How to Be an Inclusive Leader? 7 Best Tips to Follow

When you follow inclusive leadership, it leads to a culture of inclusion and belonging, directly impacting employee engagement and performance. However, there is no denying the fact that leaders have keys to inclusion. In this guide, we will discuss how to be an inclusive leader and tips that will help you understand the whole process.

How To Be an Inclusive Leader

1. Fairness and Respect

In this guide on how to be an inclusive leader, this is the most crucial aspect you need to consider. To become an inclusive leader, you have to control bias and discrimination. Leaders must be aware of any internal, unconscious bias they may hold and comprehend that everyone does carry some level of this bias. Therefore refusing or denying is just another way of ignoring and can worsen the problem. However, if a leader recognizes these shortcomings in themself, they fix them.

Being a leader you should continually assess how those biases impact decisions and actions in the workplace. Then, take the below steps to make sure that you act reasonably and respectfully every day.

Ensure that you listen to and adore all contributions equally.
Consider speaking up to control unacceptable behavior at all levels, from outright discrimination to micro-aggressions
Do not be a part of the authoritative culture. Let people be authentic.
Work to recognize and eliminate blind spots in processes to make sure that decision-making is fair and even.

2. Insight

Identifying one’s own bias and privilege is vital to becoming an inclusive leader. It is not a one-and-done situation, though. Instead, it requires constant evaluation and revisiting. For some leaders, it is a life-long journey.

So, question yourself and the standard practices around you. Get feedback from the voices you’re pushing to amplify. Asking them how to be more inclusive is a significant step. However, don’t rely too much on them as you’ll need to do this work on your own.

3. Collaboration

When leaders make decisions without considering the ground level, they will ignore something. However, if the team works more collaboratively, they will be able to understand everyone’s view points. In addition, there are many more possibilities to battle bias with more people in the room.

This is particularly true when you work with diverse people in the team. Leaders should make sure that they listen to these voices, regardless of seniority level. Take their experiences into consideration and value those viewpoints as much as you would any other. While speaking with your team about diversity efforts, you should listen to these voices even more closely.

4. Promoting Psychological Safety

Sometimes, the workplace can be hostile to those considered “other” by society. Even though you try to be inclusive and combat this treatment, those around you may not. This can significantly affect the mental health and well-being of your diverse team. You can’t control the behaviors of others, but you should motivate them to do better. If you have the authority to take disciplinary action, consider going that route.

Further, you can make the workplace safer for your team by enabling them to challenge norms. This possesses checking and questioning your actions, words, and strategies. Make sure that it is secure for your team to bring up issues they have or ways that you can be more inclusive. If they do not feel anxious or scared having these sometimes challenging conversations with you, you are forming the right kind of atmosphere.

5. Emotional and Cultural Intelligence

Empathy is important while promoting inclusion, thus making it crucial while learning how to be an inclusive leader. A leader has to look after different perspectives to be inclusive. Recognizing one’s privilege is critical here. Understanding that your life experience is distinct from those around you and taking steps to cherish that experience as much as your own is a great start.

Ask questions respectfully. Do your research by listening to voices from other cultures and walks of life outside the workplace. Be ready to change workplace norms if deemed necessary. If you approach this knowing that you need work, you’re already on the right path.

6. Empowerment and Growth

Those with diverse experiences have different worldviews and may work differently. Embrace this and adjust your ways to get work done by your team. If a team member has a new strategy or idea, inspire them to try it out. Give them the freedom they have to get the outcomes you both want.

Take turns conveying your team members high-level projects to work on. See that work is divided evenly, and everyone has an opportunity to reach their potential. Then, when they grow, make sure you shine a light on those successes and celebrate them.

7. Trust Binding

Similarly, you have to make your team understand that you will support them. Many people state they are an ally but won’t do the work when it’s complicated.

Inclusive leaders use their privilege and standing in the company to make way for optimistic change. This contains actions and words. Here are just some instances of the actions that you can take to gain the trust of your team:

Use your voice to challenge bad behavior and unfair practices actively. Start those difficult conversations at a higher level.
Do not talk ill of anyone behind their back. If there is an issue that requires to be addressed, do so head-on and approach the issue directly.
Admit when you make a mistake and learn from it. Showing humanity and owning up to your missteps are vital parts of the learning process. It also makes it much more comfortable for others to start their learning paths.
Stand by your word and speak the truth. If you are transparent with your team, they will authorize you. This creates a more robust team all-around.

Final words

Becoming an inclusive leader is a long road but essential and valuable. You will become a better leader for your team and set an example for other leaders in your organization to do the same. We hope you find this guide on how to be an inclusive leader helpful.

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