Ways to Develop Inclusive Leadership

We know that inclusion yields many organizational benefits: a happier and healthier workplace, better talent retention, more innovative teams, better decision making, and the list goes on. And yet many organizations struggle with actively creating a culture whereby all members of the team feel empowered. To reap the benefits of inclusion, organizations must focus on developing inclusive leaders. Learning how to be an inclusive leader is more than just good intentions or an open mind. It requires a fundamental shift in the way leaders approach their roles and manage their teams. Any leader who wishes to lead more inclusively must adopt a mindset of empathy, humility, and respect. This article will outline some actions that leaders can take to successfully implement inclusivity in their workplace, followed by traits of such leaders. 

While these might sound like towering ideas, there are many surprisingly simple actions any leader can take to immediately develop a more inclusive leadership style.  

1. Visible commitment: They articulate an authentic commitment to diversity, challenge the status quo, hold others accountable, and make diversity and inclusion a personal priority. 

2. Humility: They are modest about their capabilities, admit mistakes, and create the space for others to contribute.

3. Awareness of bias: They show awareness of personal blind spots, as well as flaws in the system, and work hard to ensure a meritocracy.

4. Curiosity about others: They demonstrate an open mindset and deep curiosity about others, listen without judgment, and seek empathy to understand those around them.

5. Cultural intelligence: They are attentive to others’ cultures and adapt as required. 

6. Effective collaboration: They empower others, pay attention to the diversity of thinking and psychological safety, and focus on team cohesion. 

Following are the traits of an inclusive leader: 

• Commitment to improving diversity and inclusion. They allocate resources and hold themselves accountable for improving diversity and inclusion. They treat all team members with fairness and respect and understand what makes individuals unique while ensuring they feel connected to the team. They are ready to work through obstacles and adapt to meet the needs of others. Sticking with a mission of inclusion can be difficult, especially if it challenges personal, hardwired biases. But inclusive leaders are committed to changing, holding their teams accountable, and making diversity and inclusion policies a necessity for their organizations. 

• Courage to admit not having all the answers on what needs to change or how to change it. They seek feedback and acknowledge personal weaknesses. They show humility and admit to making mistakes. They challenge the status quo and call out bias when they see it. Inclusive leaders are willing to take personal risks to ensure their diversity and inclusion efforts are bearing fruit and are willing to talk about their own failures. They recognize that it strengthens them to share their weaknesses because they’re encouraging development in others. 

• Awareness of bias as an individual and as an organization. They develop an understanding of different kinds of personal biases, such as implicit stereotypes, groupthink, and confirmation bias. They train to self-regulate and take corrective steps to ensure fair play. They also establish transparent policies for making merit-based decisions about promotions, rewards, and task allocations. They are not only aware of their own biases and flaws in their current organization, but they also take it one step further and educate others when they miss the mark.

• Curiosity and openness to different ideas and perspectives. They desire continuous learning and improvement after accepting their limitations and seeking diverse perspectives. They also understand that they will have to cope with ambiguity and accept that some uncertainty is inevitable. These leaders know that various ideas, life experiences, and backgrounds foster innovation and organizational growth, so, without judgment, they listen attentively and genuinely seek to understand new perspectives.

• Cultural intelligence and confidence to lead cross-cultural teams. They learn to value cultural differences and seek opportunities to understand other cultures. They endeavour to develop an awareness of how cultural stereotypes can influence expectations. They accept that people might need to change their behaviour to navigate cross-cultural interactions. They recognize that not everyone sees things as they do, so they adapt as required by others’ cultures and train others to do the same.

• Collaboration that empowers people to challenge and build on each other’s ideas. They invest in diverse teams and avoid favouritism among members. They build trust, so everyone feels comfortable speaking up. They empower their teams to handle difficult situations and to be ready to help address conflict if needed. These leaders focus on fostering a psychologically safe environment, building cohesive teams, and empowering people throughout their organizations to do their best work. 

To truly be an inclusive leader, everyone in an organization should strongly agree that the leaders treat them respectfully, value them, make them feel like they belong, and provide a psychologically safe environment. It’s not enough to be positively rated by most. Every interaction should make employees feel like they belong.   

The topic of inclusivity should show up regularly in repeated, small-scale comments and actions. Inclusive leadership happens daily in interactions across the organization, not simply in grand, sweeping and infrequent gestures.