In today’s world, one of the biggest difficulties for leaders is to foster an inclusive environment where everyone feels respected and is treated fairly. Leadership must begin with a grasp of the psychological underpinnings in order to create truly inclusive behaviors.
For an organization to succeed, innovate, and develop a feeling of community, cohesive teams are essential. But one of the most difficult tasks for leaders today is to foster an inclusive environment where everyone feels appreciated and is treated fairly. We’ve discovered that, even though most leaders think they’re acting inclusively, they frequently unintentionally do the reverse. This is based on our experience training hundreds of executives and students about leading diverse teams.
Take Dr. Vianney Tumwesige, the founding president of a rapidly expanding energy company. Vianney wanted to support people from underrepresented groups, but his actions had fallen short of his expectations. Men reported feeling more at home at work than their underrepresented peers, and they were promoted in his firm more quickly than women and people of color. He pondered how to close the gap between his goals and his performance.
Leaders must begin by comprehending the psychological reasons that are holding them back in order to create behaviors that are truly inclusive. They can then take action to make sure their behavior has the desired effect, including adopting the “mantra” strategy. A mantra is a word or phrase that is silently said before entering a difficult situation in order to focus the mind and body on a distinct, unmistakable aim.
