leaders and domain experts, preventing them from transferring their knowledge in a way that can be understood by those who are less knowledgeable. This mind knot can create significant communication barriers, resulting in tangled and frayed messaging and misaligned expectations.

A counter strategy to this knot relies on a rational solution for streamlining complex knowledge into simple, consumable messaging, transforming knowledge into actionable power.

3. The illusion of control bias.

The illusion of control bias deceives leaders into believing they have more control over events than is actually the case. Their sense of control is usually intensified by a colluding bias known as the illusion of superiority, which compounds disillusionment. These commanding coils often create counterproductive issues such as micromanagement, tying these leaders and their organizations down.

A rational solution is to reframe “control” into collaboration, empowerment, and inspiration, which enables trust and intrinsic motivation instead of the fear-based external motivation typical of a command-and-control approach.

4. Conformity bias.

Conformity bias and its conspiring cousin, groupthink, insidiously taint and tie all hands and minds together, compelling people to abandon their individual perspective and instead act in accordance with the group. They too often steer in a direction that is not in the best interest of key business objectives or the organization. To overcome this bias, leaders can focus the group on business objectives and outcomes instead of on agreement for the sake of a “consensus” outcome.

5. Optimism bias.

While a positive outlook can be a tremendous asset to a leader and to the organization, excessive optimism, or the optimism bias, can have a negative effect. Optimism bias can blindside leaders, causing them to overlook risks, leaving them unprepared in their sail for headwinds they may face. Combining the countering glass-half-empty mindset urged by pessimism bias with the positive outlook of optimism provides a rational way forward.

6. Belief bias.

Belief bias can cause tunnel vision, limiting a leader’s perspective and keeping them committed to the conclusion or outcome they believe. Often lacking discernment and turning a blind eye toward risk, this mind knot keeps leaders showboating, compromising their adaptability and their ability to course-correct when they should.

The solution: restaging blind belief into evidence-based belief, increasing the probability of enduring outcomes.

7. Intuition bias.

Intuition bias can be a gift. However, this mind knot can also lead to inaccurate perceptions and decisions made without logical reasoning. The strong emotional undercurrent of intuition often causes leaders to bypass critical data and the analysis necessary for informed leadership and decision-making. Countering intuition with logic is the rational approach because it couples the gift of intuition with that of thoughtful reasoning.

8. Planning fallacy bias.

Planning fallacy bias causes overestimations in outcomes and underestimations in time, costs, and risks associated with an initiative, leaving a leader unprepared for unexpected realities in execution and leading to unmet expectations. These leaders, tasked with preparing for risk, can also become perfection plungers, leading to further delays and risk.

The counter strategy for the risk-induced pitfalls of overplanning is to leverage the pragmatism of action, helping leaders make headway from planning to execution with an appropriately timed and fortified plan.

Biases Are Directional

As you consider each of these mind knots, remember that biases are directional, swaying us toward or away from a tendency. Therefore, the burden is on each of us as leaders to develop an awareness of their pushes and pulls, so we can take the lead rather than be unknowingly led.

To improve your judgment and decision-making, you would be wise to know and understand your mind knots. Of course, you won’t always be aware of when your mind knots are positioned to prevail in any given circumstance. However, paying attention to patterns in your decision processes, choices, emotions, and actions will provide you with clues about your potential biases — and help you mitigate the risk that your unconscious inclinations will change the course of your leadership, possibly directing a course that cannot be reversed.