PART 3

TACKLING THE MEGA DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHALLENGES

Part 3 lays out the mega diversity and inclusion challenges that inclusive leaders are going to have to tackle—the intractables that have continued to elude solution and the emerging issues for which there are no established best practices.

We will explore these topics through the lenses of structural inclusion, identity inclusion, and sociopolitical inclusion.

Structural inclusion is about unearthing the biases that have been codified into the processes, structures, and policies that are used to manage talent. If structures are not made more inclusive, it won’t matter how much training or pay incentives leaders are given; addressing their behavior won’t be enough to bring about equity.

Identity inclusion is about how to be fully welcoming of the full range of human diversity. It requires inclusive leaders to understand how people manifest their identity in the workplace, and how this can affect their performance and engagement.

Sociopolitical inclusion is about helping organizations rise to the new challenges of these times, particularly the increased polarization between people on the basis of who they are and what they believe. Every day sociopolitical divisions on the outside walk inside. In addition, an ever-vigilant global audience is ready to hold companies to high standards of inclusion and diversity—through protests, boycotts, and shaming. Much as most organizations would like to stay out of the fray, they can’t if exclusion happens in their stores, their products, their ads, and their workforces.

Inclusive leaders must tackle these tough issues if they are to have credibility and impact. See this as a primer to get you ready.