Understanding Inclusive Leadership Theory and Practices

• The different theories of inclusive leadership. 
• The 6 C’s of inclusive leadership. 
• The four developmental areas of inclusive leadership. 

What is Inclusive Leadership?

Great leaders are not just about being ahead of their game and competitive in their industry. They also know that they should be able to inspire, mentor, and lead without bias. However, inclusive leadership style can be challenging to implement, as it requires strong self-awareness. That being said, being able to fully understand inclusive leadership theory and practices can provide better perspectives. Implementing effective strategies for creating an inclusive workplace is essential for a positive and productive workforce. 

What is Required to be an Inclusive Leader?

As the market expands, clients’ perspectives are changing, and having diverse employees inside the organization. What will it take for the leaders to be a step ahead of their game?

Through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with global leaders. Deloitte Insights identifies the key to the 6 C’s of inclusive leadership.

Curiosity

Curiosity is important in different aspects of life, but how important is leadership? Well, without this there will be no further pursuit of knowledge and ideas among the team members.

Curious leaders should:

• encourage the team to share their ideas
• takes time to understand employees’ perspectives
• continues effort to learn new skills and knowledge to be able to mentor other people

Courage

Great leaders are not afraid to take risks and find a different route to accomplish things. They also know that employees may question their decisions, however as a leader, they recognize the significance of feedback. Furthermore, leaders understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. Being courageous empowers leaders to innovate, learn, and build resilience towards challenges.

Commitment

Inclusive leaders have a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. Leveraging diverse talents is important to encourage a collaborative approach in the organization.

Collaboration

As a leader being able to work with a diverse team should be considered a privilege and opportunity. As without a diverse team, ideas and knowledge can get fixated only on certain levels. With the help of a team that has a wide range of cultural backgrounds. It allows the team to see perspective from a different angle making collaboration and decision making better. 

Cultural Intelligence

To be able to interact with diverse team members, leaders should have cultural Intelligence and awareness. They have to understand employees’ cultural norms, values, and beliefs. By being aware of these, this can foster an understanding of the actions of individuals inside the organization. This can help to avoid conflict. It also helps leaders to gain better perspectives of the global market, equipping them to handle international stakeholders and clients.

Cognizance of Bias

Being able to understand your own behavior as a leader is also a step for inclusive leadership. You can’t lead without being aware of your own behaviors. Being able to understand that as a leader means making decisions without bias to foster a fairer environment.

Every step in this inclusive leadership theory is crucial to become an inclusive leader, one can’t exist without the other. If one of these elements is not present in your leadership style. It affects your effectiveness as a leader and it will also reflect  how employees are able to accomplish their projects.

The Four Development Areas of Inclusive Leadership

Leadership has evolved over the past years, now this is not just a basis of who’s a better entrepreneur. In today’s time, clients, stakeholders, and employees also value how inclusive an organization is. Without guidance from an inclusive leader building and cultivating the organization will be difficult.

Based on the project of EU Fundraising Association there is  four development areas for inclusive leadership:

Practice Self-Awareness

Life is a series of learning and unlearning and that is no different when it comes to leadership. Practicing self-awareness with an open mind would be beneficial in handling decision-making and conflict in the organization. Leaders understand that they are role models, therefore their actions will serve as guidance to team members.

Living Shared Vision

Inclusive leaders are always willing to broaden their vision. They know taking risks is part of their life, to create a vision that benefits the system as a whole. They should also have an open mind to understand that vision may be changed because of different constraints. However, this will not be effective if not communicated to the stakeholders and employees. That’s why it’s important to keep communication open and get ready to facilitate the development of the vision.

Building Relationships

Great leaders understand the importance of relationships, may it be towards the clients or stakeholders. Having a good relationship with employees means they are more open to communicate their perspectives. In this way, the leader can pinpoint any potential risk about any employees who are unconsciously being isolated. Furthermore, leaders create a safe environment where employees have room for mistakes and growth. This action can help in improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

Creating Change

Lastly, we have to create change. Being a leader is not just about providing visions but also being ready to provide directions. It’s important that leaders carry out the perspectives and efforts of the team to come up with different ideas. Moreover, understand that in any plan there is always a risk and they have to be ready to redirect the plans.

Putting the Methods into Practice

To remember these theories is easy, however, putting them into practice will require dedication. It’s not a secret that leaders have a big scope of responsibility. Every decision should be precise to ensure it is aligned with the organization’s goal, stakeholders’ needs, and employees. That’s why seeking collaboration and help is always the right path as this broadens the options for decision making. As leaders put these methods into practice they will get to discover the best practices for their organization. Inclusive leadership assessment can further guide leaders in measuring and developing their strategies for the organization. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership is not something that can be done overnight. It also consists of the right methods and inclusive leadership theory. At the end of the day, this includes mutual effort from the leader and employees. Without this accomplishing the vision set for the organization and its people will not be possible. 

What are the 6 C’s of inclusive leadership?

The 6 C’s of leadership is:

• Curiosity 
• Courage 
• Commitment 
• Collaboration 
• Cultural Intelligence 
• Cognizance Bias

Why is cognizance bias important?

Cognizance Bias is important to ensure that the organization has awareness of the potential biases in the organization. This can help in developing a policy that is inclusive based on the cultural background of the employees. 

Why inclusive leadership theories should be used?

Inclusive leadership theories are important to determine the best practices that can be implemented in the organization. As this allows leaders to lead on the right methods that caters to their organization and team members.