Becoming an inclusive leader requires intention, interest, and real work!
Inspired by Mary-Francis Winters’ s book Inclusion Start with I, here are 5 tips on becoming an inclusive leader.
Becoming an inclusive leader requires intention, interest, and real work!
Bayan Qutub
1. Start to better understand yourself
The journey towards becoming an inclusive leader begins from yourself. For there you can start your journey to include others, and to bring harmony and inclusion to your environment that has “others” and you. The key is YOU. Ask yourself:
Who am I? What are my values? What is unique in me? What is the best version of me?
2. Learn about your unconscious biases
A large part of our thinking works unconsciously, from the accumulations of childhood experiences, and from our environments.. From this comes unconscious biases. Have you ever judged someone by their appearance only and without knowing them or having a conversation with them? This is one form of unconscious bias.
The murder of George Floyd was one big global eye-opener on unconscious bias and how dangerous it can be. The cop’s unconscious thoughts and prejudices about black people and their being dangerous made him kill an innocent man!! Unconscious biases occur in everyone, everywhere, in school, on the street, at work, in court, everywhere. It needs much bigger space to write on unconscious biases, but for now ask yourself:
When do I exclude others? Who do I underestimate? What are my blind spots?
3. Learn about and acknowledge your privileges
Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. These groups can be advantaged based on social class, age, height, nationality, disability, ethnic or racial category, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and religion. Ask yourself:
How does my social identity make me have better opportunities than others? For example, you may be a male who can easily get heard at meetings and get promoted than women in your workplace.
4. Include others
Include those at your workplace who have the opposite of traits of your privilege such as women in the above example. Ask yourself:
How can I help their efforts get better recognition and appreciation? How can I better include them?
5. Keep working on yourself in your inclusion journey
Ask yourself consistently:
Where am I now? Am I improving in my inclusion journey? What more changes do I need to do?
To conclude, becoming an inclusive leader requires courage, commitment and the will to change!
Inclusion is a personal revolution! It is a journey within to break free from all the chains that you have tied yourself to, to accept and include all of your parts, to heal all of your wounds, and when you are done revolutionizing yourself, you finally become inclusive leader for yourself first and for others.
Becoming an inclusive leader requires courage, commitment and the will to change!
Bayan Qutub