Are You Truly Leading Inclusively or Just Checking the Box?
- Brainz Magazine
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Written by Aang Lakey, Life Coach, Consultant & Speaker
Aang Lakey is the founder and CEO of Increasing Consciousness, a company dedicated to facilitating global equity through leadership coaching and education. Aang is well known for connecting key research areas in the self-development, human intelligence, DEI, and violence prevention realms to empower leaders to facilitate systemic change.
Inclusion is more than a buzzword; it’s a leadership practice that demands more than good intentions and surface-level initiatives. Too many leaders believe they’re fostering inclusive environments when, in reality, they’re merely checking boxes and reinforcing systemic blind spots. This article challenges you to dig deeper, embrace intersectionality, and develop the self-awareness and skills required to lead authentically and inclusively.
The illusion of inclusion
I see it over and over again with every team I work with. Leaders know that they’re supposed to be inclusive and create a safe space for their teams to thrive, so they say all the right things. They claim to value equity and inclusion and continuously share publicly how they want to do everything they can to support everyone on their teams while privately overlooking marginalized employees with performative leadership practices and empty words. Sometimes, they implement different initiatives and offer or attend training sessions, but usually, they don’t even scratch the surface on creating a true sense of belonging. They often fail to create environments where people feel truly valued and empowered, and they don’t understand how to leverage their teams in the way they desire.
That’s because being inclusive is more than a checklist that touts the leader’s concerns or statements about a desired cultural end state. It is a continuous, conscious practice that requires deep self-awareness, reflexivity, and intentionality around the intersectionality of each person on their team. It is a deeply personal and empathetic practice that recognizes systemic barriers and champions transformative change.
Inclusive leadership is more than a buzzword
Inclusive leadership is not about optics or how you are perceived by your team. It is about fostering a culture where every team member can show up authentically, contribute meaningfully, and thrive without fear of exclusion or retaliation. True inclusion requires leaders to embrace discomfort, challenge their biases, and actively cultivate equity in decision-making processes.
Research from Harvard Business Review highlights six core traits of inclusive leaders, each of which must be embedded into the leader’s daily leadership practices and not just referenced in mission statements:
Cultural intelligence: Understanding how culture shapes experiences and interactions.
Humility: Acknowledging mistakes and fostering a growth mindset.
Awareness of bias: Recognizing unconscious bias and actively mitigating it.
Curiosity about others: Seeking out and valuing diverse perspectives.
Effective collaboration: Creating a team-oriented culture of belonging.
Visible commitment: Demonstrating DEIB values through intentional actions.
The difference between a leader who "checks the box" and one who leads inclusively lies in their ability to integrate these principles into every interaction and decision. Inclusive leadership is simply a leadership style that actively integrates diverse perspectives, equitable practices, and psychological safety into team dynamics.
True inclusivity goes beyond one-dimensional representation. It requires conscious leadership and an understanding of intersectionality. Organizations that embrace and capitalize on all aspects of their team members’ experiences achieve higher innovation, stronger team cohesion, and improved decision-making.
What’s intersectionality, and how does it relate to leadership?
We can’t talk about inclusive leadership without acknowledging the role that intersectionality plays. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw and is often overlooked in leadership conversations. Simply put, it is an understanding that each person on our team has many unique identities that overlap and contribute to who they are and how they act in various contexts. As leaders, this is where we make our money.
While some leaders may recognize diversity in broad categories, many rarely account for how overlapping identities impact an individual’s experiences in the workplace. This would be like asking a subject matter expert to provide a recommendation but to do so only using a single part of their expertise. As an example, a Black woman’s experience is not just about race or gender but about the compounded effects of both. Just as a disabled LGBTQ+ employee may face challenges that differ significantly from those of their peers, a single dad also supporting aging parents differs from a single mother with a large community. Each person’s needs are shaped by their individual identities and the context in which they are in.
By applying intersectionality in the leadership context, leadership teams are able to:
Enhance psychological safety, allowing employees to bring their authentic selves to work and capitalize on unique perspectives.
Reduce bias and stereotyping, fostering a more inclusive and respectful environment.
Strengthen innovation and problem-solving by exploring and integrating diverse perspectives.
Improve employee engagement and retention, ensuring people feel valued and want to contribute to the team’s success.
Ignoring intersectionality often leads to one-size-fits-all strategies that fail to address systemic inequities and prevent your employees from really feeling understood. Truly inclusive leaders understand that equity cannot be achieved without acknowledging and addressing the unique barriers individuals face. They are able to understand the need to create policies and workplace cultures that foster belonging for all, not just those who fit neatly into predefined categories.
Beyond awareness: The practices that define inclusive leadership
Many leaders believe that awareness of bias is enough, but awareness without action changes nothing. Inclusive leadership demands a commitment to adjust behaviors and actions and to hold themselves and their teams accountable. Leaders who want to lead inclusively must actively disrupt exclusionary practices by embedding inclusive practices into hiring, promotions, team dynamics, and workplace culture.
Some key practices that leaders can integrate to help create psychological safety and promote belonging are:
Create a space where team members can openly share without criticism or backlash.
Practice authenticity and acknowledge the value of differing perspectives.
Educate and develop others through appropriate accountability.
Practice micro-affirmations and recognize team members’ unique contributions.
Name and actively seek to change policies and procedures that keep certain groups from thriving.
Solicit feedback from all team members and include it in decision-making processes.
A key area of concern is helping teams feel safe to share information. If team members do not feel safe expressing concerns, sharing ideas, or making mistakes without fear of punishment, then inclusion remains superficial. Leaders who create spaces where employees trust that their voices matter will be able to adapt and respond to most other areas of concern that will arise as they navigate challenges.
Another key area is adaptive decision-making. Inclusive leaders do not assume they have all the answers. They seek diverse perspectives, challenge their assumptions, and adjust their approaches based on the lived experiences of those they lead. This flexibility strengthens teams and drives innovation.
The cost of performative inclusion
When organizations treat inclusion as a compliance exercise rather than an actual leadership imperative, they create environments where employees feel tokenized rather than valued. This performative inclusion leads to high turnover, disengagement, and reputational damage. Most employees can easily recognize when efforts are performative, and without leaders taking meaningful action, all trust erodes.
True inclusion is measured not by policies or statements but by how people experience their daily work lives. Are underrepresented employees advancing in leadership roles? Are diverse voices influencing key decisions? Is there a culture of accountability where biases are addressed rather than ignored?
Becoming a truly inclusive leader
Like most leadership practices, inclusive leadership is an ongoing journey, not a destination. It requires self-examination, openness to feedback, and a willingness to challenge deeply ingrained beliefs. Leaders who can embrace this work are better able to create cultures where people feel seen, heard, and valued, not because it is expected but because it is essential to team dynamics and success.
If you are ready to move beyond checking the box and to truly lead with inclusion, it’s time to update your skills to fully transform the way you lead. Inclusive transformation starts with your basic skills. Key skillsets of Inclusive leaders are:
Emotional intelligence: Cultivating self-awareness, empathy, and reflexivity.
Intentionality: Bringing intention to your actions to embody congruence and build trust.
Active listening: Creating space for diverse voices and perspectives.
Accountability: Holding oneself and others responsible for fostering inclusion.
Adaptability: Being open to change and evolve leadership approaches as needed.
If you want to learn more about being a truly inclusive leader and how to integrate intersectionality into your leadership, check out my course created specifically for leaders to develop these skillsets. Through guided exercises, case studies, and real-world applications, you’ll learn how to lead inclusively, recognize biases, and build psychologically safe, high-performing teams.
Take action: Become a more inclusive leader today
If you're ready to develop the mindset and skills to lead inclusively, join my course, Inclusive Leadership and Intersectionality. In this course, you’ll gain practical strategies to integrate key principles into your leadership style and create a workplace where everyone thrives.
Throughout the course, I guide leaders through the principles, mindsets, and skills necessary to foster an environment where all individuals feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute their full potential. It moves beyond theory, offering practical strategies to foster inclusion, build psychological safety, and lead with consciousness.
Enroll now and take the first step toward conscious leadership!
Visit my website for more info!
Read more from Aang Lakey
Aang Lakey, Life Coach, Consultant & Speaker
Aang Lakey is a leader in ushering in a new wave of global consciousness. Their work facilitates global equity by educating and coaching leadership teams to integrate reflexivity, intentionality, and anti-oppressive practices into their daily lives and leadership styles. Through the principle of refraction, Aang encourages leaders to touch as many people as possible by living with integrity and emanating congruence in their leadership. Their approach is simple: elevate your own consciousness and watch the ripple effect that has on every aspect of your life and with every person you interact with.
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