“Subconscious biases are the stories we make up about people before we know who they are,” explains Vernā Myers. These subconscious biases weaken our teams at every level substituting long-established mental shortcuts for understanding. We may try to avoid this problem by being “color blind” in the workplace, but Ms. Myers suggests an alternate approach. By consciously, and without fear, expanding our social and professional circles beyond our comfort zones, we can begin to replace those faulty mental shortcuts with the strong relationships needed to be a powerful, vibrant, diverse Air Force.

Before the book and Lean-in circles, Sheryl Sandberg spoke to a TED audience to explain why women are not better represented in governments and the corporate world.  In our Air Force, the smallest in history, we need every pound of thrust from every man and woman reporting for duty every day.  The Facebook COO provides 3 simple tips for both men and women to make us all more effective.

Two great selections from Simon Sinek—because he gets it.  With examples from the Wright Brothers to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Apple, he explains “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” in his first talk

In Sinek's second talk, he uses the military as an example of an institution that has learned trust and cooperation, built over time, glues together teams that succeed.  These lessons are no surprise to Airmen…but few of us have spent more time thinking about them than Mr. Sinek.  Armed with a better understanding of what you feel already, you can lead more effectively today.

Every minute of every day, Airmen tackle some of the toughest problems of our time.  The “How to Make Toast” exercise encourages us to break complex problems apart into nodes linked together in a logical way.  As we refine the description of the process and incorporate the ideas of teammates into our individual ideas, we create more robust models with shared understanding.  The conversations your team will have after trying this exercise may help to break down mental barriers that seemed unsurmountable before….and besides, it’s a fun team-building event.