Introduction to Inclusive Leadership
Training to build the foundation of a diverse, innovative, and productive workplace culture.Today’s leaders must be able to effectively communicate and build trusting work relationships with many different kinds of people. We are moving from the era of “command and control” to an era of “engage and include.”
Some individuals have a natural ability to feel comfortable with many different types of people and can easily build camaraderie within their teams. Others are comfortable exhibiting inclusive behaviors themselves but have difficulty coaching and developing these skills among those who report to them. And still others have difficulty establishing comfortable working relationships with specific people or groups.
According to the Gallup Organization, disengaged (exclusive) managers are three times
more likely to have disengaged and actively disengaged employees, costing businesses
billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. If you are working to create a culture that values all employees and is inclusive of differences, your leaders must understand what inclusion is, how it is achieved and what specific behaviors and actions they can take to promote the culture you desire.
Inclusity’s Introduction to Inclusive Leadership Workshop (or series) provides your supervisors, managers, and leaders the personal insight and awareness, knowledge and skills they need to become the best and most inclusive leader possible.
In this four-, eight-, or 12-hour workshop (or series of shorter workshops if desired) we introduce your leaders to up to four Inclusity Models and the tools they need to actively become inclusive leaders.
Learning Objectives:
- Participate in and lead small group discussions about the factors that define their team members, in order to build trust and open communications
- Understand the attitudes and behaviors that create exclusion
- Identify situations in which team members are being excluded
- Increase their commitment to actively include instead of unintentionally excluding
- Utilize models presented during the training to intentionally create more inclusive workplace teams
From The Inclusity Blog
8 Tips and Inclusive Language Examples
Language is a reflection of our culture and society. Intentionally or not, our words can minimize or exclude people, particularly those in underrepresented people groups. This includes people with disabilities, people of color, people with diverse gender identities, and more.
These inclusive language examples allow us to learn to communicate more respectfully so that everyone sees themselves reflected in the conversation. At Inclusity, we mindfully try to use language that avoids words or phrases that reflect stereotypes or serve to subtly exclude any individual or group of people. You can begin to practice using more inclusive language by increasing your awareness. Inevitably, you’ll notice just how embedded biases are in the culture. Here’s some things to consider.
Terms to avoid and inclusive language examples
Avoid unintentionally centering the dominant culture or perpetuating a “them and us” mentality.
Minorities, Disadvantaged –> Underrepresented, Underserved
Set aside any assumptions about the background and preferences of others. Use neutral words related to gender, sexual orientation, and other distinguishing qualities.
Him / her –> They
You guys –> Folks, All
Husband / wife –> Spouse, Partner
Cleaning lady –> Cleaner
Focus on relevant characteristics. Is it even necessary to mention gender, race, disability, etc.?
Avoid using adjectives as nouns to label people, or labels that equate people with their condition.
The gays –> Gay men / women
Drug users –> People who use drugs
The elderly –> Older adults
Use person-first language when possible, keeping in mind that some communities (e.g. the deaf and autistic communities) value identity-first language.
Mentally ill people –> People with mental illnesses
Disabled/handicapped person –> Person with a disability
Homeless person –> Person who is unhoused, person experiencing homelessness
Consider the historical, cultural, and religious context and implications of words and phrases.
Slaving away –> Working hard
Pow wow –> Huddle
Avoid phrases that condescend, suggest victimhood, or that reflect or project feelings and judgments about a person.
Rape victim –> Rape survivor
Afflicted by AIDS –> Living with AIDS
Handicapped –> Person with a disability
Avoid terms that reinforce stigma.
Drug addict –> Person with a substance abuse disorder
Obese–> Fat, plus size, bigger bodied
Shifting our language involves putting the person first — both in our minds and in our words. Rather than a defining category, recognize them as an individual first. Using more inclusive language requires not making assumptions about people, managing our judgements, and using more neutral words.
Unfortunately, there are many words and terms in the English language that can be insensitive (or worse) toward certain people groups. We probably aren’t aware of many of them! For instance, have you thought about these terms:
- Hold down the fort
- Low man on the totem pole
- Pow wow
We might not stop to think that they can be dismissive or derogatory to Native Americans / Indigenous people. Our language is also replete with terms that reference slavery or that reinforce the bad/good binary of black/white. Including:
- Sold down the river
- Grandfather in
- Slaving away
- Master
- Blacklist
- Blackball
Such terms can carry painful historical weight for many people. It’s worth learning and thinking about the context of certain terms and how/why we use them.
While language is powerful and can help promote a more inclusive culture, we also shouldn’t police our language to the extent that we tiptoe around sensitive topics. It’s not about shame or guilt for using a word that could be considered offensive. Mistakes happen; ask if you don’t know and apologize if you make a mistake!
Using more inclusive language is about open-mindedness and re-learning, so that you’ll be more attuned and can start to shift the words you might use. For more extensive inclusive language examples, refer to this American Psychological Association guide. And remember: Language is always evolving, and we need to keep a growth mindset about this – we’re all learning here!
Don’t let your Managers get Stuck in the Middle – Promote with Support
Working for an exceptional leader or, alternately, working for a crummy one, is a universal and impactful milestone in an employee’s career. Ask just about anyone in the workforce, and they can recall the most positive or negative experience they’ve had with a boss or a manager. Also relatable for many people is the experience of being promoted and feeling underprepared or ill-equipped.
There are distinctly different causes for the impact a great leader makes on their team versus the impact made by a poor leader or an ill-fated promotion. The latter can often be attributed to something called the “Peter Principle”. In their book by the same name, authors Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull argue that “in a hierarchy, employees are promoted based on their success in previous roles until they reach a position where they are no longer competent, at which point they remain stuck.” Organizations tend to promote good front line workers without giving them the supervisory or managerial skills they need to transform from a good worker to a good people manager.
The problem with Tenure-based Promotion
According to Gallup, 65% of all supervisors were promoted based on their performance or years of experience in frontline roles. Only 30% were promoted based on their supervisory skills and experience. Gallup also found that only 31% of employees who are supervised by individuals promoted for their experience and performance as front-line workers are fully engaged at work.
Because we know that there is a direct correlation between engagement and productivity, this reality can negatively affect an organization’s overall success. The importance of employees feeling that their leader is engaged, inclusive and competent truly cannot be overstated. According to Gallup’s Culture Shock, “managers’ own engagement, effectiveness, and natural talents account for at least 70% of the variance in team-level engagement, even while controlling for other factors.”
The Missing Piece of that Promotion Package
Organizations that promote from within need to do more than reward good employees with more responsibility, oversight and pay. Employees being promoted to supervisory or managerial roles need training to develop the skills they will need to be successful. Being an effective leader requires more than the knowledge and experience needed to complete the actual work tasks. Part of rewarding good employees with promotions is helping them become effective leaders – which will have a positive impact on their teams’ engagement and productivity.
Sharpening the Skillset
What types of skills will help new leaders become successful leaders? At Inclusity, we look at leadership development through the lens of our Inclusive Leadership Framework, which is categorized into areas that include actionable qualities for leaders to harness and develop. Skills that are fundamental to good leadership also happen to be skills that support an inclusive culture.
This includes skills like:
- Active listening
- Assessing skills
- Valuing feedback
- Building trust and fostering belonging
- Creating safety
- Leveraging diversity
- Upholding accountability
…and many more. Our framework allows leaders to look at their practices and to identify strengths as well as which skills need further development. We build one or more of the framework’s 18 skill objectives into each of our workshops.
Inclusive leadership development clearly builds the awareness and skills of the leader, but the positive impact ripples through the organization. Employees trust and engage more fully, teams collaborate more effectively, and the organization performs better.
If you’re ready to set your leaders up for success – contact us about tailoring our inclusive leadership training options for your organization.
Why Employee Engagement Must Be a Top Priority – Especially Now
In the world of work, engagement isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a bellwether. According to Gallup’s latest global workplace report, employee engagement has fallen for only the second time in more than a decade. For U.S. employees, that drop is the first in 15 years.
This shift isn’t just a statistic. It’s a signal.
At Inclusity, we’ve found that employee engagement is one of the clearest reflections of how people are experiencing their work, their leaders, and their sense of belonging. And when the numbers dip – even slightly – it should prompt leaders to ask: What’s happening beneath the surface?
The Pressure Beneath the Dip
The Gallup study shows a significant trend: engagement is beginning to decline after years of incremental growth.
That change coincides with a perfect storm of challenges: return-to-office tensions, economic uncertainty, and ongoing organizational restructuring. When people feel unsettled, they naturally pull back. Disengagement becomes a form of self-protection.
This is especially true during times of organizational change. Whether it’s a merger, a leadership transition, or a shift in a strategic direction, change can trigger anxiety and resistance. People begin to question their place in the organization. They wonder if their voice still matters.
Unfortunately, engagement efforts often fall by the wayside during these moments. Leaders get pulled into operational urgencies, and the human side of the business can feel like a “nice to have” instead of what it truly is: mission critical.
But the data tells a clear story—when engagement drops, so does productivity, innovation, and retention. Organizations can’t afford to deprioritize engagement when employees need it most.
And that’s precisely why engagement cannot be an afterthought – it must be a pillar.
Engagement Doesn’t Happen by Accident
Too often, organizations attempt to re-engage employees with surface-level solutions: casual Fridays, ping-pong tables, or one-off wellness webinars. The Gallup data reminds us that real engagement stems from more meaningful sources.
Employees thrive when they:
- Feel connected to their team and leader
- Understand how their work contributes to a bigger purpose
- Believe their opinions matter
- Trust that their well-being is valued – not just their output
These are the pillars of inclusive leadership. And these are the conditions that make engagement possible – even in difficult seasons.
Leadership’s Call to Action
The dip in engagement is not a crisis—yet. But it is a call to action. Leaders can’t afford to wait for engagement to recover on its own. Rebuilding it requires intention.
Here are seven ways leaders can boost employee engagement:
- Set Inspiring Goals – When people know where they’re headed—and why—they give their best. Clear, inspiring goals unlock passion and purpose.
- Celebrate Every Win – Recognition fuels momentum! A simple “thank you” or shout-out can spark pride and deepen loyalty.
- Keep Conversations Flowing – When communication is open, ideas flourish. Build a workplace where every voice is heard and valued.
- Invest in Growth – Show employees you believe in them. Training, mentorship, and stretch opportunities turn potential into power.
- Empower Smart Decisions – Trust your teams to take the lead. Empowered employees bring energy, innovation, and ownership to their work.
- Champion Work-Life Harmony – Flexibility isn’t just nice—it’s necessary. Supporting balance leads to happier, healthier, and more engaged teams.
- Lead with Heart – Authentic leadership lights the way. When you lead with integrity and empathy, employees lean in—with energy and trust.
The drop in engagement highlighted by Gallup doesn’t mean that employees have stopped caring. More likely, they feel that their organizations have stopped listening.
Now is the time for leaders to reaffirm their commitment to engagement—not with grand gestures, but with meaningful, everyday actions that foster trust and inclusion. Especially when the path forward feels uncertain, employees need to know they’re not navigating it alone.
Engagement Is a Choice – One Leaders Make Every Day
While the data may feel discouraging, it also presents an opportunity. It’s a chance to demonstrate inclusive leadership and cultivate engagement through consistent, intentional actions.
Every day, leaders make choices that either build trust or erode it. They choose whether to communicate transparently, to acknowledge employee contributions, and to create space for diverse voices to be heard. These small, everyday decisions add up. And especially in times of tension or transition—like reorganizations, layoffs, or shifts in strategic direction—employees look to their leaders for signals of stability, empathy, and purpose.
When leaders engage with curiosity, vulnerability, and a commitment to inclusion, employees feel seen and valued. That sense of connection is what turns disengaged observers into invested contributors. It’s not just about boosting morale – it’s about strengthening the foundation of the organization itself.
At Inclusity, we work with organizations to help leaders recognize and embrace this responsibility. Because in uncertain times, choosing to engage with people – not just processes – is what drives long-term resilience and success.
Inclusity’s Inclusive Leadership Framework: The Path to Inclusion and Diversity
For years, I’ve heard that diverse teams are better than homogenous teams. Diverse teams outperform, are smarter, more innovative, and lead to more profitable organizations. Yet, I don’t completely buy it.
This might surprise you; after all, we’re a company focused on inclusion and diversity. But maybe it doesn’t. Because what’s missing from these findings is that it’s an inclusive culture that allows diversity to thrive. Inclusive teams and organizations support the diversity, which then outperforms, is smarter and more innovative, and is more successful.
Diversity for diversity’s sake will never be the answer to creating higher performing teams/organizations. However, if you build an inclusive culture in which everyone feels valued and can be their authentic selves, you’ll call forth the diversity that’s already present and simultaneously attract more diverse talent.
The Path to Inclusion and Diversity
Maybe your organization currently lacks diversity or an inclusive culture built on trust, authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability. This begs the ultimate question, “how do we do this?”
There’s not just one answer. Many factors contribute to the creation of an inclusive culture. One important way is by developing leaders, who can embody and embed inclusive behaviors. To truly grow inclusive leadership capacity, look to training that is experiential and supportive. We all know that the best predictor of an employee’s success and happiness is their leader/manager. And if we’ve happy and engaged employees, there’s a higher likelihood that we will see increased productivity, innovation, and profitability.
Inclusive Leadership is in Your Everyday Behaviors
Ask your favorite search engine about inclusive leadership, and you’ll find a multitude of theories, articles, and models to sift through. Like others out there, at Inclusity we have the applied knowledge about how to be a stellar inclusive leader and best version of yourself. Our approach differs from other models, though, because it focuses on behaviors as opposed to theoretical ideas.
Our Inclusive Leadership Framework allows you to look at your own practices to identify your strengths and where you need to grow your own capacity. As you begin to implement more and more inclusive leadership behaviors, you’ll begin to see the culture in your organization evolve. Employees notice, consciously or not, the behaviors that leaders demonstrate and communicate, so they know what is expected and valued. By shifting your day-to-day behaviors, you begin to shift the culture. Lead with inclusion and diversity will follow.
A Framework for Leading Inclusively
The art of being an inclusive leader can be broken down into three areas: leading yourself, leading others, and leading your organization/team. If you truly want to be able to inclusively lead others and your organization/team, you have to start with yourself.
Inclusive leaders that lead themselves well focus on developing their emotional intelligence and empathy. Emotional intelligence is about recognizing and managing your own emotions, while empathy allows you to understand or see another’s feelings or perspective. Growing in these areas means becoming aware of your unconscious biases and intentionally managing them. Being an inclusive leader is about being intentional in understanding yourself and in connecting with and understanding others.
The insight you gain by developing yourself will accelerate your ability to more effectively lead others. Inclusive leaders operate with the mindset that if they are not being intentionally inclusive, they’ll likely unintentionally exclude people. Which would lead to decreased trust and belonging. By recognizing and valuing each person’s individuality and strengths, you increase employees’ sense of belonging. Inclusive leaders also look to develop their people at every turn. If you draw out their strengths and engaging employees in decision-making, you’ll empower them while strengthening the organization as well.
Collectively, inclusive leaders’ actions work to align the organization’s culture with its vision, mission, and values. And when the culture is aligned – when people are living out the vision and values – the ability to drive innovation and results becomes easier. You can effectively do this by clearly communicating expectations around the culture and inclusive behavior, as well as creating accountability across the organization/team.
Enjoy the Journey
While our Inclusive Leadership Framework doesn’t account for every aspect required to lead an organization successfully, it provides you with the critical areas for building an inclusive culture.
Inclusive Leadership is a journey. You never fully arrive, but instead continuously grow your ability to produce extraordinary results for yourself, others, and your organization/team. You have to invest time and effort to lead inclusively, but if you start gradually, you’ll be able to go ten times faster in the future. We invite you, your organization, and the world to grow your capacity for inclusive leadership. As you understand and demonstrate inclusive behaviors, the path will lead to a successful workplace and employees who feel valued and happy.
Inclusive Leadership Can Address Dips in Employee Engagement
At Inclusity, we closely follow workplace trends regarding employee engagement. It’s more than just curiosity; it’s part of our mission to help organizations create environments where employees engage. Gallup shared data in January that indicates that engagement stagnated, despite a slight bump in early 2023. Only 33% of U.S. employees are engaged in the workplace, with less than half being fully engaged. A problem for the obvious reason that it cost the economy $1.9 trillion in lost productivity, it also signals a longer-term issue.
The Post-Covid Workplace
Engagement and productivity have been steadily declining since (you guessed it) 2020. While some may believe that the pandemic and its impact are behind us, Gallup’s survey results say otherwise. The impact of Covid-19, and the way it changed the ways we work together may have dramatically influenced our workplace cultures for the foreseeable future.
Because our work focuses on building cultures of inclusion where all employees can fully engage, addressing the challenges of the post-Covid workplace is a critical part of the equation. Looking at the factors that contribute to engagement (or lack thereof) will help us to understand.
Employees’ sense of “role clarity” has been declining since 2020. Gallup reports that only 41-47% of employees surveyed responded positively to the question, “I know what is expected of me at work.” We might think it’s “remote” workers who led this dip, but, interestingly, it was hybrid workers who came in at the lowest percentage here.
Gaps in Communication
The largest factor contributing to the decline of role clarity lies in the lack of consistent feedback and meaningful communication. The extent to which employees have experienced meaningful feedback in the past week correlates with their engagement. According to Gallup, the most important thing a manager can do to keep their employees engaged is to have at least one meaningful conversation with them every week. This seems so simple, yet why do so many of us find it so difficult?
Time (not enough of it!) challenges our capacity, and managers are feeling the time crunch even more. Of all managers Gallup surveyed in 2023, 64% reported taking on significant additional responsibilities in the previous 12 months. Because managers are rarely asked to report on the amount of time they spend with their people, it’s not surprising that this activity can fall by the wayside as other responsibilities take priority. And spending time in what could be perceived as “chatting with my folks,” could even seem like a waste of time or much less important than other business priorities.
Beyond taking the time out, many managers don’t feel comfortable “chit chatting” with their direct reports. When I was trained as a manager in the 1980s, I was instructed to avoid personal conversations at work and to completely avoid topics related to race, gender, and other elements of individuality that are important to employees. Through Inclusity’s work, we’ve observed that most managers are uncomfortable discussing these subjects and so they avoid them altogether. And when they do this, they can come off as being distant, uncaring, unapproachable, and disengaged.
When employees aren’t even in the same building, the potential for conversation becomes more challenging. According to the Gallup report, 70% of all managers report never having had any training in how to lead a hybrid or remote team. We know that “management by walking around” is difficult enough; how do we as managers communicate that we care through a computer screen? Especially if we haven’t invested in building personal relationships in-person first.
How a Leader Can Connect
This may seem intimidating! But let me tell you that we have some tips for you, and, better yet, we know that they work!
- Make it meaningful. Gallup mentions that meaningful conversations “include recognition and discussion about collaboration, goals, and priorities, and the employee’s strengths.” I would also propose that meaningful conversations include topics that the employee cares about!
Every single employee is different, and they all value different things. One person wants to talk about ideas, another about movies they have seen, and yet another about their family. Some of my direct reports are not super talkative, but they always ask me how I am doing. They seem to enjoy when I share the trials and tribulations that result from being my klutzy, curious, and enthusiastic self! Others want to talk business and love to brainstorm and discuss the future.
- Use a framework. At Inclusity we have a process that we call a “Connection” – which can exist on its own or as part of a larger workshop. It’s a structured conversation between two people or a small team. We use a tool called the Elements of Individuality to open up a discussion about who we are and what’s important to us. We also talk about expectations, needs, and styles of working. Often Inclusity facilitates these conversations; however, they can also be led by managers who have experience with the process or are good listeners and comfortable being authentic and vulnerable.
I have learned so much about my employees by listening and asking questions. And by showing concern, admitting mistakes, and demonstrating that I am open to feedback and willing to change, my colleagues have learned that I care and are therefore more willing to share.
- Show you care. One of the principles that I try to manage by is “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care!” Anyone that has worked with me learns quickly that I commit to building relationships of trust and care. As a result, I don’t give constructive feedback until I am certain that the person to whom I’m giving feedback knows that I care. I first look for ways to provide feedback on what the individual does well. When I do need to give constructive feedback, the individual knows I value them and trying to help them grow and improve.
- Focus on the behavior. Even after creating a foundation of trust, many of us avoid giving constructive feedback at all costs. At Inclusity we know that if you focus on a behavior and its impact on you or the team, this enables the recipient to receive the feedback in a more balanced and less fear-bound way. Inclusity’s BIOS model, which stands for Behavior, Impact, Outcome, and Suggested Behavior, provides managers with a tool to plan out the feedback, rehearse it, and then share it in a neutral and empathetic way.
- Prioritize the time. The single most important thing you can do as a manager is to set aside 30-60 minutes each week to connect personally with each of your team members. It may feel awkward or even uncomfortable at first. Take a small step today by setting up time for each employee. Start with 15 minutes if you must and then move to 30. Ask them about what matters to them and share what matters to you. Just be your authentic, most curious, and caring self. I promise you that if you commit to doing it regularly, before you know it you will look forward to this time as much as your direct reports do.
Creating a culture of inclusion and engagement takes work. Making time for your people is a challenge and the best way to show your team that you are committed to creating an inclusive culture. And if you ever need help becoming a more inclusive leader, Inclusity is always here for you!
