This Is What An Inclusive Leader Looks Like

Why should you be an inclusive leader? Research shows that organizations focused on inclusivity have staggering business results. But is the ROI sustainable?

In “The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution: Eight Powerful Truths,” Deloitte amplifies the ways that businesses improve by utilizing diversity and inclusion strategies. By specifically building inclusive leadership practices into their cultural frameworks, business results are impacted positively. According to the study, when people feel valued, respected,and like they belong at work, organizations show a:

Additionally, inclusive cultures are: *

It's crucial to highlight that replicating these results proved challenging. Other research firms have championed statistical analysis in driving organizational change through data, including CRN and parent company The Channel Company. However, fostering an inclusive culture goes beyond just hosting cultural events or wellness days. It involves establishing enduring methods for maintaining organizational cultures. This entails implementing policies, practices and procedures that institutionalize a culture of inclusion and belonging.

But where to start building inclusion practices? It starts with you—before policies change, people must. So, are you ready to be the technology industry’s next inclusive leader? Then check out these five defining traits.

1. Embraces Humility

Say it with me: Displaying humility at work is not synonymous with being passive or weak. Inclusive leaders understand that being humble positively affects those around us, especially (but not exclusively) the team we manage. Humble leaders are more likely to delegate and innovate, which benefits the business through improved performance, greater worker satisfaction and lower attrition rates.

This looks like: Listening more than talking; admitting when we’re wrong; transforming mistakes into learning opportunities; committing to doing better; and making sure others’ opinions are heard.

2. Demonstrates Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) helps inclusive leaders engage with and lead difficult conversations, let go of ideas of getting diversity and inclusivity right every single time, and endure the discomfort of owning up to our mistakes to do better for ourselves and our coworkers.

This looks like: Being self-aware of group membership and positionality (that is, how differences in social position and power shape identities and access in society); managing our emotions and reactions; seeking to understand situations from another person’s perspective; and caring about individual needs and tending to the needs of a group.

3. Allows Room for Discomfort

Inclusive leaders recognize that addressing bias and ensuring psychological safety for others are necessary tasks. Simply avoiding discomfort and friction at work does little or nothing to advance true inclusivity. Inclusive leaders make space for healthy friction and conflict because the more space we make for it, the easier it gets.

This looks like: Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable; being able to say, “I don’t know, but let’s find out together”; confronting behavior with honesty and empathy; sharing the impact of certain behaviors; having a “both/and” approach instead of an “either/or” style of problem-solving; and recognizing that the goal is not perfection but psychological safety.

4. Walks the Walk

Inclusive leaders are authentic and consistent, demonstrating their commitment to those they lead in their workplace. Advocating diversity, equity and inclusion is not about words but behaviors. Inclusive leaders lead by example and share space with nondominant voices. We pay attention to who talks (or doesn’t talk) in meetings and invite them into the decision-making process. Challenge assumptions of universal experience and voice and be committed to acknowledging what you don’t know. By doing so, we show others that it’s safe to do the same.

This looks like: Holding ourselves accountable for words and behaviors; examining and building organizational policies with a focus on equity; being willing to implement new ideas for systemic change; and building a departmental code of conduct that runs parallel to wider organizational goals to strengthen inclusivity and belonging within their team and across the organization.

5. Recognizes Systemic Bias

Many forms of bias and prejudice are built into the systems and society we live in, making it difficult to prevent them from influencing our thoughts, behaviors and actions. Inclusive leaders can recognize their individual power and privilege in influencing the policies that lead to inclusion systematically. Decision-making as a leader, whether it’s about how we hire, promote or other decisions, can affect the inclusivity of our workplace. Some bias is taught to us as children, but inclusive leaders work to address bias by uncovering and then retraining their thinking processes to inform their actions, over which we have far more control.

This looks like: Questioning “sameness” by evaluating who we turn to, consult with, or invite for feedback before making decisions; asking ourselves, “How often do I find myself in a room where more people look, think, and behave with sameness?”; being mindful of our thinking and unpacking our beliefs; staying open to others challenging our assumptions; and perhaps most importantly, recognizing how policies, processes and procedures lead to increased organizational inequity.

When we strive to become inclusive leaders, it’s critical that we first look as objectively as possible at our own biases and assumptions. Once we recognize that we all have room to learn and evolve, we can begin to transform our approaches to management and make our organizations truly inclusive, safe places where everyone can thrive. Employees who feel included, respected and valued will propel your business forward in ways you may have only dreamed of.