LEADING THE CHANGE: How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Drive Leadership Excellence

The concept is very simple as well as logical: if leaders and leadership do not support DEI then it will be (almost) impossible to implement DEI within the company.

As the way we handle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) grows more advanced, the responsibilities of those leading it in organizations also evolve. Recognizing this change can assist organizations in positioning themselves for success. CEOs and their executive teams, while thinking about how to organize their leadership, can use this understanding to maximize the impact of DEI initiatives.

A diversity director should create engaging stories that connect with employees, highlighting the importance of diverse perspectives and experiences.

By consistently reinforcing this message and offering chances for feedback, leaders in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) can nurture a collective understanding and dedication to diversity and inclusion.

Establishing an inclusive culture demands intentional strategies and actions from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and business leaders. Here's how they achieve this:

• Advocating Policies and Practices: Leaders can champion the development of policies and practices that endorse diversity and inclusion, ensuring equal opportunities for all employees.
• Collaborating for Inclusive Practices: DEI leaders should collaborate with both HR departments and non-HR employees to integrate inclusive practices into recruitment, hiring, and talent management processes.
• Conducting Diversity Training: Leadership in DEI involves facilitating diversity training and workshops to enhance awareness and cultivate an employee base with cultural competence.
• Encouraging Diverse Perspectives: DEI leaders should actively seek diverse viewpoints in decision-making processes, providing platforms for underrepresented voices to be heard in forward-thinking companies.
• Supporting Inclusive Behaviors: By visibly endorsing and acknowledging inclusive behaviors, DEI leaders establish the groundwork for an inclusive culture, motivating employees to actively contribute to a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Effective and inclusive leadership is a cornerstone of a thriving and sustainable company. The impact of leadership extends far beyond the boardroom, influencing the entire organizational culture, employee engagement, and overall business performance. At its core, inclusive leadership is about recognizing and valuing the diverse perspectives, experiences, and talents that individuals bring to the table.

One of the fundamental benefits of good and inclusive leadership lies in its ability to boost employee morale and engagement. When leaders create an environment where every team member feels heard, valued, and included, it creates a sense of belonging. This, in turn, fosters higher levels of motivation, dedication, and productivity among employees. A positive workplace culture, cultivated by inclusive leadership, becomes a powerful driver of organizational success.

Diversity is a key element in the inclusive leadership equation. Leaders who actively seek and embrace diversity within their teams understand that different backgrounds and perspectives contribute to a richer tapestry of ideas. In essence, inclusive leadership becomes a catalyst for driving the innovative thinking necessary for a company to thrive in today's dynamic and competitive business landscape.

Talent attraction and retention are also significantly influenced by the inclusivity of leadership practices. Companies that prioritize inclusivity become magnets for a diverse talent pool. Individuals are drawn to organizations where they can grow, contribute meaningfully, and be confident in a workplace free from discrimination or exclusion. Inclusive leaders are better positioned to retain top talent by fostering a culture of respect, fairness, and equal opportunities, thereby ensuring that the organization remains vibrant and competitive.

I asked few questions on this topic to Leadership Experts Mira Culic and Peter Griffiths , Founders of The Mind Takeaway :

Hi Peter, Hi Mira how are you today? Please introduce yourself and tell us more about your previous experience and background.

Peter: Great, Thanks. I am just back from a few weeks of downtime in nature and ready for 2024. I am a leadership coach, executive mentor, and author with 20 years of generalist experience in various industries and tech companies. I am also a professional musician and sound engineer.

Mira:Hi Alberto, thanks for asking. I'm happy to be here having this conversation with you and Peter. When asked with genuine curiosity, this is such a powerful question, "How are you?" it allows us to slow down and reflect and become more aware of ourselves in the moment. It opens the gates to deeper human connection, and human connection is the essence of good leadership! So, if anyone reading this is a leader, please always ask this question with genuine interest.?

I have had broad experience working in different industries and three different countries. I worked in the medical and wellness sectors, managing teams and developing businesses before I started helping leaders and leadership teams. Initially, I assisted individual leaders in becoming more confident and increasing their presence in the business environment. And helping leadership teams find resolutions to conflicts and become more productive. Peter and I started collaborating and founded The Mind Takeaway in 2018. With our combined experience, we started facilitating leadership development training, strategy sessions with leadership teams, and workshops on different topics, from creativity in leadership to effective communication, delivering feedback, coaching and mentoring for leaders, and more.?

What it is 'The Mind Takeaway'? And how it works to promote its values?

Peter: At the Mind Takeaway, we specialise in leadership development through experiential learning, coaching, and mentoring. We empower individuals, teams, and organisations to create lasting change, enhance communication and collaboration, and foster an inclusive company culture. Our customised programs and hands-on approach equip leaders with the skills and mindset to drive positive change and achieve their desired outcomes. With a focus on transformational Leadership, we help our clients thrive in today's dynamic business environment.

Mira: We work with individuals, teams, and companies to develop their leadership capacity in order to grow sustainable businesses and inclusive cultures that can thrive in our ever-changing landscape of society and industry. Our leadership development programmes and smaller workshops are structured to deliver specific results to our clients; for example, we never sell a ready-made, one-fits-all product. Instead, we sometimes have even a few conversations with the potential client to understand their goals, what they see as areas needing development, and how that would impact their overall organisation. Then, we create a program or a series of workshops to deliver these results. We also facilitate rather than deliver content so our clients get to participate actively in their own development, which means they can immediately implement what they have learned in their work. I'm happy that we impact people's lives directly - those leaders we are working with and indirectly - through their employees and families and through better decisions they make for the wider society.??

How would you describe your "The Mind Takeaway Podcast"?

Peter: It’s a podcast that makes you a better leader and makes you more curious and creative.

The Mind Takeaway podcast empowers listeners to develop their leadership skills and cultivate a thriving workplace culture by sharing valuable insights on Leadership, psychology, and creativity. Hosts offer reflective commentary and engage in stimulating conversations with guests to provide listeners with actionable advice and fresh perspectives on solving business challenges and achieving professional growth.

Mira: The Mind Takeaway Podcast started from our desire to share knowledge and experience essential for leaders and managers and everyone's personal and professional development. Initially, we only had conversations with guests, and later, we started unpacking topics from our work coaching and developing clients, which our listeners found most impactful. For example, how to give feedback, communicate more effectively, imposter syndrome, and avoid burnout. We have also recently featured on Headliner, which was a good laugh. Here is the link so your readers can have a look: https://www.themindtakeaway.com/podcast

Which sector do you collaborate with the most? And which sector do you think needs more support when it comes to leadership development?

Peter: We work with many business sectors, such as social impact companies and technology, the music industry, e-sports, pharmaceuticals, and retail, and we also coach, train and mentor for European Union programmes and business incubators in the UK. All early-stage companies require support regardless of what industries or sectors their products or services are in. However, one of the biggest clients is a leading toy manufacturing company, so even companies that are 90+ years old also require support. One of the things we have noticed is that when companies are in a fast growth phase or going through a significant change, they often require external support for leadership development. Whether they see that or not is often the biggest challenge.

Mira: I will share an insight we recently gained into the startup industry. Some investment companies are becoming more proactive, and we have seen more interest in bringing leadership development and leadership coaching to startup founders. We have also seen the need for social entrepreneurs, whose numbers are growing exponentially, to have regular support as they are more prone to burnout and stress, which affects their work, leadership skills and ability to make decisions. We are happy to be able to support them.?

Peter, I see from your profile you support a Women Leadership Programme? Do you want tell us more about it?

Peter: I have had the privilege to mentor founders, researchers, and CEOs driving innovation in technology companies for the last three European Innovation Council's Women Leadership Programme cohorts. I look forward to the fourth cohort, which will start early next year. You can find more info here: https://eic.eismea.eu/community/stories/open-call-eic-women-leadership-programme-4th-cohort-elevating-female-leadership .

This valuable experience of working with so many women leaders gave me an insight into the challenges many women face, making me an even fiercer advocate of inclusive Leadership. That experience led me to write a chapter, "Importance of Being Yourself—Awareness and Understanding in Leadership", for a book, Diversity and Inclusion in the Start-Up Ecosystem, published a few months ago via Springer. Here's the link to the chapter https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-5366-0_9

Mira, I see from your profile work also as Life and Business Coach? Do you want tell us more about it?

Mira: In my early thirties, I studied psychology and specialised in pain management. My studies included learning various modalities like counselling, hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). That led me to explore coaching. After seeing its impact, I started using it more in my work and with my patients, especially when I realised I could get to the source of everyone's capacity for insights and realisations that impacted their physical and mental health.?

Being a business leader and developing other people's businesses led to me working with business leaders and helping them overcome their limitations. When we work with leaders, we use all our skills, experience and understanding to help them grow in their private and professional lives. We can not separate life from work, and also we can not ignore the impact of the past on our present. Therefore, I use my understanding of psychology, knowledge of various therapeutic modalities and how the human mind works to help my clients achieve their desired results.?

How do you see the leadership development in the next 5-10 years?

Peter: Although technology is increasing rapidly and can be an enabler, especially with AI, there are also many challenges ahead regarding how we responsibly use this technology for the good of everyone and the planet. Many uses of technology are for more extractive purposes, and often, the people in control lack integrity and make terrible leaders who are interculturally unaware of the damage they are doing. Their actions must be more inclusive when considering the data they use to train their AI models.?

The future of Leadership will still have to develop critical skills such as how to listen to and understand everyone's opinions and ideas, how to connect to our humanity without considering our deep connection to the planet we call home, and how not to lose our connection to each other at a human level when we have all that technology around us and how to leverage our powerfully creative minds will never be more critical in the future. Lastly, one of the most fundamental skills often lacking in Leadership is knowing how to slow down, take a step back, and reflect more. Without this, leaders often burn out, make questionable decisions, and lack clarity.

Mira: As Peter has already pointed out, as a society, we are going through a significant transformation, and as a result, our understanding of leadership and how to lead is changing. The leadership paradigm is changing from being egocentric and seeing just certain people as leaders who all sound, look, behave similarly and often engage in conflicts to achieve their goals to be more human-centric and collaborative. Paradigm change in leadership is triggered by the COVID pandemic and the upcoming climate crisis. Also, the broad access to information and knowledge increases awareness of the new generations, such as our latest Gen Alpha, born in the 21st Century.

So what will happen is that we will need leaders who will not fight this change but be part of it, leaders who are aware, have diverse experiences and come from diverse backgrounds — creative and inclusive leaders who can listen and collaborate effectively with others.

I see authenticity, listening, collaboration, and communication as leadership skills for future leaders.?

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/mira-culic-griffiths/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/peter-griffiths-coach/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/the-mind-takeaway-ltd/