Beth Ridley argues that inclusive leadership starts with self-awareness, not encyclopedic knowledge of every culture. Two steps: understand how your own identity shapes your perspective, then recognize your blind spots and biases. Most leaders assume everyone sees the world like they do.
I want to introduce the first inclusive behavior by debunking a common misconception that being an inclusive leader means you're knowledgeable about every culture, gender, religion and so on. Alright, now that would be impossible. With so many dimensions of diversity and the intersectionalities of different diversities. That's just not feasible. Instead, being an effective inclusive leader starts with being an expert in yourself and first and foremost by being self aware. Understanding how your own identities, backgrounds and life experiences shape who you are is crucial to appreciating how the identities, backgrounds and life experiences of others influence who they are. That's the first step of being self aware. The second step of being self aware is to acknowledge the limitations of our identities, backgrounds and life experiences. In other words, being humble enough to realize that our our way of seeing the world is just that, our way. Everyone around us sees things differently based on their own identities, backgrounds and experiences. Now this might sound obvious, but in the hustle of our daily lives, our default is to operate as if everyone sees things the way that we do. So we get caught up in our own perspectives and make decisions only from our own perspectives and forget to consider others. Being self aware also means knowing we all have blind spots and hidden biases. Because our experiences are limited, we simply cannot fully understand every dimension of diversity or fully understand everything about everyone. Because of this, our brains sometimes fill in the gaps with shortcuts called stereotypes. These are fixed ideas or beliefs about identities or dimensions of diversity. These stereotypes can lead to hidden biases which are unfair judgments about others we don't even realize we're making. That's why making self awareness a regular practice is so important. It helps us recognize our blind spots, appreciate the diversity around us inherent in everyone, and understand that our perspective is not the only one. By reflecting on our own identities and how they shape us, we become more open to different viewpoints and ideas. So let's take the first steps towards becoming more self aware by reflecting on aspects of your identity, background and life experiences that are most significant to you and how they shape your values, thoughts and behaviors at work. For example, think about do you feel comfortable being your true self at work, or do you sometimes act differently to match the company culture? Or given your unique background, are there aspects of other experiences that you find challenging to relate to? Spending some time on questions like this to understand ourselves better paves the way for more meaningful connections with others, which helps us to appreciate their unique perspectives and experiences in the workplace. That is step one to moving from tolerance toward true inclusion and belonging.
