Some notes on inclusive leadership

06 January 2021 / Leadership

I recently went on an inclusive leadership course at work. It was very interesting. There were four particular lists that I wanted to make a note of to refer back to:

Do these

• Be bold about getting names right
• Start conversations about culture
• Explore how your culture affects others
• Learn to tell people of different ethnic groups apart
• Get a cultural calendar
• Be transparent about cultural norms and expectations
• Do unconscious bias training to find out about your implicit associations
• Get your staff trained to find their voice

Don’t do these

• Don’t ignore cultural difference
• Don’t place an emphasis on “fitting in”
• Don’t tolerate cultural norms that are at odds with values
• Don’t try to bleach manifestations of faith from the workplace
• Don’t prevent staff from attending affinity groups in work time
• Don’t try to stop minority groups using their community languages at work
• Don’t invest resources in leaders at the expense of minoritised groups
• Don’t forget to acknowledge “the other job” some people do

What makes us more likely to act on our unconcious bias?

This was really interesting, very closely linked to the two systems concept in Thinking, Fast and Slow and also the idea of “taking deliberate action” as a mechanism for preventing mistakes, in Turn the Ship Around!.

Here are some of the things that make us more likely to be biased in our actions:

• Conflicting priorities
• Deadlines
• Need for closure/quick decisions
• Being challenged
• Anxiety
• Low blood sugar
• Cold

It’s always worth taking a bit more time over decisions, taking a break, a walk round the block, or having a cup of tea and a biscuit!

Some examples of ‘manners’ leading to bias

She gave us some really good examples of how something that in one culture we might perceive as “good manners” are non-existent, or pereceived as bad manners in other cultures; something to be aware of when you are making snap judgments about people.

For example:

• eye contact means honesty
• it’s not polite to talk about money
• it’s rude to get too physically close
• please form a queue
• boasting is unseemly
• one should always say please

Reading this list, I can really feel how acting differently to some of those would provoke a reaction in me that is actually completely unjustifed as people have very different cultural norms.

A course like this is worth doing

These are the lists I wanted to make a note of for my own future reference, though they represent only a small fraction of what was covered in the three hour workshop. I don’t plan to write the rest of the course up. It’s definitely worth seeking out such a course yourself if you can.