What Does It Take To be An Inclusive Leader
Zavahir Dastoor
Executive & Leadership Coach | Consulting Specialist-Culture & Organizational Effectiveness | Talent & OD | I partner with business leaders to enable & transform their unique personal potential through adaptive coaching.
Does your aura of influence attract inclusivity?
Do you as a leader ACT to bring-in the power of inclusion? Leaders need to build inclusive organizations by their ‘intent of design’ and not upon Riders of policies in the rule book.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a top-ranked tennis player, of Congolese and French descent, gave a tearful retirement speech at the French Open last year. Reflecting on how he has often been labelled “One day Swiss, one day French. One day White, one day Black. One day a fraud, another a national hero. One day young, one day old.” Hearing this, it took me on an emotional journey of the past 2 years about how leadership is transforming.
My thoughts and the essential questions of this time.?
Do we know who we are?
Are we focusing on the being, or the becoming or the belonging?
President Biden made?Juneteenth?a federal holiday, enshrining June 19 as the national day to honor the end of slavery in the US. Is this progress, yes, and it takes grit in leaders to ACT. Leaders in organizations are trying to be more empathetic and trusted. It’s a role that requires us to know & show who we are as people.
Admired leaders are striving to lead with their hearts and, more importantly, seeking to understand. In fact, from my discussions with thought-leaders and from the trends, it’s clear we have had more personal, emotional, & revealing conversations in the past 2 years than we have had before. This kind of open and empathetic communication used to happen only with those who are close to us. Now, these talks are being shared broadly with the sentiments:
“This is my journey"
“I’m seeking my purpose”
“This is who I really am”
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Each of us embody our own stories and experiences and how they influence who we are. My friend shared an experience with me a few days ago. He visited the insurance company for policy renewal and had a long arduous wait. When asked his Relationship Manager the reason, he shared - the previous customer’s policy application was denied, as he had criminal charges levied on him and was jailed 3 years ago.
Coincidently that customer shared the same name as my friend, and they had the same birth date with a year’s difference. Two people, one name, a mistaken identity and two very different paths.?
This became a moment of deep self-reflection for me in sharp contrast with that man’s experience. My friend went one way and that man headed another way. After pondering on how my friend became the person he is today, I realized that, yes, he made “good choices.” But the bigger point is that he was given good options by his parents—the leaders in his life and at home who made all the difference. The reality is, not everyone has that support and guidance.
It is a reminder of how we should seek to understand those who may feel pushed aside and neglected. When we have good options, we can make good decisions. Fortunately, there are leaders at work that are providing this support—often in unexpected ways. It’s all about ensuring that people are included.
To appreciate who people are, it takes courage to drop the hubris of being a typical corporate leader and build empathy. But the sobering truth: all of us have biases, many of them unconscious. Identifying our biases may be uncomfortable at times, but our efforts must be sustained.
Diversity is Data. Differences make each person unique.
Inclusion is the ACT. We need to go beyond diversity alone to become consciously inclusive—where accepting differences is encouraged and inclusion is a mutual responsibility.
This is how we can tap the potential of collective genius that comes from a mosaic of perspectives and experiences.
?As a leader and an individual does this challenge you??
We are all works in progress - a learning curve to tread on. Some of us are striving, some are closer to arriving. It’s a journey—from who we are, to who we want to be.
Monte Pedersen Tom Lawrence Chris Kelley Alexander Trost Robert Jerus, SPHR - Always on Your Mind Avnish Sharma Gentiana Ko?i Izabela Wlodarska Khadiija M Praggatti Rao Baljit Kaur Sonia Bedi Lina Younes Lisa De Nicola, PCC Lydia Sarmiento, Ed.D.?????? Nathalie M. Dr. Constance L. Jason Hurley Jason M. Carrawell MGySgt USMC (Ret) Joseph Gonzalez CBO, LSSGB Joe Murphy Ray Morris Kate Sotsenko ?? David Marlow Christopher D. Connors Grant Drmaj, MEd Zoubiya Ahmed Eng. Amina Khalifa PCC, EQCC, NLP Naheed Khan Brendan Rogers - Creating Confident Leaders Paul Sinclair
Seasoned Change Consultant | Specialising in Culture & People Transformation l Transformational Leadership Development | Integrating Neuroscience for Organisational Change | Keynote speaker | Co-Founder- Futurwits
1 年You said it right Zavahir Dastoor … innovation needs diversity. However, the very understanding of diversity differs for different leaders. It is again based on the values and culture, both individualistic and organisational. The fact is, the very acceptance of diversity is biased and that is what is limiting inclusivity. These are generalised terms but their generalisation is also filtered. A simple change in the understanding of diversity and inclusion which is beyond the textbook version is much needed to actually benefit from the infinite potential of “people” . Great article ????
Public Servant Australian Taxation Office
1 年Inclusive starts with us and starts with our children as they take their journey too. If we can teach our children at a young age to know how this works then as parents we as leaders can instil these great values so that when they start working they will have these core values with them. They will be inclusive of everyone they work with and they will appreciate their leaders for being inclusive too ??ps maybe not the power of inclusive leadership but power the people who are inclusive ??
Trainer / Mentor / Leader to Teachers & Heads of Departments in Both Public & Private Schools ?? Public Schools District Supervisor?? Recognised Alumna?? Division Outstanding Teacher?? BSP Bronze USA Awardee??
1 年Inclusion is very important in leadership The more people are included and take part, the more speak up and go another extra mile, the more collaboration ultimately lifts organizational performance. Excellent and brilliant message as usual Zavahir Dastoor
Trainer / Mentor / Leader to Teachers & Heads of Departments in Both Public & Private Schools ?? Public Schools District Supervisor?? Recognised Alumna?? Division Outstanding Teacher?? BSP Bronze USA Awardee??
1 年When more people are included and tasked to do their share, the more they speak up and take the extra mile and collaborate ultimately lifts organizational performance. Excellent and brilliant share as always Zavahir Dastoor . Keep on shining
Do you find it difficult to increase your influence with your team members? | Leadership coach for team leaders | Author of leadership & personal growth books | Creator of leadership & personal growth online courses
1 年A highly effective leader is inclusive by asking their team questions. They do this to inspire deeper thinking, and come to a solution to a problem on their own. Questions are the beginning of empowerment. To let the team know that they matter. It lets the team know that their leader values what they say, and that they appreciate their opinion. It demonstrates respect to each team member, and helps to build trust with them. As a role model, the leader is modelling that teamwork is better than one individual. Thank you for the inspiration, Zavahir Dastoor