Why inclusive leadership starts with you

Truly inclusive leadership starts with you. Only then can you expect it to trickle down into your organisation in an authentic and sustainable way. But what does it actually mean, to be an inclusive leader? And if you feel like you could be doing more, what does that even look like? Here’s Stephanie Davies with her tips to help you.

My inclusion journey

School was no bed of roses for me. I was one of those children who just couldn’t engage. I wanted to learn, but the lessons didn’t interest me. I misbehaved and was often excluded from class and suspended.  

Years later I was diagnosed with dyslexia, and everything made sense. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to learn, I just needed to find a way that made sense to me, and inspired me. Being excluded from school didn’t help, it just made me miss even more education. It affected my wellbeing too, and I was extremely disruptive. 

Later in life, I was encouraged to try stand-up. It changed my world. Suddenly I was part of something unique. I had a talent others admired, and stand-up made me want to read and write more, as well as help others like me. 

I didn’t want anyone to feel like I had, excluded and made to feel like I was so different there was something wrong with me. There wasn’t, there was something wrong with the system and I’m super proud now to be different and realise it’s something to be celebrated.  

(You can hear more about this in my FREE Webinar – Dyslexia is my Superpower on 17th June – 12.30-1.15pm)  

Seeing the world differently adds so much to learning, innovation and business

My first introduction to training was in schools, where I used stand-up to help young people engage in learning. 

I enjoyed creating an environment where learning was fun and anyone could take part. I built a network, made contacts and had my first invite into the corporate world, helping leaders in a well-known bank hone their presentation skills. 

It was a world I’d never entered before and it was a shock to the system. It was the early noughties, pre-Crunch and the behaviours, language and attitudes I witnessed were worse than in the comedy clubs I was working in.  At least there you could heckle back. 

It was a world made up of impenetrable corporate mumbo-jumbo and learning workshops straight out of a 1980’s sitcom, delivered by men in brown suits to bored men in grey suits.  There was no diversity, everyone looked and sounded the same - and it was boring. 

I had a Eureka moment. Surely there was a different way to work? Training and L&D needed some colour too, and a reality check on everything from how to talk normally which would include others, as well as what actually motivated people. 

This is why and how dyslexia is my superpower. Without those years of struggle and seeing the world differently, I never would have embarked on this world and created Laughology. In fact, people with neurodiversity and differences can add so much to ways of working and thinking, that businesses and education need to do more to actively include a more diverse group of people making decisions. 

Rather than a top-down approach, creating a culture where voices from many different ways of thinking can be included is beneficial. Recent research from EY found that dyslexics have exactly the thinking skills the World Economic Forum say are needed for the future. And organisations like GCHQ are actively recruiting dyslexic and autistic-thinking minds because they think differently. 

There’s still a long way to go in schools and organisations for us to be proactively inclusive.  Things like lengthy entry forms for business interviews and colleges still baffle me. Why can’t these be presentation-led? If we get this right, we’ll also positively impact mental health.

How does mental health relate to inclusion?

People who are, or feel, excluded because they are different and don’t fit into a ‘social construct’ often suffer from poor mental health outcomes due to multiple factors including cultural stigma, discrimination, and overall lack of awareness about what it means to adapt services, workplaces and schools to be inclusive. 

Schools seem to lead the way slightly on this front - well done, teachers! And there are things we can all learn to do that will make a difference. 

It’s common to think that an inclusive model of behaviour has to do with others. It doesn’t. It’s important to start from ourselves and our own level of awareness, openness, and information on the subject. Leaders and managers have a huge role to play in role-modelling such behaviours and speaking out when they don’t see them.  

The more we work on ourselves, the easier it will be to be sensitive to others and the more natural operating in an inclusive way will be.

Here are three simple ways we can be more inclusive. 

1. Be mindful, listen more and communicate carefully  

Communication is the first aspect to work on. Often, if used inappropriately, our words can express wrong intentions or create misunderstandings.  Saying the wrong thing is something we’re all aware of these days. It’s okay to ask what the right way is, and to be open and honest. Try framing a sentence with, ‘If I make a mistake, please let me know.’ Or, ‘If I say the wrong thing, it’s because I don’t know, so please help me understand.’  

Listening is important too. Don’t interrupt. Don’t overtalk. Respect the time of the person in front of you. Be attentive and sensitive. Over-talking and over-explaining may be their way of comprehending information. Do not dismiss or disrespect other people’s contributions. 

Make sure to be welcoming and open to what they say too, regardless of whether or not you agree. By using “I see your point”, “It’s a new perspective to me”, “I understand what you mean, but…”, “I’ve never thought about it that way”, you’re opening up the conversation. A great book is Time to Think by Nancy Klein. 

2. Challenge stereotypes   

Unconscious biases, prejudices, lack of information, the influence of the media, and teachings that come from our cultural and social beliefs, may all impact the way we interact with others. 

We all have a part to play in challenging each other. If you see or hear something you don’t think is right, positively challenging it is good. This isn’t about shutting the conversations down, it’s about opening it up to help everyone understand. Don’t assert your opinion but ask why they might think that and offer another alternative viewpoint. 

3. Avoid assumptions, be open and curious instead 

Although assumptions are often developed unconsciously, it’s important to recognise the moment when we apply them. We’re viewing someone’s world from our position and belief and not theirs. 

Be more curious, don’t assume. Ask, and be open to hearing and listening. Becoming and remaining inclusive is a process, not an objective to be achieved. Remain open and curious, and continue looking for opportunities to learn about various topics. 

To remain open and curious means, above all, to attract people and situations that allow us to challenge (both in a positive and negative way) our beliefs, as well as our cultural and personal patterns.

You can read more about inclusion this in this post - How to support neurdivergent individual in your workplace. You can also get further support with inclusion in your organisation by emailing doug@laughology.co.uk - he’ll be able to share the ways we can help.