11 Ways To Ensure Inclusivity In Leadership

What is one way an organization can ensure inclusivity in leadership? 

To help you ensure inclusivity in your organization’s leadership, we asked CEOs and HR managers this question for their best insights. From offering project ownership opportunities to creating open forums to challenge the status quo, there are several tips that may help you ensure leadership inclusivity in the future.

Here are eleven ways to ensure inclusivity in leadership:

Offer Project Ownership OpportunitiesCreate Mentorship Programs
Partner With Diverse Businesses
Share Authority
Promote With Diversity in Mind
Mandate Inclusion Training
Invite All Employees to Meetings
Strategize an Intentional Plan
Actively Seek Different Perspectives
Avoid Tokenizing People
Create Open Forums to Challenge the Status Quo

• Offer Project Ownership Opportunities

  One way an organization can ensure inclusivity in leadership is to offer projects and that allow team members to practice and develop leadership skills. For example, TeamBuilding empowers team members within certain communities to write and design products like cultural trivia for Women's History Month or Pride Month. These opportunities show that we value employees' voices, perspectives, and experiences, and give diverse groups of employees the opportunity to lead initiatives, have internal visibility, and make a mark on the company.

  Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding

  
  

  Create Mentorship Programs

  Creating equitable mentorship programs is one way to improve inclusivity in leadership. Often, diverse employees lack access to the leadership training and opportunities that other employees receive through their communities. Matching these employees with a mentor early in their careers can help to bridge this gap and show these team members the paths to leadership. Such programs provide diverse employees with the information, tools, and visibility needed to grow and move up within the organization over time.

  Tasia Duske, Museum Hack

  
  

  Partner With Diverse Businesses

  Creating a true culture of inclusion means implementing diversity-based efforts across the business. That way, you'll attract diverse leaders to a company that actually follows its values of inclusivity. One of the biggest growth opportunities and most valuable experiences is partnering with women, LGBTQ, and BIPOC-led businesses. It's a really great way to support each other and develop like-minded content and initiatives that can help both brands excel. By growing together, you're expanding your network of support and creating a wide array of future opportunities for collaboration.

  Lisa Odenweller, Kroma Wellness

  
  

  Share Authority 

  In our organization, we believe in sharing authority as this enables employees throughout the organization to become leaders themselves. Leadership at every level has become the most critical element of our success. It initiates ownership and empowers our team members to take initiative. But it's not just taking ownership of the wins but also the losses, enabling them to see why their work matters. We are a company of owners who have diverse backgrounds and skills, but we're all passionate about building a more efficient and inclusive infrastructure — together. Leading up the chain of command creates a culture of accountability that is crucial for accomplishing goals, completing assignments, and making decisions. It also strengthens our bond as a team and creates a more rounded employee experience for everyone.

  Jason Sherman, TapRm

  
  

  Promote With Diversity in Mind

  Inclusivity starts at the top. A company’s leadership team should be comprised of men and women who have different racial, ethnic and gender backgrounds. We have attorneys who are active in their local communities and we try to ensure that we have a welcoming environment for everyone - employees, candidates and clients. Roughly 90% of our employees are bilingual, so we make sure to walk the walk when it comes to promoting diversity. We firmly believe that our organization needs to accurately represent the residential makeup of Southern California.

  Alan Ahdoot, Adamson Ahdoot Law

  
  

  Mandate Inclusion Training 

  Assuming that leaders and managers automatically know how to be inclusive is often a huge mistake. Offer guidance by providing inclusion training, diversity training resources, and the possibility of practicing suitable management behavior. Then your leaders will have a solid sense of your expectations and the skills they need to be inclusive leaders in the organization.

  Hakeem Shittu, iPad Recycle

  
  

  Invite All Employees to Meetings

  Leaders should invite all employees to meetings to ensure everyone's voice is heard. They can use this as an effective way to engage and collaborate with others from various viewpoints. By asking questions and connecting as a team, everyone's input is appreciated and valued. This type of leadership behavior creates a positive culture that keeps every team member involved and allows them to share their experiences that are different from our own.

  Lillie Sun, Three Ships Beauty

  
  

  Strategize an Intentional Plan

  First, strategize an intentional plan.  Inclusivity doesn't just "happen". Determine inclusivity goals and map a plan. Try expanding your Leadership Team and invite another level of leaders (for example, all of the company Sr. Managers) to the leadership table. Invite them to participate in the conversation.  Invite them to facilitate topics of conversation.  Leadership can feel exclusive with only a few key people in the circle. Expand your circle and reap so many mutual benefits.

  Kate Walker, Kate Walker Executive Coaching

  
  

  Actively Seek Different Perspectives

  Inclusive leaders are those who guard against letting their own personal biases dictate their decision-making. The way to ensure that those biases don’t interfere with the job is to seek out those who have different perspectives and backgrounds. To be an effective leader, one must be collaborative and willing to listen to others’ points of view. Adopt a diversity effort - that’s the most effective way to ensure inclusivity in leadership. Allow others to enlighten you and base your decisions on more than just your own perspective.

  Scott MacDonell, Bambee

  
  

  Avoid Tokenizing People

  Organizations need to stop tokenizing people. This happens when they intend to be inclusive, but hire only a small number of people from minority groups. So they can point to these few people when asked about diversity. There is a difference between going for “the minimum requirement” and actually making sure your organization is inclusive. Make sure you foster a secure and safe workplace. Minorities shouldn’t be subject to stereotypical treatment in the work they’re assigned or when they’re evaluated. Do not foster a fear-driven environment as this disproportionately impacts underrepresented groups. Make sure there are secure and safe feedback mechanisms. Lastly, go beyond the bare minimum and look into investing in special training programs for specific communities. You can link that to recruitment for a win-win situation.

  Nicole Ostrowska-Cobas, LiveCareer

  
  

  Create Open Forums to Challenge the Status Quo

  Before any organization can move forward on its plans to foster and ensure inclusive leadership, the management must be open to hearing views (both good and bad) from the organization as a whole. These open forums will help identify potential and underappreciated leaders from diverse backgrounds. It will also ensure that inclusivity becomes a norm across the organization. Furthermore, it is important that the management itself reflects inclusive leadership in its overall makeup. All talk without tangible actions will produce subpar results.

  Mogale Modisane, ToolsGaloreHQ.com

  
  
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