CEO of Rotary International speaking this week - hear John Hewko
Last Call to Register to hear John Hewko on Wednesday
The Chamber’s Ukraine lunchtime event will be held via zoom on Wednesday, May 25 at NOON. Admission is free for Chamber and Rotary members, guests. We encourage you to share and invite others to hear about this issue.
We are working beside our partners in the international relief community to help provide resources to the more than 10 million Ukrainian refugees forced to flee the field of battle.
917 N. Shore Drive Lake Bluff Illinois 847-780-READ
9:30A.M.-11:30A.M.
Followed by, our Rotary Meeting, at The Silo Restaurant 625 Rockland Road, Lake Bluff, Illinois.
If you have not signed up to serve at Bernie's Book Bank, please do so. If you cannot stand for a period of time, we will get you a chair.
Bernie's Book Bank since 2009, has distributed 20,000,000 books to under-served children in the Chicagoland area. Giving the opportunity to 275,000 children annually to READ BOOKS!
Please RSVP as soon as possible if you are coming to the Bernie's Service Project.
Mike Ellison will be reaching out regarding the attendees for lunch at The Silo.
I also suggest inviting friends and family that might be interested in becoming a Rotarian. Let's get a good turnout!
Mitch Portugal Community Service Chair
847-480-1361
We need volunteers on July 2 & 4th for the pancake breakfast! Great family fun! Also – there are folks who want to do volunteer events – but not ready to join Rotary- here is a great opportunity to get them involved!!
Beverly Moriello has set up links for our pancake breakfast as well as the Rubber Ducky Race.
Please pull out your calendar and plan when you can help. For the ducky We need pre-event set-up July 2nd; day-of set-up and production July 4th.
Denis says, “As the coordinator for these events, the most unpleasant obligation I have faced was to construct this email. It was difficult because I am asking all members physically capable and available to donate precious time to assist with these events.
Our club has an elevated level of respect in our community due to our service. This is possible due to the unselfish dedication and giving of our members. Assisting with these events will hopefully reinforce your dedication to the principles of Rotary and give you a sincere and deserved feeling of accomplishment.”
Join fellow club members for our first in-person installation in 2 years on June 21st! Presentation of Colors by Boy Scout Troop 463 will kick off the evening.
As we say a fond farewell to Club President Ron Knight, our special guest Bill Kmiecik, District Governor Elect will install our new club president, Mitch Portugal, and other special mentions and awards will be followed by dinner and dancing.
Sunset Ridge is a lovely, traditional club that will make for an unforgettable evening.
You must RSVP by June 10th to Elke Friedman either by email to: schatzi85@aol.com or by phone to 847-738-7916. The event starts at 6 PM and the dress code is business casual, tickets are $75.00 per person in advance. If you would like a vegetarian meal, please indicate so when you respond.
"Everyone is on board with the idea that people are biased. But it’s always the other group!"
Cory Clark - executive director of the Adversarial Collaboration Project at the University of Pennsylvania
Most of us associate the word "bias" with bad things like racism, sexism, and homophobia.
To social scientists, however, those things go beyond bias; they're bigotry. Social scientists define bias as a preference, and without it, well, imagine how long it'd take you to place an order in a restaurant.
Psychologist Matt Grawitch, director of strategic research at Saint Louis University's School for Professional Studies, says our brains evolved to make decisions quickly, based on small amounts of information. And in prehistoric times, experts believe that the more someone seemed like us, the less dangerous we assumed them to be, whether or not this was true.
But many of our prehistoric tendencies aren't necessarily good for us today. Studies have shown that the most diverse companies are more likely to outperform their competitors. And you may have a bias toward burgers and against vegetables, but that doesn't mean you should only eat burgers or hate vegetables.
Part of being a modern, evolved human or organization might mean avoiding some of the things we're biased toward and seeking out alternatives.
While we are often bad at spotting our own biases, we can learn to distinguish bias from bigotry and keep it from negatively affecting our decisions.
Here are some tips for keeping bias from becoming a detriment.
The cost of bias- Employer bias drives employee disengagement, which costs U.S. companies an estimated $550 billion per year.
20 percent vs. 7 percent. Employees at large companies who perceive that their companies are unfairly biased are nearly three times as likely to be disengaged at work.
31 percent vs. 10 percent. People who perceive unfair employer bias are more than three times as likely to say that they’re planning to leave their current jobs within the year.
34 percent vs. 13 percent. Those who perceive unfair bias are 2.6 times more likely to say that they’ve withheld ideas and solutions over the previous six months.
Sources: Gallup, Coqual
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Recognize that it’s hard. We are largely unaware of our own biases, even when they are brought to our attention, says Cory Clark, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Clark often asks a classroom of students to rate themselves relative to the others in the room on friendliness, attractiveness, sense of humor, and other factors, and it invariably turns out that they all consider themselves above average.
"Almost everyone is a six or above," Clark says. Then she shows them the results and points out that it’s impossible for 100 percent to be in the top half on each trait. Having revealed their bias, she asks them to rate themselves again. The vast majority still rate themselves as better than average. "Everyone is on board with the idea that people are biased," says Clark. "But it’s always the other group!"
Beware of group-think. Psychologist Matt Grawitch says the risk of bigotry grows when our circle is made up of people who look, think, and sound too much alike. "When everyone has the same bias," he says, "you’ve created an echo chamber."
Ask yourself: Is it true — or safe? Clark says that earlier in our history, our biases tied us to our clan, our tribe, or what psychologists call our "ingroup." And disagreeing with your ingroup could get you cast out — or worse. Today, that bias toward our ingroup creates the potential for us to distort the information we process and to feel frustrated when others don’t see things as we do.
Consider whether the bias is good for you, or for the group. Bias may have favored evolution, but not necessarily the individual. Squirrels are biased, says Clark, "to think everything is a predator." So while fear of predators may promote the survival of the species, it might make an individual squirrel disadvantage itself by staying away from a human who's trying to help it.
Set policies. "We can't rely on our self-awareness," says Gail Tolstoi-Miller, founder of a staffing-strategy firm. One way to combat unconscious bias is to follow processes developed by a diverse group. "Diversity isn’t just identity," she says. "Decision-makers must have diverse thinking." This is especially true for hiring decisions. A diverse group of interviewers can help put unconscious bias to the side.
Encourage robust discussion. "Organizations need to cultivate a culture that encourages and even celebrates constructive debate," says Michael Diaz, founder of Delco Business Solutions, in Folsom, Pennsylvania. "If an organization’s culture empowers team members to question each other's assumptions, regardless of where they fall on the organization chart, the negative impact of bias will be minimized."
by Louis Greenstein: This story originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of Rotary magazine.
Join Zoom meeting on the good old-fashioned telephone!
+1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 295 416 335 Password: 726580 for telephone only
Please note - Meetings are no longer recorded. If you do not attend on zoom or in person you will miss the fun! Meeting dates and times, or virtual access may change, always check our website for updates. In-person meetings are held at Hilton, 2855 Milwaukee Rd., Northbrook or other locations as announced, and the club Covid protocol must be followed.
