Inclusive leadership and organizational culture development

1 Inclusive Leadership and Organizational Culture Inclusive leadership is a leadership style that focuses on including the input of all stakeholders when decisions are being made. Inclusive leadership recognizes, for example, that all workers have an interest in the company or organization for which they work. Their opinions, ideas, experience, and perspectives are welcome and can contribute to and facilitate the planning of policies, processes and practices at various levels throughout the firm. As National Urban Fellows (2017) states, “inclusion means being at the table at all levels of the organization, being a valued contributor and being fully responsible for your contribution to the ultimate result.” In terms of contributing to the organizational culture, inclusive leadership helps to establish an environment where all stakeholders are appreciated and where all of them benefit. This outcome is generated through the assumed responsibility of stakeholders as they contribute, hold themselves accountable for their contributions, and commit to assessment and the development of the organizational culture so that all workers may be on the same page working towards the same organizational goal. The traits of inclusive leadership include: 1) the self-monitoring of individual behavior, 2) cultural intelligence, and 3) social intelligence (Ayman & Korabik, 2010). Inclusive leadership qualities essentially help to foster an environment in which individual workers have the self-confidence to bring their voices forward and to take ownership of their perspectives and their input. Inclusive leaders encourage and promote this practice by implementing their cultural and social intelligence, especially in a diverse workplace, where individual workers come from various backgrounds. Communication skills help to facilitate the implementation of cultural and social intelligence, as the leader is expected to identify cues that will allow him or her to express the precise words and demonstrate the precise actions needed to inspire the required outcome in the worker and in the workplace environment. Knowing the different cultures of the workers and their expectations in the workplace and from leaders is critical to implementing a successful inclusive leadership practice (Maier-Lorentz & Leininger, 2008). The key leadership skills required to create an inclusive organizational culture thus include strong social and cultural intelligence skills: a leader must be able both to know the different cultures of the people in a diverse workplace and to know the social expectations that those cultures create. The leader must then have strong communication skills so as to be able to express the right words and demonstrate the right actions to reinforce feelings of support and ideas of loyalty and good will. The leader must also be able to inspire the workers to want to contribute and be part of the organizational brain, so to speak. For this reason, the inclusive leader must also be transparent, trustworthy and honest and skilled in sharing in open and meaningful communications. By promoting a vision of inclusivity, the leader can foster a rich and inclusive organizational culture in which different people of different backgrounds are respected and appreciated. Giving the example of that respect and appreciation is something the inclusive leader must be able to do on a routine basis. The characteristics that will be most influential in creating the organizational culture of this group will be the leader’s ability to listen, to learn, and to communicate respect. A leader who cannot listen is one who will fail to hear what is important to the various workers. A leader who cannot learn the meanings and beliefs that are particular to each culture of the various workers is one who will be unable to relate to them or to identify their own particular needs and expectations. A leader who cannot communicate respect is one who will fail to implement an organizational culture where inclusiveness and appreciation for diversity is welcomed. Inclusive leadership can be applied in order to meet the challenges and opportunities inherent in a global environment by recognizing that in spite of the impact of globalization, regions, nations and locales still originate their own unique cultures and people from different parts of the world will bring their own unique approaches to the business. It is important to better understand everyone’s point of view so that the organization is not lacking in perspective. The more that an organization’s stakeholders understand the world, the more likely they are to make a positive impact both internally in the organization and externally in the community. Inclusive leadership can thus be applied to help workers of diverse backgrounds to come together, unite, support one another, and share ideas about issues that are important to the company. Inclusive leadership can present new opportunities for growth and development by fostering a spirit of camaraderie based on unity and respect, while simultaneously celebrating and encouraging the diversity of the workplace to be assertive and appreciative of differences. In conclusion, inclusive leadership is important and vital in the 21st century globalized world, as many workplaces consist of diverse workplace environments where people from all over the world come together to work. If there is no appreciation respect among the workers, they will be unable to get along, collaborate, or achieve the goals of the organization. This is why inclusive leadership is helpful: it allows the leader to understand the diverse workers and set the tone for the organizational culture by demonstrating appreciation, respect, and understanding of the cultures that are represented in the workplace.