Leadership diversity and inclusion can have a significant impact on an organization. A diverse and inclusive leadership team can contribute diverse perspectives, experiences, and skills in decision-making, resulting in more creative and effective solutions. It also contributes to the development of a positive workplace culture and increases employee satisfaction and motivation. A lack of diversity and inclusion, on the other hand, can lead to thinking homogeneity, poor decision-making, and a negative workplace culture, potentially leading to high turnover and decreased productivity. Finally, leadership diversity and inclusion are critical for promoting innovation, competitiveness, and success in today’s global marketplace.
What exactly is inclusive leadership?
“Creating an environment of involvement, respect, and connection — where the richness of ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives are harnessed to create business value,” says Hudson Jordan.
What is the significance of inclusive leadership?
Engaging people from various backgrounds and perspectives in decision-making and then diverging and converging can improve an organization’s ability to achieve better business results.
Inclusive leadership that promotes diversity has been shown to increase company success. These leaders reach out to and respond to a larger group. They also make certain that teams are heard, respected, valued, and kept. Because of these factors, inclusive leadership is a valuable asset to any organization.
Why is now the time to embrace inclusive leadership?
Taking advantage of workforce diversity
Our global economy is propelled by globally dispersed teams and talent. This opens up opportunities for cross-border idea sharing.
Video conference technology advancements have reduced accessibility barriers, allowing teams from all over the world to collaborate.
Taking advantage of generational diversity
Medical and technological advancements are allowing people to live longer, more active, and productive lives. As a result, people are living longer, more fulfilling lives. Longer working lives will increase the number of generations in the workforce from five to six, seven, or eight.
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Increasing the impact of innovations
85% of businesses claim that diversity produces the most innovative ideas.
Non-diverse teams are more likely to approach a problem from the same perspective, narrowing the possible solutions. A diverse team, on the other hand, is better equipped to approach a problem from various perspectives.
This enables the team to access lateral and disparate areas of new knowledge, allowing them to reimagine new ways of doing things.
Get ahead of the competition.
Companies that use inclusive hiring, promotion, development, leadership, and team management practices generate up to 30% more revenue per employee and profit than their competitors.
In other words, diverse teams led by an inclusive leader outperform statistically. However, according to data, most teams lack an inclusive leader; only 31% of employees polled believed their leaders were inclusive.
Inclusionary leadership success factors in action
Apply interventions consistently throughout the system to achieve more long-term results.
Approach best practises with an experimental mind-set and a willingness to refine and iterate.
Approaching these best practises holistically will result in their incorporation into an organization’s DNA.
How to Be a More Involved Leader
Develop fundamental skills that will allow you to use diversity as a competitive advantage.
Coach and develop strong synergies from diverse, even opposing individual elements.
The challenge is not so much in attracting diverse talent as it is in ensuring that they are treated fairly and with respect.
Differences should be celebrated rather than tolerated. This may not occur if the emphasis is on hiring for a “culture fit,” unless that culture values individuality.
Pay attention to the hiring process.
Make certain that you can choose leaders who embody the right values and have experience leading diverse teams.
Make a plan.
Work from a well-documented action plan that includes goals and objectives. However, don’t get too caught up in plans and metrics; inclusion is about people and what they face every day.
Product development, communications, training, professional development, recruitment, retention, and overall leadership must all incorporate inclusive practises, not to mention management practises.
Make room for diverse work teams and interactions.
Invest in team-building and leadership skills because diversity and inclusion can truly benefit them.
Reward and promote the types of collaboration and outcomes you want to see.
Take note of the middle.
While some organisations’ progress on the diversity journey is slowed due to a lack of support from senior leadership, many organisations discover that it is their middle management that is impeding progress.
Beyond a few canned training sessions, many middle managers have little preparation or guidance. Hold them accountable for the extent to which people on their teams feel included, but also provide substantial assistance to help managers get there.
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Recognize your unintentional bias
Work on understanding your own unconscious biases about what you believe about others.
Having assumptions is neither wrong nor good: it is part of how everyone learns. When you’re not even aware that you’re making assumptions, problems arise.
Learning more about different types of people and exposing yourself to more diverse cultures and experiences is one way to stop making unconscious assumptions. The goal is not to learn anything in particular, but to gain a greater awareness and appreciation for the wide range of human experiences.
Don’t dismiss the “minor” details.
When you see someone being rude or dismissive to another person, speak up.
Instead of focusing on finding fault, state what you notice and propose alternatives that include everyone.
Believe that everyone has potential, not that everyone is the same Inclusive leaders can notice and discuss differences without making anyone feel objectified or singled out.
Furthermore, managers are more successful when they recognise the unique qualities of each member of the team.
Bottom Line
Follow these helpful hints and tips to instill some much-needed inclusive leadership in your workplace, increasing productivity and propelling your organization to new heights.
