Why inclusive leadership matters now more than ever

If this week has taught us anything, it’s that empathy and prioritising inclusion have become non-negotiables in senior leadership.

Tokyo Olympics Chief Yoshiro Mori and KPMG Chairman Bill Michael both paid the ‘ultimate price’ this week for making sexist and insensitive comments, which a only few years ago would likely have gone unchallenged. It’s comforting to know that these comments were perceived as indefensible and unacceptable for senior leaders in public life to be making.

In my recent blog post which predicted some of the D&I priority areas for 2021; ‘embedding inclusive leadership behaviours’ was one at the top of the list and this week has reinforced why inclusive leadership is a top priority in today’s world.

Why has inclusive leadership become so important?

Inclusive leadership has been introduced in recent years as a compelling alternative to ‘command and control’ leadership models; as companies endeavour to get the best out of diverse teams. In addition, another reason for leadership to evolve is the changing values in Gen Y and Gen Z towards actively celebrating difference and wanting the autonomy to feel empowered and be their best selves.

Then comes Covid; one of the most testing periods for many of us collectively. The phrase ‘we may be in different boats but we’re weathering the same storm’ has really resonated.  A period when we’ve strengthened our empathy skills and we asked the question ‘how are you doing?’ and really meant it. Empathy feels like it has become a newly flexed muscle.

At the same time, inclusion has been made harder; companies have been challenged by onboarding new employees in a virtual working environment to ensure they feel included and can ‘see’ people like them, when they are isolated working on their own. Fostering trust and developing relationships requires far more concerted effort when using video technology to ensure new employees can quickly gain access to networks and feel integrated.

This is where inclusive leadership becomes more important than ever.

Inclusive Leadership traits

The Deloitte six Inclusive Leadership Traits model clearly articulates what inclusive leaders have in common and is nicely summed in this HBR article.

Whilst all traits are important, people were asked which ones mattered the most – empathy and humility came out on top (coupled with someone who is consciously aware of their own biases).

And for me, these traits speak to quite simply ‘being human’ and exploring difference within a safe space. The other three traits in addition to those highlighted in above are visible commitment, cultural intelligence, and effective collaboration.

Leaders with all of these six traits are highly self-aware; they seek feedback on when they aren’t being inclusive; they make D&I a personal priority, they are aware of (and interested in) other cultures and they strive to make psychologically safe working environments to empower people to be their best selves at work.

The legacy of Covid-19 is yet to be fully seen, but one of the elements that will undoubtedly be part of 2021 (and beyond) has to be inclusive leadership traits becoming a more valued skillet for any leader.

We know that having diversity is not enough, you need to have inclusion too. And inclusion ultimately starts with leaders.

I encourage anyone reading this to think about what you can do to develop your inclusive leadership traits and behaviours. I’m certainly reflecting on mine.