A Day in the Life of An Inclusive Leader: What Does It Look Like?
Understanding an inclusive leader's profile and daily process is essential to leading inclusively. When the role of an inclusive leader is fully realized, choosing to be an inclusive leader is no longer an option. But instead, the question becomes can you be a true leader and not be inclusive?
Here are four ways you can practice inclusive leadership daily.
Inclusive leaders incorporate self-reflection into their day, realizing their responsibility and role to lead their team to achieve set goals. The inclusive leader does not “clock-in" to this role when their day begins but is committed to an inclusive mindset, self-awareness, and intentional action. The inclusive leader utilizes meetings and communications to set a tone of respect that flows outside the organization's four walls. They know that how their employees feel about their daily experience will ultimately influence their brand and reputation. In conjunction with a business focus, creating a nurturing and supportive environment where each member can grow and thrive is the order of every day. This leader is courageous as they use their voice to ensure that equitable policies and practices are in place that allow their team to experience the basic needs of safety, fairness and respect.
Inclusive leaders unlock innovation and generate better business outcomes because they value the ideas and contributions of everyone. Motivating teams cannot be accomplished from a monolithic viewpoint. This is why inclusive leadership is imperative and should be non-negotiable. Inclusive leaders are not swayed to solely incorporate the thoughts of those who resemble theirs while overlooking the contributions of divergent points of view. They appreciate diversity, encourage unique perspectives, and effectively listen to their team members, customers and vendors, leading to innovative solutions. They use meetings to present an agenda but couple it with time to gain feedback from their team. They are conscientious of how often they are speaking as opposed to listening. This skill allows them to effectively utilize the talents of the team and gives everyone an opportunity to contribute and grow in their career, an attractive retention mechanism for talent. Inclusive leaders take note of misunderstandings and when team members appear to be disengaging and contributing less. They respond to these signals and further engage the employee who appears to be struggling.
They too, speak up in their meetings with colleagues and leaders on behalf of the employees they represent. They are unafraid to make suggestions that will better serve the organization and prevent complaints and turnover.
An inclusive leader practices humility and takes the responsibility not only when their teams are unified and strong but also when there is a need for conflict resolution and uncomfortable conversations. They admit when they have missed the mark and willingly develop a plan to incorporate better methods. They actively model how to appreciate diversity and engage the perspectives of everyone. They can see past their own experiences and include the ideas of those who utilize different approaches.
An inclusive leader has a network of peers that provide opportunities to engage with other leaders who have decided to take this path. Inclusive leaders need the support of the organization and senior executives as they take on an inclusive approach to leading their teams. An inclusive leader can feel isolated if they are not surrounding themselves with others who value being equitably responsible as a decision maker in your organization.
These are the reasons we developed our Power of Inclusive Leadership program. We want to cultivate and support leaders by giving them a safe space to discuss their concerns and the approach to leading teams with diversity, equity and inclusion as an integral part of their leadership style.
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