A leadership cadre that embraces diversity can create cascading positive changes throughout an organization
Words by Nivedita Sarbadhikari
Who better to understand the ripple effect than Landor, the world’s largest brand and design agency. Our brand identity is inspired by water, which symbolizes the transformative power of water and pays homage to the company’s origins which was founded by Walter Landor on a ferry boat in San Francisco harbour.
Inclusive Leadership has a similar transformative power where everyday actions and behaviours create a psychologically safe space where everyone is treated fairly, respectfully and valued thus creating a sense of belonging for all. Inclusive leaders transform their teams by embracing authenticity and diversity. They champion inclusive recruitment practices, improve team dynamics and encourage open and transparent communication. Like beacons, they proudly demonstrate allyship to underrepresented groups, promote mentorship and sponsorship opportunities and walk the talk to inspire innovation, creativity, productivity, client satisfaction and a positive shift in workplace behaviour that drives their employer brand promise.
Factors such as rapid globalization, shifts in consumer demographics, multigenerational taskforces, cultural diversity and nuances and the constant rise of employee and consumer activism make Inclusive Leadership in today’s day and age even more crucial. It has moved from simply being a desirable ‘good to have’ trait to an absolute business necessity and moral obligation that leaders must embrace in order to drive inclusivity.
There is enough and more evidence through recent reports from Forbes, Deloitte and BCG to prove the ripple effects of Inclusive Leadership. A recent article in Forbes compared Inclusive leadership to compound interest stating that when leaders create inclusive environments, the returns are significantly greater. According to Deloitte, a single inclusive leader can drive up to a 70 percentage points difference in employee belongingness and psychological safety. This translates directly to bottom-line results, with their teams showing 17% higher performance, 20% better decision-making, and 29% stronger collaboration.
Let’s look at managing performance as an example. Many companies feel the best approach is to have leaders set organizational goals at the top and then cascade them to everyone. However, this framework, supported with a bottom-up approach where everyone have a voice and say in the process, can harness the full potential of teams and help achieve long lasting success. This leads to familiarity of expectations, clear communication, effective problem solving, better morale, greater clarity, simplicity and focus, more accountability and enhanced creativity.
Inclusive leadership is a journey, not a destination. The impact of inclusive leadership goes beyond policies and programs – it fundamentally reshapes how organizations operate and thrive. By creating environments where every individual feels valued and empowered to share their unique perspectives, inclusive leaders transform the core culture of their organizations. This shift builds resilient, innovative, and sustainable organizations that are better prepared to succeed in today’s complex and diverse global marketplace.
Inclusive leaders set the tone and in order to get everyone to drive this commitment, they must:
- Have a compelling vision – show people common ‘passions’ fuelling the company’s core.
- Become more self-aware – change if needed and use your privilege for good.
- Commit to the cause themselves to inspire others to drive it – lead by example.
- Be seen as a trusted advisor who can mentor, coach and guide – be a knowledge lighthouse.
- Establish open and transparent communication – listen actively to feedback and tailor offerings.
- Create a sense of belonging – trust your people and empower them in decision making.
Inclusive leaders feel responsible and empowered to deploy their power, privilege, vulnerability, empathy, curiosity and courage to make progress in the face of bias – that’s the magic to create a win-win situation for all!
Nivedita Sarbadhikari is Landor’s Global People Lead, DEI & People Director, India & Singapore.
