Searching For Success At The Intersection Of Leadership And DEI

Take a moment to think about successful leaders you know and the traits you associate with them.

Likely, what comes to mind are such distinguishing qualities as vision, strength, insight, and strong decision-making capacities.

Certainly, those are all excellent traits for a leader to have, but I would add one more.

Inclusion.

Being inclusion-minded should not only be encouraged in a leader, it should be expected because it’s a key ingredient of sustainable leadership. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, when you think about a leader, among the thoughts that come to mind are: “They always make sure everyone is included. They ensure that all voices are heard. They understand that people come to the table with different experiences and those experiences bring value to the team.”

Yet, too often DEI is treated as the sole responsibility of the diversity officer; something that’s outside the realm of leadership, or at least is a leadership duty that lies somewhere off to the side – until events force it to get attention.

This is always concerning, but particularly now as people worry about a recession and businesses ponder whether they need to make cuts. Anytime budget cuts enter the conversation, you can be sure DEI is one of the things destined for a place in line on the chopping block, and that’s especially true if DEI is a leadership afterthought.

But recession or not, good times or bad, DEI has a role to play in the organization. Companies that grasp the importance of this will make sure DEI is part of the leadership learning experience, not just as a one-and-done piece of instruction, but as an ongoing effort that seeks to deepen leadership’s knowledge and understanding. This could help lessen the likelihood that during tough times DEI efforts are viewed as an expendable luxury instead of a significant component for helping to overcome those hard times.

And when it comes to leadership and DEI, here’s something else that can’t be emphasized enough. A leader doesn’t have to be the person with the corner office, the manager overseeing a sales team, or the director of human resources. The work of DEI belongs to everyone, and you can be a leader and have an influence no matter where you fall within the organization’s hierarchy.

If your reaction to that is, “Me, an influencer? No chance,” then think again. You may already have more influence in your part of the world than you realize. All of us influence others in so many ways in life, both inside and outside our work. We have influence in our families. We have influence with our friends. We have influence in the clubs we belong to and in our churches.

And interestingly, we even influence people we have never met and made no special effort to influence. This surprising fact actually has been studied and is referred to as the “three degrees of influence.” What researchers found is that if you influence a friend in some way, your influence doesn’t necessarily stop there because that friend influences someone else who influences someone else who influences someone else.

If you can have an impact on someone you never met and may never meet, certainly you can have an impact on those who are directly within your sphere in the workplace.

So if you realize that there is room for improvement with DEI in your organization, don’t wait for someone in an official leadership capacity to make the first move – because that move may never happen.

If you see something that needs to be addressed, say something.

After all, someone needs to take the lead.