INsight/ What Labeling Does

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash.

Manila, 26 Aug 2022 — What labeling other people sets you up for.

Story

It happened during World War Two and led to the Holocaust. It was also done this year, by several national governments around the world. We can see and hear it in the news. On a smaller scale, it also happens in workplaces, every week, even every day. It’s about the way that people talk about others. What am I referring to? It’s the practice of labeling other groups of human beings in the way we talk and write about them. On a large scale, it’s about conflict and war, and on a smaller scale in our workplaces, it’s about exclusion. Let’s dive into this, and see what the practice of labeling others allows governments and individuals like you and me to do. And, if labeling is detrimental, then why are our brains helping us to label others?

According to Matthieu Ricard, a well-known Buddhist monk and scientist, our mind can be a force for good and evil. In his seminal book Empathy: the Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World, he investigates the good and evil uses of our minds in great detail (the book has more than 800 pages). The good news, we learn, is that human beings are naturally inclined to thrive together through collaboration. A conclusion that Rutger Bregman, a historian, also comes to in his book Humankind: a Hopeful History. Yet there is a dark side to our mind that Ricard also analyzes in depth.

For our self-protection, the ancient parts of our brain are ever-ready to trigger a threat response against dangers that might be happening around us. This perception of threat leads our conditioned and untrained mind to feel safe with some people (our in-group), and unsafe with others (our out-group or groups). The gap between us and our out-group can be made to feel bigger and more threatening by how people talk about the out-group. On a large scale, this is what warmongers do. Think of Adolf Hitler and many after him, even today. That’s the big scale. On a small scale, however, we are all at risk of falling into the trap of excluding others. That’s what labeling sets you up for.

Challenge

Why is labeling so common among us humans? Well, we have our brains to thank for that. In the Biology of Fear we explored how our Brain 1.0 and Brain 2.0 can hold us back from showing up as leaders who drive positive change in our workplace and world. Our brain finds it hard to deal with complexity and looks for shortcuts. These older parts of our brain will try to simplify life for us, saving mental energy and creating a sense of security. It will take more energy to overcome these tendencies and stay curious and appreciative that the world around us is complex, and that the human beings around us are unique and precious, without a need to label them. 

In essence, as Ricard explains, labeling is about devaluing other human beings. In his research on empathy, he demonstrates how, on the dark side, labeling can lead to the worst of human behaviors, illustrating this with many examples from recent history. He helps us see three phases in this dark process. It starts with homogenizing other people to treat them as a group instead of as individual human beings. Next comes dehumanizing them with a negative label, thereby giving us permission to bypass our natural sense of empathy for them. And third is demonizing them, showing us why some groups need to be fought, conquered, and removed from our world.

Fortunately, we have the newer parts of our brain, including our pre-frontal cortex, to help us appreciate the complexity of life and become positive change-makers who bring others along with us on the journey. Yet our Brain 1 .0 and Brain 2.0 are always ready to trick and trigger us into opposite behaviors. Hence the need to release our minds from that primitive programming and practice acting from an expanded self-awareness, every day and every week. Instead of seeing ‘that other group’ inside or outside your workplace, you can practice seeing and treating them as individual people you can reach out to and build trusting relationships with through your conversations. 

Question

This week, why not take a look around you in your workplace to see what kind of labeling is going on there, as well as in the world at large? And, for you personally, what groups are you labeling when you catch yourself doing it? If you have difficulty observing labeling practices in your workplace, start by looking for what we call organizational silos and stereotyping behaviors.  

Next, can you see how labeling produces exclusion? Instead of seeing people as ordinary other human beings who are very much like you, labeling lets your mind put them in a different ‘box.’ How does that lead you to treat them differently? In my coaching practice, the leaders I work with are on track to become known as bridge-builders who bring people together to collaborate for positive change. Brain 1.0 and Brain 2.0, however, can still trigger them to label others and thereby, inadvertently, drive people apart from each other. 

At best, labeling promotes exclusion and stops people from collaborating. At worst, it generates distrust and fear, leading to conflicts and (cold or hot) wars, which can break up companies, societies, and the harmony we need in our world. As a leader, how will you condition your mind to make sure that you become known as a bridge-builder in your workplace? If you would like to work on your leadership, book a free strategy call so that we can discuss the changes you want to make.