Introduction

“If you are a leader and no one is following you, you’re just taking a walk.”

This is one of my favorite quotes to live by and one that I coach leaders all over the world. The reality is, at the core of effective leadership is the expectation that you meet the needs of a new generation of talent that brings different ways of working, thinking, believing, and behaving; that you demonstrate the kind of skills and competencies that engender followers; that you grow others into effective leaders; and cultivate the kind of work environment that brings out the best in others and drives high performance. Today, effective leadership begins and ends with inclusive leadership. And successful organizations recognize that in order to attract and retain top talent, enhance the employee experience, drive innovation and creativity, and meet the changing needs of their customers, they must have inclusive leaders who are knowledgeable and skilled at working across differences.

I have been preparing to write this book all of my personal and professional life because of the experiences I’ve had, the challenges I’ve overcome, and the expertise and knowledge that I have acquired. Writing this book is a labor of love because it is my life’s work of more than three decades as a corporate executive, certified HR and leadership consultant, a global workforce expert, a Toastmasters International Golden Gavel recipient, and an inductee into the Inclusion Hall of Fame. And on a personal note, I am a woman of color, a single mom, a person of faith (licensed and ordained minister), a big sister to three brothers, a daddy’s girl, a movie buff, a dog mom, an HGTV junkie, and a world traveler. This intersectionality of my life has produced a myriad of life lessons that have shaped and formed me into the person I am today and how I see and experience the world. Although it wasn’t an easy road, it led me to my destiny of writing this book. I share my experiences throughout this book because, as I discover with live audiences around the world, it is still the experience of many others who may be members of the same communities that I am part of and who may share some of my same diverse characteristics and attributes. This is important because storytelling has become an important bedrock of inclusive leadership as a way to demonstrate greater trust, increase psychological safety, and build deeper and more meaningful relationships — all of which are lacking today.

About This Book

Inclusive Leadership For Dummies helps leaders successfully navigate the nuances and complexities of a changing, global, and more diverse workforce and create a culture where all talent can thrive. It provides you with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to ensure that all employees are treated fairly, and feel included, valued, safe, and can do their best work. It contains answers to the many questions that leaders ask and the plethora of concerns and misnomers that exist, and it demystifies inclusion to make it practical, understandable, and implementable. There is something here for all levels of leader. It speaks directly to people leaders, senior and executive leaders, and middle managers. It also speaks to emerging and aspiring leaders and to seasoned long-term leaders.

However, this book is not designed to be a blanket prescription for implementing strategies and tips. Every organization is at (and in) a different place, working at a different pace, and has varying degrees of resources, complexities, and levels of commitment. Therefore, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all reference guide. Use it to find information, ideas, and guidance for where you are and to help you get to where you want to go on your inclusion journey. Use it to evolve your own thinking and behaviors, and get comfortable with disruption, difference, and change, so toss out the one-size-fits-all leadership approaches, because the workforce is not a monolith — it’s a rich and beautiful tapestry made up of people from all backgrounds, cultures, skills, and experiences.

I cover topics relevant for CEOs, executives, board members, and general staff, such as the business case for inclusive leadership, assembling and leading diverse and hybrid teams, demonstrating empathy, authenticity, and transparency, dealing with conflict, communicating inclusively, and much more. To help you navigate the content, I’ve divided this book into five parts:

• Part 1: Getting Started with Inclusive Leadership. In this part I lay the groundwork with the basics of what effective and inclusive leadership looks like and why it is a relevant business need.
• Part 2: Developing the Skills to Lead Yourself. This part focuses on you, the leader within. It’s a jumping off place for how to be effective in leading others by first knowing how to lead yourself.
• Part 3: Leading Others. After doing the internal work in Part 2, this part helps you to hone the skills necessary to lead others effectively.
• Part 4: Cultivating a Culture of Inclusion and High Performance. This part brings in the accountability factor. It details ways to measure your progress and success in the area of inclusion and equity, and how to continue to influence positive change.
• Part 5: The Part of Tens. This part highlights additional lessons, strategies, and food for thought in your role as an inclusive leader.

Foolish Assumptions

You know what they say about making assumptions, but while it might be a common idiom, in this case allow me to make a few in an effort to best serve your needs. While writing this book I assumed the following:

• You chose this book because you recognize that today’s talent and the future generation expects to work for an inclusive leader.
• You may not have been through any significant training on this topic and are curious about what it means and how to be more inclusive.
• You are an emerging or aspiring leader, or have recently taken on a new role as a leader, or are a seasoned leader, and understand the importance of upskilling and reskilling so that you remain relevant, competitive, and effective.
• You have some reservations and maybe even a little resistance as to why this topic is so important, and you want clarity and some practical insights.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, icons in the margins highlight certain types of valuable information that call for your attention. Here are the icons you’ll encounter and a brief description of each:

This icon alerts you to helpful hints that may save you time, effort, stress, embarrassment, and money while implementing inclusion initiatives and developing into an inclusive leader.

This icon marks information that’s especially important to know. To siphon off the most important information from each chapter if you’re in a hurry, just read through these icons and skim the rest of the text for useful tidbits.

This icon marks information of a more technical or data-driven nature that is essential crunchy reading for those who like to dig a little deeper and discover the details behind the headlines. Other readers may simply prefer the headlines!

Watch out! This icon marks important information that may save you headaches, time, and money, and helps you hurdle those obstacles that appear where you least expect to find them.

Beyond the Book

In this book I provide a plethora of ideas on inclusion and leadership that gives you a solid foundation from which to lead. But there’s more. You can access additional resources and tools online at Dummies.com. Check out this book’s online Cheat Sheet. Just go to www.dummies.com and search for “Inclusive Leadership For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”

If you, your team, or other leaders in your organization need additional resources, education, training, or any consulting services on the topics discussed in this book, be sure to reach out to me at www.drshirleydavis.com. I also encourage you to get a copy of my book Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion For Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2022) so that you have a companion book with even more tips, tools, and strategies. Additionally, I’ve developed a LinkedIn learning course to complement this book: Inclusive Leadership. There you will see and hear me share more of my strategies and tips for being a more inclusive leader.

Where to Go from Here

If you are new to the topic of inclusion, I recommend that you start at Chapter 1 to understand the basic terms leaders need to know and Chapter 3 to help you understand the business case behind inclusive leadership. This book is not linear, so feel free to access it like a workbook or reference guide, perusing the Table of Contents for a list of all the great topics covered and selecting the ones that best meet your needs now.

The world continues to change and situations arise that require leaders to have the knowledge and insight to act appropriately and immediately — and this book provides both. You may need to know how to use inclusive language to avoid making others feel minimized, insulted, or disregarded. If so, jump to Chapter 13. If you a working on establishing a more psychologically safe work environment, go to Chapter...