From the Top – Implementing Inclusive Leadership
Defining the ideal leader and their qualities is a quest which has weighed upon the finest minds of management theory – as well as selling millions of books. In truth, the ideal leader is shaped by circumstances as much as their inherent traits.
For example, the characteristics of great sporting leaders very rarely translate to business leadership success (although politics, which like sports is often a popularity contest, sees a surprising amount of crossover). Indeed, when it comes to organisational management, we rarely see leaders replicate success when they switch sectors – Sharon White’s tenure at John Lewis is a rare example of public sector leaders even getting a shot in the private sector.
But whilst an organisation’s culture and circumstances will dictate the kind of leader that will excel within it, it’s also true that the leader will dictate their organisation’s culture and circumstances.
This can create a vicious circle, as poor behaviours not only become embedded within the current leadership but also set a requirement for future generations.
But at some point, we must root out the poor behaviours which infest our organisations. Frustratingly, the responsibility for this will almost certainly fall to HR under the auspices of ‘culture change’ or similar. Even more frustratingly, this task will only become a priority when the organisation’s fortunes are waning – these behaviours are claimed as a strength or a ‘secret weapon’ during the good times.
Limiting this task to HR, however, sets the whole endeavour up for failure. For culture change is a leadership task. It’s frequently suggested 80% to 90% of behaviour is influenced by what leaders say and do. Which means any change must begin and be sustained from the top.
At Umbrella HR we are often invited into organisations when these poor behaviours are starting to have negative effects on business metrics. Lack of trust starts to cause disengagement and low morale. Demoralised employees begin to play it safe, reducing risk taking and innovation. This in turn starts to impact external results as sales and service performance metrics start to dive. The organisation just isn’t delivering like it used to.
In these situations we look at the top of the organisation first. This usually involves training senior personnel to replace poor behaviours with inclusive ones. Becoming an inclusive leader who reverses these impacts and builds trust and belonging across the organisation requires competency in six areas. These competencies are:
- Cognizance
- Curiosity
- Cultural intelligence
- Collaboration
- Commitment
- Courage
I feel they can be split into two types – active and demonstrative. Cognizance, curiosity and courage are competencies which must be actively chosen – both when making decisions and how we respond in a challenging situation. These competencies are how we challenge our unconscious biases, by acknowledging how:
- We’re adding our own perspectives to the information before us
- Potentially ignoring other’s perspectives that don’t match ours
- Failing to challenge others doing the same thing
But these competencies are situational – it would be paralysing to demonstrate them for every single action one performs through the day. No-one’s expected to be cognizant, curious or courageous when choosing a sandwich from Tesco.
Our inclusive leadership training
Where the active competencies are noted by others for their presence, the three demonstrative competencies are noted by their absence. Consistency is key. These are the behaviours we live by and are much harder to achieve. One can’t claim to demonstrate cultural intelligence, collaboration, or commitment only some of the time. With these competencies we notice most when people don’t display them, in the form of a faux pas, selfishness or abandonment.
And this is the link back to culture. When we observe senior leaders doing a thing, we know that we’re supposed to do it too. And when they don’t always do it, we know we don’t have to.
And this resonates with many of the things we discover when we work with organisations on inclusive leadership. When employees report that they feel unheard, or that diverse perspectives are not considered, they often only cite one or two incidences. But one or two is enough. In fact, experiments have shown that even a single incidence of micro exclusion can lead to an immediate 25% decline in an individual’s performance on a team project.
Crucially, while the leader may not realise they’re not being inclusive, those around them will always notice.
So, for truly inclusive leaders, these demonstrative competencies become something more. They make the leader stand out, and by extension become recognised as some of the characteristics of their leadership style.
But our leaders need help. We must recognise that we’re holding them to a higher standard that allows no exception. So, the challenge is to cultivate an environment where the competencies of an inclusive leader become the cultural values of an organisation. In such a workplace we can normalise the competency of courage, demonstrated by junior employees challenging leaders when they fail to demonstrate an inclusive competency.
As always, training interventions have a limited period of effectiveness before we return to old habits. I often say that success is when a participant maintains a behaviour change beyond one night’s sleep!
Peer mentoring can be incredibly helpful at this level for maintaining accountability. With demonstrative behaviours defined by exceptions, one way we can do this is with a weekly session between peers of the same level sharing incidences where they fell short of the competencies. This is a useful reflective exercise which encourages both participants to identify triggers and replay the scenario. Crucially, it also encourages vulnerability, an undervalued leadership trait, due to the need to speak about failure rather than success.
How can I support my senior management to become inclusive leaders?
Work downwards
Inclusive leadership behaviours must be consistently delivered at the top before the next level of the hierarchy can be expected to follow suit.
Manage and reward competencies differently
Active competencies can’t be measured in the same way as demonstrative ones. Design systems that recognise both the difference in when the different types of competencies are displayed, and the amount of effort required to deliver them.
Introduce peer reflection and accountability
Peer mentoring sessions where leaders share situations where they fell short of inclusivity helps promote vulnerability, reflection, and long-term behavioural change.
Reinforce Through Organisational Culture
Embed these competencies as cultural values, not just leadership traits. Normalise inclusion at every level – e.g., junior staff feeling empowered to challenge non-inclusive behaviours.
Go Beyond Training
Training is a start, but for it to have a lasting effect, organisations should encourage ongoing practices (like peer reflection) that build accountability and continuous learning.
