Stop Struggling: Simple Inclusive Leadership Behaviors That Work

The Problem with Conventional Inclusive Leadership Behaviors

Leaders often want to adopt inclusive behaviors to foster belonging within their teams, especially when the reasons are clear and compelling. (Tip: Watch my webinar for language tips on how to position the need and rationale for inclusion and belonging.) However, follow-through is often lacking because they don’t know which specific actions to take, or the suggested actions aren’t practical. Busy leaders crave clear, actionable guidance—they want to know exactly what to do.

Unfortunately, much of the existing guidance is neither clear nor actionable. Traditional DEI best practices often recommend activities like reading books, visiting museums, and traveling to appreciate diverse cultures and perspectives. While valuable, these activities are unrelated to daily work tasks and require time that leaders simply don’t have.

Leaders are also advised to be allies, ensure equitable opportunities, or sponsor underrepresented employees. Without additional training or a structured framework, these actions can seem daunting and often aren't done well, if at all.

Recognizing these challenges, I sought ways for leaders to practice inclusive behaviors directly within their everyday work. My goal was to identify DEI-rooted behaviors that could be easily understood and seamlessly integrated into daily tasks, interactions, and decision-making.

Join my July 18 webinar to learn about the inclusive behaviors I use that are digestible and doable for leaders at all levels. Reserve your spot HERE

A Better Approach to Inclusive Leadership Behaviors

To create a practical framework for inclusive leadership, I drew on various experiences and insights. By reflecting on my consulting and corporate executive roles and conducting interviews with leaders who successfully foster belonging in others, I identified key behaviors that can be easily integrated into daily work. These inclusive leadership behaviors are designed to be clear, actionable, and impactful, ensuring leaders can foster a sense of belonging and improve team effectiveness without extensive extra effort or training.

1. Drawing from Consulting Experience: My journey to define clear, doable, and impactful inclusive leadership behaviors began during my days at a major management consulting firm. Observing a wide range of leadership styles in client meetings, I noted their impacts on team effectiveness. Successful leaders fostered positive team cultures and high morale, while those who struggled faced cultural and motivational barriers. These observations helped me identify behaviors that made a tangible difference in achieving business goals while promoting inclusivity.
2. Drawing from Personal Leadership Experience: Next, I looked inward, examining my own experience as a corporate executive. Reviewing engagement scores and feedback from my team, I pinpointed which of my behaviors had the most positive impact on their sense of belonging and motivation. I identified patterns and actions that resonated well with the team and contributed to a more inclusive environment. This introspection helped me understand the practicalities of implementing inclusive behaviors in a real-world corporate setting.
3. Interviews with Exemplary Leaders: To broaden my perspective, I interviewed leaders I admired who excel at bringing out the best in their teams from a DEI standpoint. These leaders had a natural ability to create inclusive environments where everyone felt valued and heard. Through these conversations, I gathered insights and examples of effective inclusive behaviors that could be adapted across various contexts and leadership styles. Their experiences provided a rich source of practical examples that could be universally applied.

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The Three Best Inclusive Behaviors

Combining empirical research and practical examples from my reflections and interviews, I identified three inclusive behaviors that are universal, clear, and adaptable:

1. Be Self-Aware: Being an inclusive leader doesn’t mean knowing everything about every culture, gender, or religion. Start with self-awareness. Understand how your identities and experiences shape your perspectives. Recognize the limitations of your view and be humble enough to realize your way is just one way. In our daily hustle, we often assume everyone thinks like us, leading to decisions based on what works best for us without considering others' perspectives.
2. Be Curious: Genuine curiosity about people helps in two ways. First, getting to know people beneath the surface replaces biases with empathy and understanding, broadening your perspective. Second, showing real interest in others builds stronger relationships. Creating trust is key. People need to feel comfortable speaking up about what they need to feel like they belong. Leaders eager to foster belonging must know how, and we find out only when people feel safe enough to speak up.
3. Seek to Understand: Especially when encountering differing perspectives, seek understanding. This bridges differences as inclusive leaders. It doesn’t mean changing your beliefs or values but being open to learning from different experiences. This helps ease resistance to challenging beliefs and broadens understanding, making you a more informed, thoughtful, and balanced leader.

Join my July 18 webinar, Inspiring Inclusive Leadership: Practical Tips to Get Leaders to Adopt New Behaviors to gain examples of these behaviors in action compiled from leader’s suggestions. Reserve your spot HERE.

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Why Three Behaviors?

Initially, I identified five inclusive behaviors. However, feedback from leaders indicated that five felt overwhelming and impractical. Leaders are more likely to adopt new practices if they are straightforward and manageable. By focusing on three core behaviors, I created a framework that is both digestible and doable, ensuring leaders can consistently implement them in their daily work.

These three behaviors—being self-aware, being curious, and seeking to understand—create a foundation for inclusive leadership. By being self-aware, leaders recognize their limitations and value diverse perspectives. Curiosity helps leaders engage meaningfully with others, fostering empathy and insight. Seeking understanding ensures that even in conflict, the focus remains on learning and growing together.

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Join the Conversation

Comment below: What behaviors would you add, remove, or modify? Do you have examples of these behaviors in action?

Feel free to share your thoughts and let's inspire a more inclusive workplace together!