Introduction to Inclusive Leadership

For years, I’ve heard that diverse teams are better than homogenous teams. Diverse teams outperform, are smarter, more innovative, and lead to more profitable organizations. Yet, I don’t completely buy it. 

This might surprise you; after all, we’re a company focused on inclusion and diversity. But maybe it doesn’t. Because what’s missing from these findings is that it’s an inclusive culture that allows diversity to thrive. Inclusive teams and organizations support the diversity, which then outperforms, is smarter and more innovative, and is more successful.  

Diversity for diversity’s sake will never be the answer to creating higher performing teams/organizations. However, if you build an inclusive culture in which everyone feels valued and can be their authentic selves, you’ll call forth the diversity that’s already present and simultaneously attract more diverse talent.  

The Path to Inclusion and Diversity 

Maybe your organization currently lacks diversity or an inclusive culture built on trust, authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability. This begs the ultimate question, “how do we do this?” 

There’s not just one answer. Many factors contribute to the creation of an inclusive culture. One important way is by developing leaders, who can embody and embed inclusive behaviors. To truly grow inclusive leadership capacity, look to training that is experiential and supportive. We all know that the best predictor of an employee’s success and happiness is their leader/manager. And if we’ve happy and engaged employees, there’s a higher likelihood that we will see increased productivity, innovation, and profitability.  

Inclusive Leadership is in Your Everyday Behaviors 

Ask your favorite search engine about inclusive leadership, and you’ll find a multitude of theories, articles, and models to sift through. Like others out there, at Inclusity we have the applied knowledge about how to be a stellar inclusive leader and best version of yourself. Our approach differs from other models, though, because it focuses on behaviors as opposed to theoretical ideas. 

Our Inclusive Leadership Framework allows you to look at your own practices to identify your strengths and where you need to grow your own capacity. As you begin to implement more and more inclusive leadership behaviors, you’ll begin to see the culture in your organization evolve. Employees notice, consciously or not, the behaviors that leaders demonstrate and communicate, so they know what is expected and valued. By shifting your day-to-day behaviors, you begin to shift the culture. Lead with inclusion and diversity will follow.   

A Framework for Leading Inclusively 

The art of being an inclusive leader can be broken down into three areas: leading yourself, leading others, and leading your organization/team. If you truly want to be able to inclusively lead others and your organization/team, you have to start with yourself. 

Inclusive leaders that lead themselves well focus on developing their emotional intelligence and empathy. Emotional intelligence is about recognizing and managing your own emotions, while empathy allows you to understand or see another’s feelings or perspective. Growing in these areas means becoming aware of your unconscious biases and intentionally managing them. Being an inclusive leader is about being intentional in understanding yourself and in connecting with and understanding others.  

The insight you gain by developing yourself will accelerate your ability to more effectively lead others. Inclusive leaders operate with the mindset that if they are not being intentionally inclusive, they’ll likely unintentionally exclude people. Which would lead to decreased trust and belonging. By recognizing and valuing each person’s individuality and strengths, you increase employees’ sense of belonging.  Inclusive leaders also look to develop their people at every turn. If you draw out their strengths and engaging employees in decision-making, you’ll empower them while strengthening the organization as well.  

Collectively, inclusive leaders’ actions work to align the organization’s culture with its vision, mission, and values. And when the culture is aligned – when people are living out the vision and values – the ability to drive innovation and results becomes easier. You can effectively do this by clearly communicating expectations around the culture and inclusive behavior, as well as creating accountability across the organization/team. 

Enjoy the Journey 

While our Inclusive Leadership Framework doesn’t account for every aspect required to lead an organization successfully, it provides you with the critical areas for building an inclusive culture. 

Inclusive Leadership is a journey. You never fully arrive, but instead continuously grow your ability to produce extraordinary results for yourself, others, and your organization/team. You have to invest time and effort to lead inclusively, but if you start gradually, you’ll be able to go ten times faster in the future. We invite you, your organization, and the world to grow your capacity for inclusive leadership. As you understand and demonstrate inclusive behaviors, the path will lead to a successful workplace and employees who feel valued and happy.   

Patrick Hughes | Director of Innovation & Client Development

Patrick brings 20+ years of facilitation experience to Inclusity’s team as a management consultant and facilitator. His work as an organization development consultant cultivated the ability to effectively work with all levels of any organization. Whether coaching individuals, improving team dynamics, assessing organizations, or managing change efforts for a system, Patrick is always focused on supporting the client’s goals and vision. He is recognized for motivating and partnering with leaders to create lasting and sustainable change, for both individuals and organizations.

At Inclusity, we closely follow workplace trends regarding employee engagement. It’s more than just curiosity; it’s part of our mission to help organizations create environments where employees engage. Gallup shared data in January that indicates that engagement stagnated, despite a slight bump in early 2023. Only 33% of U.S. employees are engaged in the workplace, with less than half being fully engaged.  A problem for the obvious reason that it cost the economy $1.9 trillion in lost productivity, it also signals a longer-term issue.

The Post-Covid Workplace

Engagement and productivity have been steadily declining since (you guessed it) 2020. While some may believe that the pandemic and its impact are behind us, Gallup’s survey results say otherwise.  The impact of Covid-19, and the way it changed the ways we work together may have dramatically influenced our workplace cultures for the foreseeable future.

Because our work focuses on building cultures of inclusion where all employees can fully engage, addressing the challenges of the post-Covid workplace is a critical part of the equation. Looking at the factors that contribute to engagement (or lack thereof) will help us to understand.

Employees’ sense of “role clarity” has been declining since 2020. Gallup reports that only 41-47% of employees surveyed responded positively to the question, “I know what is expected of me at work.”  We might think it’s “remote” workers who led this dip, but, interestingly, it was hybrid workers who came in at the lowest percentage here.

Gaps in Communication

The largest factor contributing to the decline of role clarity lies in the lack of consistent feedback and meaningful communication. The extent to which employees have experienced meaningful feedback in the past week correlates with their engagement.  According to Gallup, the most important thing a manager can do to keep their employees engaged is to have at least one meaningful conversation with them every week.  This seems so simple, yet why do so many of us find it so difficult?

Time (not enough of it!) challenges our capacity, and managers are feeling the time crunch even more. Of all managers Gallup surveyed in 2023, 64% reported taking on significant additional responsibilities in the previous 12 months.  Because managers are rarely asked to report on the amount of time they spend with their people, it’s not surprising that this activity can fall by the wayside as other responsibilities take priority.  And spending time in what could be perceived as “chatting with my folks,” could even seem like a waste of time or much less important than other business priorities.

Beyond taking the time out, many managers don’t feel comfortable “chit chatting” with their direct reports.  When I was trained as a manager in the 1980s, I was instructed to avoid personal conversations at work and to completely avoid topics related to race, gender, and other elements of individuality that are important to employees. Through Inclusity’s work, we’ve observed that most managers are uncomfortable discussing these subjects and so they avoid them altogether.  And when they do this, they can come off as being distant, uncaring, unapproachable, and disengaged.

When employees aren’t even in the same building, the potential for conversation becomes more challenging.  According to the Gallup report, 70% of all managers report never having had any training in how to lead a hybrid or remote team.  We know that “management by walking around” is difficult enough; how do we as managers communicate that we care through a computer screen? Especially if we haven’t invested in building personal relationships in-person first.

How a Leader Can Connect

This may seem intimidating! But let me tell you that we have some tips for you, and, better yet, we know that they work!

1. Make it meaningful. Gallup mentions that meaningful conversations “include recognition and discussion about collaboration, goals, and priorities, and the employee’s strengths.” I would also propose that meaningful conversations include topics that the employee cares about!

Every single employee is different, and they all value different things.  One person wants to talk about ideas, another about movies they have seen, and yet another about their family.  Some of my direct reports are not super talkative, but they always ask me how I am doing. They seem to enjoy when I share the trials and tribulations that result from being my klutzy, curious, and enthusiastic self! Others want to talk business and love to brainstorm and discuss the future.

2. Use a framework. At Inclusity we have a process that we call a “Connection” – which can exist on its own or as part of a larger workshop. It’s a structured conversation between two people or a small team. We use a tool called the Elements of Individuality to open up a discussion about who we are and what’s important to us. We also talk about expectations, needs, and styles of working.  Often Inclusity facilitates these conversations; however, they can also be led by managers who have experience with the process or are good listeners and comfortable being authentic and vulnerable.

I have learned so much about my employees by listening and asking questions.  And by showing concern, admitting mistakes, and demonstrating that I am open to feedback and willing to change, my colleagues have learned that I care and are therefore more willing to share.

3. Show you care. One of the principles that I try to manage by is “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care!” Anyone that has worked with me learns quickly that I commit to building relationships of trust and care.  As a result, I don’t give constructive feedback until I am certain that the person to whom I’m giving feedback knows that I care. I first look for ways to provide feedback on what the individual does well. When I do need to give constructive feedback, the individual knows I value them and trying to help them grow and improve.
4. Focus on the behavior. Even after creating a foundation of trust, many of us avoid giving constructive feedback at all costs. At Inclusity we know that if you focus on a behavior and its impact on you or the team, this enables the recipient to receive the feedback in a more balanced and less fear-bound way.  Inclusity’s BIOS model, which stands for Behavior, Impact, Outcome, and Suggested Behavior, provides managers with a tool to plan out the feedback, rehearse it, and then share it in a neutral and empathetic way.

5. Prioritize the time. The single most important thing you can do as a manager is to set aside 30-60 minutes each week to connect personally with each of your team members. It may feel awkward or even uncomfortable at first. Take a small step today by setting up time for each employee.  Start with 15 minutes if you must and then move to 30.  Ask them about what matters to them and share what matters to you. Just be your authentic, most curious, and caring self.  I promise you that if you commit to doing it regularly, before you know it you will look forward to this time as much as your direct reports do.

Creating a culture of inclusion and engagement takes work. Making time for your people is a challenge and the best way to show your team that you are committed to creating an inclusive culture.  And if you ever need help becoming a more inclusive leader, Inclusity is always here for you!

Maria Arcocha White |  Founder and CEO

Born in Cuba, Maria immigrated to the U.S. with her family as a four-year old. Her formative experiences as an immigrant is partly what drew her to work in the diversity and inclusion (D&I) field. Throughout her career of 35 years, Maria has developed inclusion and diversity training and successfully trained thousands of executives, managers, and employees across a wide range of industries.

The turn of the calendar year often prompts organizations to pause and reflect; it’s an opportunity to assess the previous year and make conscious choices about where to go in the current year. 2023 stood out for concerns about inflation, adjustment to the “new normal” after the pandemic, and a hot labor market with increased turnover and greater demands from employees.  

According to Gallup’s “6 Workplace Trends Leaders Should Watch in 2024,” some of these topics will continue to be in focus this year. These trends largely reinforce what we’ve always maintained at Inclusity: In order to maximize effectiveness, organizations must invest in creating an inclusive culture. Reflecting on Gallup’s themes, two specific ideas stand out: navigating a hybrid workplace and re-establishing trust. 

Increase Employee Engagement through a Hybrid Culture 

Even as COVID cases have ebbed and we have entered a “new normal,” questions about the long-term trajectory of many organizations have been left unresolved. Many employees still wonder if and when they’ll be asked to return to the office full-time. Gallup’s data revealed that many view this prospect with some degree of dread; only 6% of American employees in remote-capable jobs surveyed said that they’d prefer to be fully on-site in the future. Most people tend to think about the preference for hybrid or fully remote options in terms of practicality; employees don’t have to commute, can take care of projects around the house on break time, etc.  

At Inclusity, however, we view flexible work arrangements through an inclusive lens. For example, remote work can remove accessibility barriers and better accommodate people who are neurodivergent or juggle caregiving. Remote-hybrid options allow people to be their most authentic selves – especially employees who are marginalized or out-of-the-norm at their organization. People of color who work remote have reported a decrease in microaggressions.  

In 2024, we encourage workplaces to definitively throw out the traditional fully on-site model and meet employees where they are. As Gallup and other data show, well-managed fully remote and hybrid employees tend to have higher engagement, higher wellbeing, and lower turnover. At Inclusity, we offer leaders many tools for exactly how to manage these employees well, focusing on how more creative work setups allow for authenticity and engagement. 

Building Trust Can Be Transformative 

Implementing management skills like inclusive leadership also helps address the other big issues we see in these data: an ongoing lack of trust in organizational leadership and a lack of connection to mission and purpose. The ambiguity about the future of the work environment is only one of many factors that fuel these disconnects. When Inclusity talks to employees across our clients, we regularly hear about leaders failing to take a stand on issues that matter and feeling as though organizational mission and purpose are outdated. The concerns we hear are not just ideological; they add to employee stress, another trend observed in the Gallup data. And of course, the individuals who are most likely to experience these disconnects are those who are out-of-the-norm within their organizations.  

At Inclusity, we have seen the incredible transformation that happens when organizational leadership revisits their mission and purpose with an inclusion lens and focus on rebuilding trust with employees. While we see direct benefits such as increased employee engagement and lower turnover, we also see secondary effects that weren’t even considered. For example, when someone experiences a subtle act of exclusion (microaggression) at work, trust turns out to be the factor that most strongly determines how they react. In trusting environments, the target is more likely to see the behavior as unintentional and work to repair the relationship, whereas a lack of trust drives blaming behavior and resentment, further eroding culture.  

We’ve developed many tools that help build trust and integrity within organizations. These qualities are not just integral for effective inclusion work; they also have a positive impact on organizational effectiveness and morale overall. 

 Inclusion is the Answer

Gallup discusses these trends as separate issues to tackle with different strategies. At Inclusity, we see one underlying issue: inclusion. Effective efforts to cultivate an inclusive workplace touch on all these topics and more. Deliberately fostering inclusion increases trust, increases employee engagement, decreases stress, and has a multitude of additional benefits beyond these specific workplace trends. When your organization is ready to take a serious approach to fostering a more inclusive culture, we have the tools, strategies, and insights to get you there.  

Dr. Mitchell Campbell | Director of Research and Evaluation

As Inclusity’s Director of Research and Evaluation, Mitchell helps develop our programs and services and performs evaluations to determine their effectiveness. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Carleton College and a Master’s of Science in psychology and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.