Southlake resident and AT&T Business Chief Executive Officer Anne Chow made waves when she became the first woman of color CEO in AT&T history. Now she’s showcasing her experience and long history as a champion of diversity, equality and inclusion in her book partnership with FranklinCovey: “The Leader’s Guide To Unconscious Bias: How to Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams.”
“I got involved in supporting FranklinCovey's ‘Unconscious Bias’ offering in its formation in 2019. Discussions evolved to join the book project, and it has truly been a labor of leadership love for me and my fellow co-authors,” Chow says. “Our book provides readers with a fact and experience-based view of unconscious bias coupled with practical frameworks and exercises at the end of each chapter to help readers apply their learnings in the context of their own professional and personal lenses. As three co-authors who have vastly different backgrounds, we share many of our own personal stories to help demystify the notion of bias with real life examples, reflecting our own journeys as well as the impact that others have had on us.”
As a board of directors member, Chow says she was grateful to partner with the FranklinCovey team, along with Simon & Schuster, to create the final product.
“Perhaps like many corporate leaders, it has long been my aspiration to write a book. Bringing ‘The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias’ to life has been a wonderful process and project — largely due to my passion for the topic coupled with the amazing people with whom I've worked side by side.”
And while this project has been in the works for some time, Chow knows this topic has never been more relevant.
“Various forms of bias are often the root of much divisiveness today, whether it be social, economic, political or otherwise. We wanted to tee up this topic in a way that helps others to understand and identify bias (conscious and unconscious) both in themselves as well as others,” Chow says. “Additionally, throughout the book, we offer our thoughts on how best to move forward by reframing bias, cultivating connection, choosing courage and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging. The objective is to enable higher levels of performance in the workplace for leaders, teams and organizations alike — whether it's relationship by relationship or as a collective whole.”
This is Chow’s first book venture, and she says she would be open to other author opportunities if they arise in the future.
“I would be open to another book project if there were another opportunity to share my perspectives alongside other leaders in ways that we could help others.”
"The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias" is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.