Inclusive leadership is an approach that places an emphasis on fostering a sense of belonging, equality and respect within the workplace. Enhancing inclusivity within a business can be beneficial both for individual employees and the organisation as a whole.
By taking part in inclusive leadership training, managers, business owners and other people in positions of authority can encourage collaboration, innovation and good decision making. They can also boost levels of employee engagement and improve employee retention.
Fostering Self-Awareness
In most cases, the first step in creating a more inclusive workplace is enhancing self-awareness. This helps to foster inclusivity because, by understanding their own motivations, biases and preferences, leaders can become more aware of their decision-making process and how this could affect those around them. They can then make choices or implement policies that are truly inclusive and that are designed to foster a sense of inclusivity in their workplace.
Improving Emotional Intelligence
Inclusive leadership training emphasises the importance of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is key to inclusivity as it makes leaders more empathetic. This makes it easier for them to understand their team members and how the decisions they make could affect their colleagues.
Having a high level of emotional intelligence can also help leaders to sensitively and productively mediate disputes between team members and resolve any other conflicts that may be interrupting workflow. This is essential as an inclusive workplace needs to have all team members on the same page if the environment is going to be safe, supportive and productive.
Embedding Inclusivity In Leadership Culture
Inclusivity isn’t just an idea, it’s a mindset. And, if leaders are going to be truly inclusive, they need to embed the concept both in their leadership approach and their everyday behaviour.
Inclusive leadership training should seek to embed inclusive habits into everyday leadership techniques. It should provide participants with actionable skills - such as how to listen actively and show empathy – and offer support on how leaders can achieve their inclusivity goals.
Learning Through Experience
One of the most effective ways to encourage inclusive leadership, and really understand the value and importance of the approach, is to learn through experience. By taking part in realistic role plays and simulations, participants can see first-hand how unconscious biases or exclusive practices can negatively impact their workplace.
They can also see how their communication style affects those around them and how the decisions they make could cause other team members to feel excluded or overlooked. Reviewing these role-play sessions alongside an experienced instructor can further enhance understanding. The instructor will be able to highlight communication styles, language or techniques that have a negative impact and offer advice on how the leader could behave in a more inclusive way in the future.
To learn more about the importance of inclusive leadership training, and find out about the tailored training sessions we offer, get in touch with a member of our team today.
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