Creating an Equal Opportunity to Thrive in Food Retail

When I first heard FMI Future Leaders at FMI Connect speaker Tara Jaye Frank, founder and CEO of TJF Career Modeling LLC explain unconscious bias, a light bulb went off for me. “Unconscious bias is a collection of thoughts and/or beliefs shaped by external influences that impact how we perceive and treat other people and situations,” shared Tara. She explained that because these thoughts are as natural as breathing to many of us, we often do not question them. “We have to pause and think before we speak or act and be willing to challenge our own assumptions,” shared Tara.

By: Laurie Gethin, Director of Education, Food Marketing Institute <img src="http://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/default-album/future-leaders-2.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="Future Leaders 2" title="Future Leaders 2" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" /> When I first heard FMI <a href="http://www.fmiconnect.net/2016/experience-innovation/future-leaders">Future Leaders</a> at <a href="http://www.fmiconnect.net/">FMI Connect</a> speaker Tara Jaye Frank, founder and CEO of TJF Career Modeling LLC explain unconscious bias, a light bulb went off for me. “Unconscious bias is a collection of thoughts and/or beliefs shaped by external influences that impact how we perceive and treat other people and situations,” shared Tara. She explained that because these thoughts are as natural as breathing to many of us, we often do not question them. “We have to pause and think before we speak or act and be willing to challenge our own assumptions,” shared Tara. She went on to explain that in a company environment, this is important because it impacts a company’s collective consciousness and culture. “Consciousness is simply another word for awareness,” said Tara. “We must pay closer attention to how our individual presence impacts the whole. We all leave a space either better or worse than we find it and being intentionally inclusive, granting trust, helping each other succeed - these are all ways to create a winning culture where everyone can thrive.” That statement is at the heart of Tara’s workshop <a href="http://fmi16.mapyourshow.com/7_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?ScheduleID=41">Unconscious No More</a> at <a href="http://www.fmiconnect.net/2016/experience-innovation/future-leaders">Future Leaders</a>. Attendees will walk away with a greater sense of awareness of their own biases, and understand how easy it is to move through leadership with blind spots. “We all do it,” said Tara, “But the more aware we become, the less of an issue it will be for us and those we lead. I will share very practical tips for raising consciousness in ourselves and others, starting with pausing to think, and ending with accountability.” <img src="http://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/tara-jaye-frank-speaking.tmb-small.jpg?sfvrsn=1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="Tara-Jaye-Frank-speaking" title="Tara-Jaye-Frank-speaking" style="float: left; margin: 10px;" /> What I like about Tara’s workshop is that the skills you’ll walk away will help improve your professional skills, but will apply to other aspects of your life as well. At the end of the day, we can all be better at understanding ourselves and those around us. Fun fact – Tara’s childhood dream was to become a greeting card writer. She did just that right out of undergrad by joining Hallmark Cards. From there she took her interest in human behavior and pointed her career in some interesting directions including now helping people thrive on purpose. “We all have imagination - I just encourage people to use that visioning to imagine a preferred future,” said Tara.  “When they feel most effective and ‘on fire’ for their work, what kind of environment are they in? What activities are they engaged in? Which skills are they using? By asking good questions, we can heighten our awareness of what it looks and feels like to be in the zone. Then we can set our intentions to be in the zone more often.” I look forward to learning more from Tara and our other <a href="http://www.fmiconnect.net/2016/experience-innovation/future-leaders">Future Leaders</a> speakers at <a href="http://www.fmiconnect.net/">FMI Connect</a>.

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