6 Cs of Inclusive Leadership

Last year after leading an Inclusive Leadership in the Workplace training for our people leaders at JeffreyM Consulting, I was walking through downtown Seattle and saw a “Men Working Above” sign. I quickly snapped a photo as this was a perfect example of what we’d just discussed in training. We know that all genders work in construction. We see it every day. Yet still exclusion and unconscious biases can show up every day in the workplace. A sign stating “Caution: Workers Above”, which is sufficient and inclusive, would seem like an easy switch, right? However, many companies, organizations and government entities still struggle to understand inclusion and implement effective diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Inclusive leadership is the intentional practice of ensuring equitable treatment, a sense of belonging and supporting all workers to achieve their full potential. Managers and leaders are responsible for helping to create an inclusive work environment and must practice it deliberately and thoughtfully.

Becoming an inclusive leader takes time, practice, and focus. These 6 C’s of inclusive leadership are traits that will help position you to help your team members reach peak performance and contribute to your organization’s success:

1. Commitment – There must be a company-wide commitment to diversity and inclusion. Dedicating resources and budget to a diversity and inclusion strategy, providing training for all workers and ensuring all are treated with dignity and respect is important.
2. Courage – Displaying humility, asking questions and being willing to admit when mistakes happen takes courage. It’s also brave to be a disruptor and challenge the status quo. Speaking up and questioning what’s normal and commonly accepted in the organization is needed if you want to see change.
3. Curiosity – Be open to different ideas or experiences, using them to enable both personal growth and successful organizational growth.
4. Collaboration – Actively work to make teams more effective by fostering collaboration and healthy debate. Understand and enable others on the team and in the organization to work better.
5. Cultural Intelligence – Cultural frames are helpful to relate and work well with people from all cultures and background. Recognizing the impact your own culture has on these interactions is equally important.
6. Cognizance of Bias – Self-awareness to spot blind spots and bias, recognize those problems and remedy them through policies to ensure decisions are the result of fair, logical consideration of the facts.

More than ever it’s important to be intentional about being the best leader you can be. The new generation of workers want leaders who connect with them, understand their individual needs, inspire them to grow and become better, treat them fairly and respectfully, and give them a sense of belonging and meaning at work. When leaders become more adept in demonstrating these competencies that workers value in the workplace, they create the right environment, in which workers can thrive and organizations can succeed.