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AI ON THE BRINK: HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO LOSING CONTROL?

2 mins ago • by Michael R. Wade in Artificial Intelligence

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION


FIVE EVERYDAY SCENARIOS THAT CALL FOR INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP – AND HOW TO GO ABOUT
IT

by Wei Zheng, Haoying Xu , Peter G. Dominick Published 24 October 2024 in
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • 7 min read


THE WORKPLACE IS CRYING OUT FOR MORE INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP. DISCOVER THE TOP FIVE
SITUATIONS WHERE IT’S NEEDED THE MOST AND THE EVERYDAY ACTIONS THAT CAN HELP YOU
ELEVATE YOUR LEADERSHIP FROM GOOD TO GREAT.

Making all employees feel heard, valued, and included has always been a hallmark
of effective leadership. In our post-pandemic world, the importance of doing so
is only increasing. Research has found consistently that inclusive leaders drive
up work engagement, creativity, and performance.

However, inclusive leadership is easier said than done. Oftentimes, leaders are
overburdened with avalanches of demands and rely on instincts and habitual
responses when it comes to managing people. But inclusion frequently defies
habits. To be inclusive, leaders need to be able to discern hidden barriers and
deliberately choose actions based on inclusive principles.

To find out when inclusive leadership behaviors are most needed, and what sets
apart insufficient, good, and great leadership for promoting inclusiveness, we
collected insights from 104 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) experts from
a wide variety of industries in the US. They are award-winning, peer-nominated,
or experienced inclusive leaders. These experts provided 147 scenarios where
inclusive leadership is particularly needed, along with 441 leader responses
that represent low, medium, and high levels of leader inclusiveness.

> “Good inclusive leadership is characterized by a desire to support
> individuals, listen for input in decisions, distribute information and
> resources equally, and help build team camaraderie.”


1. WHEN IS INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP MOST NEEDED?

Inclusive leadership is needed not only when biases or discriminatory behaviors
happen; they happen in the everyday operations of teams and organizations. Five
common themes emerged.

 * Lost perspectives: Decision-making for the team (35% of scenarios) 

These scenarios highlight leaders’ decision-making related to issues such as
hiring, dress code changes, and team members’ representation and participation
at meetings. Some scenarios in this theme also speak to developing
organization-wide strategic plans, creating work schedule changes, allocating
professional development resources, and reorganizations. It is easy to utilize
perspectives from those with whom a leader is familiar or close to, but it is a
challenge to ensure all perspectives are heard and utilized in decisions that
affect all members.

 * Transgressions: Microaggressions, discriminations, and exclusion (17% of
   scenarios) 

These scenarios involve situations where discriminatory comments, biases, and
unfair treatment of employees from underrepresented backgrounds occur. Examples
involve sexist comments toward women, dismissal of people with disabilities,
exclusion of junior-level staff and religious minority employees, and societal
or community events involving bias and discrimination.

 * Left behind: Uneven participation of diverse team members (14% of scenarios) 

These scenarios involve the potential disconnect or reduced participation of
historically underrepresented group members (e.g., racial minority employees,
junior-level members, women in male-dominated teams, and members in teams
operating in remote environments). The scenarios can occur in everyday team
interactions, including regular meetings, social events, task assignments, or
the formation of a new team or task force.

 * Sticking out: Clash of member needs and mainstream practices (13% of
   scenarios) 

These scenarios capture situations wherein members from historically
underrepresented groups have non-mainstream needs and face challenges from
mainstream practices. Examples include gender-non-conforming students lacking
inclusive bathrooms, those with child or elder caregiving responsibilities
challenged with fixed work schedules, LGBTQ+ and women employees not feeling
comfortable with social event options determined by majority group members,
employees celebrating holidays not in the dominant culture or context, members
with multiple work shifts not having accessible professional development
opportunities, and members with disabilities with unhelpful standard office
equipment.

 * Tangled up: DE&I initiatives (11% of scenarios) 

Scenarios that fall under this theme involve launching new DE&I initiatives
whose positive intentions may be derailed by unclear processes and unintended
consequences. Questions abound such as who should be involved in developing DE&I
action plans, what DE&I strategies should be developed, how to address a wide
variety of needs and goals from diverse stakeholders, how to encourage
participation in DE&I initiatives from all employees, and how to facilitate
conversations around issues such as pay equity.


2. WHAT SETS APART INSUFFICIENT, GOOD, AND GREAT INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP?

Based on the results of our survey of exemplary inclusive leaders, we identified
and categorized them according to their inclusive behaviors:

 * Insufficient inclusive leadership: Autocratic efficiency driver

Insufficient inclusive leadership is marked by a priority on efficiency,
control, and task completion over individual and relationship concerns.
Insufficient inclusive leaders do not recognize or affirm the diverse needs and
challenges faced by individual members. They apply unilateral decision-making,
give minimal attention to equity considerations, overlook the invisible
challenges of non-mainstream individuals, and avoid getting involved in
relationship building as they view it as a non-critical aspect of task
completion. Such behaviors may help meet shorter-term business goals but may
also lead to longer-term problems, such as an increased turnover risk for
individuals out of the mainstream due to inadequate support, lower decision
quality because not all perspectives are considered, and the shortage of
camaraderie that is necessary to build trust and bind group members together
through challenging situations.

 * Good inclusive leadership: Ad hoc compassionate

Good inclusive leadership is characterized by a desire to support individuals,
listen for input in decisions, distribute information and resources equally, and
help build team camaraderie. However, these actions are carried out on a
case-by-case basis within entrenched practices. For example, they tolerate the
needs of non-mainstream individuals and provide help when called upon. They rely
on general approaches (e.g., mass distribution of email messages) to gather
decision input from the majority without considering the actual participation of
different individuals. They are committed to addressing equity concerns by
evoking general policies or tackling bias incidents on an individual basis.

 * Great inclusive leadership: Systematic barrier-breaker

Great inclusive leadership follows four behavioral principles: (1) affirming
differences – assuming differences among individuals and affirming their unique
value, (2) striving for full participation – enabling actual participation of
all members not just majority members, (3) adopting systematic approaches –
using structured processes and group level interventions to normalize inclusive
practices, and (4) maximizing flexibility – leveraging a variety of approaches,
formal and informal, to solicit perspectives and build relationships.


TWO EXAMPLES

Scenario 1: Lisa, a dedicated team member on Jose’s team, approached Jose with a
request to adjust her work hours to accommodate her new childcare
responsibilities. This request is not common in the organization as most
employees follow a strict 9-to-5 schedule.

Insufficient inclusive leadership: Jose expresses skepticism about Lisa’s
request given that all others follow the 9-to-5 schedule. He conveys concerns
about how it might disrupt the team’s workflow and create inconsistencies. This
leaves Lisa feeling unsupported and anxious about her ability to balance her
responsibilities.

Good inclusive leadership: Jose considers Lisa’s request and, after discussing
the details and potential impacts on work tasks, he approves it, with no
additional follow-up actions. While Lisa appreciates the flexibility, she feels
that she is left to manage the changes on her own.

Great inclusive leadership: Jose not only affirms that Lisa’s need is reasonable
but also expresses his commitment to supporting Lisa’s well-being and work
performance. After engaging Lisa about her specific needs and challenges, he
approves the request and offers additional resources, such as remote work
options. Lisa feels supported and confident that her transition will set her up
for success.

Scenario 2: Aisha notices that some members of her team are not actively
participating in meetings when the group is making important decisions.

Insufficient inclusive leadership: Aisha chooses not to intervene. She proceeds
to make decisions based on the input of those who speak up. This approach leaves
the quiet members feeling disengaged and uninvolved.

Good inclusive leadership: Aisha intentionally calls on the quiet members to
share their thoughts and opinions when they do not speak up in meetings. While
this approach encourages participation from quieter team members, it puts them
on the spot and makes them feel singled out or pressured.

Great inclusive leadership: Aisha adopts structured meeting processes, such as a
round-robin format, pro-con discussions, or using anonymous polls to gather
input from each member during meetings. Additionally, she seeks input from
quieter members outside of meetings, including one-on-one discussions or email
exchanges.


SUMMARY

Differing from existing thinking highlighting inclusive leaders’ functions when
biases happen, our findings suggest that inclusive leadership behaviors are
needed more in normal operations than in exceptional situations. And distinct
from common conceptions of inclusive leaders as being nice to others, great
inclusive leadership is deliberate, principled, and systematic. It involves
assuming and affirming differences, ensuring full participation, leveraging
formal and informal channels, and innovating out of entrenched practices. It is
a superpower leaders can acquire to elevate the well-being and performance of
their people, teams, and organizations.

AUTHORS


WEI ZHENG

Wei Zheng is the Richard R. Roscitt Endowed Chair Professor in Leadership at
Stevens Institute of Technology. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on
leadership and diversity, exploring topics such as how leaders develop, how
women leaders thrive in organizations, and what inclusive leaders do. Her work
on thought leadership was recognized as a finalist for the 2021 Thinkers50
Distinguished Achievement Award for Leadership.


HAOYING XU

Haoying (Howie) Xu, Assistant Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology,
researches leadership, workplace relationships, and emotions. His work is
featured in Harvard Business Review and Fortune. He holds a PhD from the
University of Illinois, Chicago.


PETER G. DOMINICK

Peter G. Dominick is a Teaching Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology,
specializing in leadership development. He coordinates MBA programs and consults
for organizations like ExxonMobil and NASA. Peter holds a PhD in Applied
Psychology and has received multiple awards for teaching excellence.


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