What is an Inclusive Leader?
In order to create a culture of belonging, where every person can thrive, organizations need inclusive leaders. So what do we mean by “inclusive leaders”? A recent systematic review of inclusive leadership research by Korkmaz et al in Human Resource Management Review* provides us with some thoughts.
The authors find that the traits of inclusive leaders fall into four dimensions:
Fostering employee uniqueness and supporting diversity – inclusive leaders value the unique traits and experiences of employees and seek to create diverse teams. Instead of creating a team of individuals with like experiences and perspectives, inclusive leaders work to create a team of people with diverse opinions, viewpoints, experiences and strengths. Then they ensure that everyone on the team feels safe to express that uniqueness.
Strengthening belongingness and relationships – inclusive leaders actively work to support strong relationships and trust among the members of their team. Diverse teams sometimes require extra effort to build relationships. Inclusive leaders take the time to help team members get to know one another and build the relationships needed to work together effectively.
Showing appreciation – inclusive leaders give their employees positive feedback and demonstrate their appreciation in the way each employee prefers. Everyone wants to feel appreciated for their contributions to the team. Inclusive leaders take this a step further by getting to know. how each individual prefers to be appreciated.
Supporting organizational efforts – inclusive leaders support the inclusion and diversity efforts of their organization through their words and their actions. Inclusive leaders take the time to speak about their organizations’ efforts in inclusion and diversity, to share their personal stories, and to encourage team members to become active in inclusion and diversity.
If you would like to become an inclusive leaders, we encourage you to reach out to us. UBelong provides learning resources that guide leaders along the journey to becoming inclusive leaders.
*Korkmaz et al, About and beyond leading uniqueness and belongingness: A systematic review of inclusive leadership research; Human Resource Management Review 32 (2022)