How to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive

As a team leader and manager, what you do and say impacts the tone and culture of your team. In their book Neuroinclusion: A Guide for Managers and Leaders, the authors cover a wide range of subjects that managers and leaders can reflect on in order to create a culture for every mind to thrive. In this extract they explore one such model. So, let’s look at how you can create the best possible culture in your team – one that is truly inclusive of all individuals.

To start, ask yourself these questions:

• How would you define your current team culture?
• What words describe your team’s culture right now? For example, is the team ‘lively’, ‘fun’, ‘siloed’, ‘hard-working’, ‘goal-oriented’ or ‘ethical’?
• How have your language, behaviours and actions as a leader and manager contributed to the team’s current culture?

Perhaps reflecting on the above helped you appreciate that your behaviours, language and actions play a part in setting the culture and tone for your team. So, if you are to create a culture that welcomes and includes difference, what behaviours do you need to exhibit?

Deloitte has addressed this question through its ‘6 Cs of Inclusive Leadership’ model:*

1. Commitment

Inclusive leaders demonstrate they are committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion. They believe that the value created through inclusion is worth it, and inclusion is one of their personal values. By demonstrating this commitment to themselves and others, they can inspire others’ inclusive behaviours. These behaviours include:

• Understanding and communicating each team member’s uniqueness. This encourages neurodivergent team members to feel valued.
• Making inclusion a business priority.
• Treating all team members with fairness and respect.
• Adjusting your leadership style and behaviours to reflect your team members’ requirements – e.g. your communication style, working approach, etc.

2. Cultural intelligence

Having cultural intelligence means being able to identify your own cultural background and that of others and seeking to understand how cultural stereotypes can influence your own and others’ expectations of others. This is strongly linked to curiosity: the more culturally intelligent you are, the more curious you are about other people’s perspectives or frames of reference. Behaviours that demonstrate and develop cultural intelligence include:

• Being curious about other cultures and perspectives.
• Looking for opportunities to spend time in culturally different environments.
• Being considerate of the communication differences between cultures – e.g. differences in personal space, pace, volume and style of communication.

3. Courage

Inclusive leaders are not afraid to challenge the way that things are done, thereby addressing such issues as groupthink, unhelpful beliefs or unconstructive behaviours. They are willing to have uncomfortable or difficult conversations. Behaviours that demonstrate courage include:

• Seeking the help of others if you are not able to complete a task on your own.
• Openly admitting when you have made a mistake.
• Challenging organisational behaviours that are non-inclusive.