2023’s Top Leadership Skill is Inclusive Leadership
What’s the big deal about inclusive leadership?
With the current pressure to attract and retain talent at an all-time high, creating a company culture that enables people to thrive is a must for businesses that want to be in with even a chance of winning the commitment of the ever-elusive candidate.
However, as companies increasingly seek to attract talent from a diverse range of backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences, that include people of different ages, genders, races, ethnicities, neurodiversities, and with differing accessibility requirements, inclusiveness is no longer a “nice to have”. It’s a critical aspect of team performance and ultimately, business success.
Therefore, all leaders need to possess inclusive leadership skills to allow them to confidently navigate the necessary conversations, and create the strategies required for the creation of, and maintenance of, a healthy company culture.
But what exactly ARE inclusive leadership skills?
There are many ways in which leaders can demonstrate inclusive leadership capability. But it seems to me that the attributes most common among the inclusive leaders I encounter can be summarised as follows:
Authenticity
They are honest about their capabilities and acknowledge their limitations. They admit their challenges and mistakes and create they space for others to learn with and from them. They seek to create spaces that are physically, emotionally, and psychologically safe for themselves and their teams. They care about their impact and seek honest feedback on how they are perceived. They are concerned with making genuine connections.
Commitment
They are open about their commitment to their own learning, and their commitment to use this to drive real and sustainable change. They challenge the status quo, hold themselves and others to account and make inclusion a personal priority. When they are part of a dominant culture, they understand the need to embrace the discomfort in learning about differences, and they stay the course in their commitment to inclusion and allyship.
Curiosity
They demonstrate a growth mindset and are curious to understand the experiences of those who are different to them. They can consider opposing information from a “both/and” perspective, instead of an “either/or” perspective. They listen without judgment, and accept the information shared with them as true, seeking to go beyond their own defensiveness. They strive to see the individual as well as the group.
Visibility
They speak about their commitment, their progress, their learning. They attend events and employee meetings (that are both inside and outside of their role remit) as a supporter of people who are different from them, as an ally. They role model the behaviours they desire from others. They act as a champion and sponsor to actively create and share opportunities to raise the visibility of others. They seek opportunities to leverage a diversity of strengths.
Because inclusive leadership is not about occasional grand gestures, but rather, small and consistent actions and awareness. Inclusive leadership must be practiced and reinforced, every day.
The journey to becoming an inclusive leader starts with self-awareness. Because none of us can lead, or even meaningfully contribute to real and sustainable change, unless we understand our own role as part of the change, and how we will be impacted.
It’s for this very reason I am creating an inclusive leadership library of resources, to help you understand which areas of equity and inclusion you want to develop for yourself. This will include interviews with some of DEI’s greatest thinkers on topics such as gender identity, neurodiversity, and anti-racism. There will also be plenty of downloadable resources, reading and listening recommendations, and plenty of insight from Yours Truly!
It's launching in March so watch this space!
So, my questions to you are this…