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Be a Better Person

A TED Talk: Be a Better Person

Social Scientist and author Dolly Chugh asked, “What if your attachment to being a "good" person is holding you back from actually becoming a better person?” In this TED talk, Chugh explains the psychology of ethical behavior -- like why it's hard to spot your biases and acknowledge mistakes -- and shows how the path to becoming better starts with owning your mistakes. Chugh discusses that one’s desire to be a good person can limit growth because of their perceived moral identity. If we let go of this need to be a good person, we actually have the room to learn from our mistakes and be a better person.

Dolly Chugh teaches at New York University's Stern School of Business and the NYU Prison Education Program. Her book, The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias, was one of "six books to have on your bookshelf" in fall of 2018. Chugh has been an advocate for diversity and inclusion, How do you get from diversity to inclusion? Ask these 4 questions about your meetings, and has done plenty of research on implicit bias, placing her as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics.

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