Sixty one percent of employees ‘cover’ or downplay their identities, hiding aspects of themselves to fit in at work, based on a study by Deloitte in 2023. Worse, the numbers stayed the same from a decade ago.
When majority of our workforce cannot be themselves, it not only is a roadblock to individual growth and potential, but to teamwork, innovation, and the company growth as well.
Now imagine having leadership that truly sees people, role-models behaviours by embracing their identities, creating spaces for people to be who they are and encouraging uniqueness and differences. And that is the need of the hour, it always was, but is getting increasingly more critical in times of disruption and uncertainty. Leadership that is the glue, nurtures inclusion, and diversity of thought leading to innovation.
Unfortunately, inclusive leadership is still sometimes assumed to be just focused on gender-based hiring, but it is not. Nor is it an ‘in’ thing or a word to drop to sound cool . It’s a way of life, a state of being- be open, acknowledge, welcome, embrace, thrive in and celebrate differences in different shapes and forms- be it thought, ways of working,age, background, gender, race, language, religion, caste, sexual identity, anything under the sun. And in today’s global world, where we are interconnected, it becomes important for leaders to not use inclusion as a buzz word but to truly embody that behaviour and create spaces where everyone can be included, where they feel seen for who they are, they feel cared for and respected and that makes people feel valued.
This becomes relevant for Global Capability Centers (GCCs) which are cross functional and global hubs of talent and innovation. Its a group that collaborates with customers and colleagues of different cultures, countries, experiences, and backgrounds- all from one place. Often very dynamic and growing rapidly with accelerated changes in technology, practices, or processes, having inclusive leadership is necessary; if not one of the most crucial necessities for success.
Having inclusive leadership teams who live the inclusive culture are the keys to the Art of possible. Different thoughts, ideas and ways of working helps with creative problem solving, ownership, accountability, and innovation. There are research and studies to show that diverse teams have higher revenue, capture new markets and are more likely to be innovation leaders.
But more importantly- it is the right thing to do. We need our workplaces to reflect the society we are in- in every aspect. Only way is for leaders role model this day in and out. And I do not mean only the senior leadership. In most initiatives its usually a top down or bottoms up approach. Middle managers have often been undervalued – an opportunity missed considering they are responsible for team performance, budgets , close to customers, and have a huge impact on morale and retention. Engaging the middle managers early on is one of the key factors for success.
An often-misunderstood aspect is that when it comes to inclusion, people assume it is about hiring. I have always felt that hiring is the easiest step. And should be the last one. It will be a spectacular failure if we focus only on hiring, without focusing on an environment that is truly welcoming, nurturing and values differences. Unless people can be themselves, share what they think without fear of judgement or retaliated, there is no point of hiring people from diverse backgrounds.
Country Head
Cargill Business services
The transformational leaders of GCCs need to be role models who listen, empathise and risk takers who create safe environments to experiment, fail and own that, thus creating a failure forward and an entrepreneurship culture. Teams become accountable with leaders like that and begin to act like owners. Today’s teams need to partner with businesses, work in global diverse environments, be resilient to survive in VUCA environments and here having inclusive leaders with long-term commitment to innovation and inclusion and a growth mindset is the only way to unlock success.
Leadership in inclusion and innovation needs inclusion and innovation in leadership too! And that is hard to get to if all our leaders look and speak the same. Its time we took accountability for the leaders we are creating, promoting, or hiring. Whether it means taking tough decisions, investing in the right training and development programs, or addressing issues and concerns that arise quickly without delay.
Inclusive leadership is not just a good thing to have, its increasingly becoming one of a most important ingredients for organisational success. Its only through this companies can reach the true potential of individuals, full potential of their teams, drive experimentation and innovation, to achieve better decisions and results.
