Unconventional Methods to Champion Equitable Leadership
Embracing inclusivity in the workplace is more crucial than ever. As per the Harvard Business Review, "inclusive organizations are 73% more likely to revel in innovation revenue, 70% more likely to capture new markets, up to 50% more likely to make better decisions, and up to 36% more likely to have above-average profitability." Inclusive leaders play a vital role in fostering and sustaining an inclusive environment. Moreover, they draw in top talent, improve outcomes, and boost innovation rates.
The essence of inclusive leadership lies in making every team member feel seen, heard, appreciated, and belonging. Regrettably, many workplaces fail to maximize the full competitive edge of inclusive leadership. Frequently, leaders misjudge their inclusive competence relative to their employees' perceptions.
By investigating allyship and inclusive leadership, I have uncovered five ways to exhibit inclusive leadership to boost your impact. Consider adopting these strategies to enhance your inclusive leadership prowess:
- Authentically Share Your Journey and Encourage Others to Share Theirs: Engaging with stories is a fundamental tool for constructing connections. Our ancestors utilized storytelling around the fire as a means of passing down survival techniques. Research suggests that stories stick in our memories up to 22 times more than facts and figures. We can develop empathy and understanding when we know someone's backstory: their past experiences, their current status, and their future objectives. I often facilitate workshops that involve team members sharing their professional journeys. Adapt the exercise to suit your setting and team dynamics.
- More Walks and Talks: Most employees find restrictive one-on-ones or team meetings unsatisfactory if they're not interactive or inclusive. A way to enhance inclusivity is by engaging in physical activities. When our bodies move, we tend to become more inventive and open-minded. Walking indicates collaboration and shared goals. Walk and talks eradicate physical obstacles, such as looking at each other over a screen or across a desk. This promotes creativity and inclusivity, even when the team isn't physically present. My mentor and I began conducting walk and talks during the pandemic, discovering outstanding creative ideas and alignment.
- Ask Directly What People Need: Though this question might seem intimidating, research reveals that simply asking fosters connection and inclusion. People have different motivators. Ignorance of someone's motivators may result in communication that isn't inclusive. Asking what people need allows you to better understand their priorities. This might be salary, flexibility, family time, health care, or leisure activities. During my coaching certification, I learned about an exercise to ask people what they want in various aspects of their lives, from career to financial to spiritual aspirations. Regardless of the setting, knowing someone personally prevents misunderstanding them professionally.
- Full Attentiveness: Being present might sound obvious, but even the most devoted leaders may lose focus momentarily. Distractions, like phones and emails, are constant threats. Regardless of the temptation, finding a way to inhibit distractions and stay fully engaged is essential. Develop a pre-engagement mantra, request reciprocity from others, or set ground rules for what genuine involvement means. Showing your team that you care enough to remain completely engaged makes them feel seen, heard, and valued.
- Enhance Your Self-Awareness: Self-awareness might seem obvious, but it's surprisingly uncommon. Research shows only around 10%-15% of people meet the criteria for self-awareness. Tasha Eurich's research reveals that awareness is an appealing quality for inclusive individuals. Increased self-awareness gives you a competitive advantage as an inclusive leader. Take assessments, seek feedback from loved ones, or engage in self-reflection to uncover key behaviors and values.
Making workplaces more inclusive is essential for attracting and retaining top talent, accomplishing better results, and fostering innovation. Five key strategies to elevate inclusive leadership include sharing stories, conducting walk and talks, inquiring about needs, being fully present, and improving self-awareness. Inclusive leaders create an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, respected, and belonging.
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Boosting inclusive leadership in the workplace requires a multipronged approach that combines various methods. Here's how to use storytelling, walk and talks, asking what people want, being fully present, and improving self-awareness to generate a more inclusive setting:
1. Storytelling
Why It Works: Storytelling is a potent tool for connecting with your team and reinforcing organization values. It simplifies complex ideas while making them more engaging, thereby enhancing employee engagement and alignment.
How to Use It:- Choose Relevant Stories: Select stories that resonate with your diverse workforce and align with organizational values.- Structure Your Stories: Use a clear framework like Hook-Context-Challenge-Action-Outcome-Lesson structure to make your stories actionable and engaging.- Emotional Depth: Add emotional depth to your stories with sensory details to foster a deeper emotional connection with your audience while maintaining professionalism.
2. Walk and Talks (Gemba Walks)
Why It Works: Gemba walks offer a firsthand understanding of the work environment, enabling you to observe processes and interactions directly. It encourages open communication, fosters a culture of continuous improvement, and stresses the importance of collaboration.
How to Use It:- Focus on the Process: Avoid evaluating employees during the walk. Instead, use the opportunity to learn about the workflow.- Involve a Cross-Functional Team: Bring along a leader from a different functional area to gather diverse perspectives.- Perform Regular Walks: Perform Gemba walks at various times of the day and on different days of the week to gain a comprehensive understanding of the value stream.
3. Asking What People Want
Why It Works: Asking questions that involve your team fosters a sense of belonging and encourages active participation in decision-making processes.
How to Use It:- Create a Safe Space: Establish an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns.- Diverse Voices: Utilize round-robin or rotating facilitation roles to ensure everyone has a chance to speak.
4. Being Fully Present
Why It Works: Being fully present in interactions with your team demonstrates respect and attention to their contributions, fostering a feeling of belonging and trust.
How to Use It:- Active Listening: Truly listen to your employees by maintaining eye contact, asking clarifying questions, and acknowledging their contributions.- Transparency: Share decision-making processes openly to ensure fairness and foster trust within your team.
5. Improving Self-Awareness
Why It Works: Self-awareness is crucial for recognizing and combating biases, which is essential for inclusive leadership.
How to Use It:- Training Programs: Provide regular diversity, inclusion, and bias awareness training to keep leaders informed about current trends and challenges.- Self-Reflection Opportunities: Encourage leaders to regularly assess their biases and behaviors and seek feedback from their teams to create a culture where all employees feel valued and empowered.
- To be an inclusive leader, it's essential to understand the importance of culture and diversity in the workplace. By being aware of your own biases and improving your self-awareness, you can create an environment where everyone feels valued and included.
- The role of leaders in fostering an inclusive culture is crucial. Leadership ideas that emphasize allyship and being an ally can help leaders build stronger relationships with their team members and create a more inclusive work environment.
- One way to be an inclusive leader is by sharing your journey and encouraging others to share theirs. This can help build empathy and understanding within the team, leading to a more inclusive and collaborative culture.
- Inclusive leaders also pay attention to the needs of their team members and make an effort to meet those needs. This may involve providing training or resources to support diversity and inclusion, or simply taking the time to listen to individuals' concerns and perspectives.
- Embracing inclusive leadership can have significant benefits for organizations, including increased innovation revenue, improved decision-making, and better outcomes. By fostering a culture of inclusion, leaders can help their organizations realize their full potential and achieve greater success.
