Redefining leadership – From competence to inclusion

We have preconceived notions of what leaders should look like, and we are often surprised by the new demands placed on them. Binna Kandola, professor of psychology, explores the last article in her three-part series on how we define and view leadership. This can unwittingly lead to complacency, which is a threat to inclusion.

Organisations often invest a lot of time and energy into defining the qualities that make a leader. Frameworks for leadership competency are considered essential to ensure consistency, clarity, and fairness in recruitment and training.

These models often reinforce outdated, narrow ideals and don’t reflect today’s talent.

A team I was working with spent months defining their leadership framework. It consisted of five key qualities: Motivate, Decide, Deploy, Engage, and Execute. When asked my opinion, I responded, “You are essentially describing an army soldier, or, to put it in another way, you are looking for a guy.”

They did not take offense, which is to their credit. They argued strongly for the model they chose. I urged them to consider how even the most well-intentioned frameworks could subtly reinforce prejudice, especially when the traits chosen closely align with stereotypical male behaviour.

Different perceptions

The problem is not the traits. It’s how these traits are perceived, assessed, and judged that is the problem. These qualities are not exclusive to any one group. I know women and people of minority backgrounds who exhibit these traits as easily as men or those in majority groups.

It is difficult when the same behavior is interpreted differently based on the person who exhibits it. If a man, or someone in the majority, displays assertiveness it is likely to be interpreted as a sign that they have confidence or leadership ability.

When these traits are displayed by women, or people from backgrounds underrepresented in society, they can be perceived as aggressive or uncooperative.

Inconsistency can have real consequences. This inconsistency has real consequences. It determines who is considered ready for leadership, and who is not. Rarely is inclusive leadership – the ability to create an environment where everyone feels valued, respected and capable of contributing – given equal weight. It’s often treated as a “bonus” to more traditional leadership programmes. A single session is squeezed between the “serious”. This shows that inclusion is not a core part of leadership, but rather a discretionary decision.

The world of work is changing. The workforce of today is more diverse than ever before in terms of identity, expectations, and experience. Employees are looking for companies that share their values, invest in their well-being, and treat them fairly.

The shift began before 2020 but was accelerated by the pandemic. According to CIPD research 2023, inclusion, wellbeing and employee engagement have become HR’s top priorities. This places new demands on leaders.

Egocentric bias

Pearn Kandola has been working with leaders to develop inclusive behaviors for more than 20 years. We have a data set of more than 10,000 people, and our latest analysis revealed many strengths, especially in creating an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up.

We also identified areas of development that were consistent: recognising unconsciously biased, addressing dynamics within and outside groups, and taking deliberate action to ensure all voices heard.

The egocentric bias or the belief that you are better at something than other people is one of the biggest obstacles. In a programme I conducted for 200 leaders of a global banking institution, I asked them whether they thought they were above, below, or average at inclusive leadership.

Every single person selected “above average”. The results made them laugh, but they understood the message: progress is impossible without self-awareness.

It is for this reason that personalised feedback is important. Workshops can raise awareness but only when individuals are shown their strengths and areas for improvement will they change.

They begin to see the patterns of performance and inclusion when they have the tools to observe the team dynamics.

Reflective leadership

Leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers. Reflectiveness, responsiveness, and a willingness to grow are all important. Leaders who are willing to admit their mistakes and learn from them are the most effective. Authenticity is more important than polish.

We must therefore be careful about superficial actions. It may be that setting gender targets or instructing executive search firms on how to create more diverse shortlists will satisfy audit committees and send the right PR message.

These actions may even reassure those within an organisation that progress is being achieved. These actions are often aimed at a small group of people (usually gender and, increasingly, race), and can create the illusion of progress without changing the culture.

They can also breed complacency, leading people to believe that nothing else needs to be done because they are doing something.

For true diversity and inclusion to be achieved, deeper changes are needed. Not only is it important to hire the right people, but also to develop, support, and promote those who deserve it. Leadership behaviours must be fair, open and aware of hidden dynamics in each team.

This article is the final part of a series on talent management. In the first we examined the historical context and how modern organizations were built to exclude large segments of the populace from being considered “talent.”

In the Second we looked at how everyday, subtle experiences, which I called micro-incivilities, continue to undermine performance and prevent people with potential from being recognized. This final article has focused on leadership’s role in either maintaining or destroying these patterns.

While overt forms of discrimination have declined, subtler forms such as interruptions, dismissals, and underestimation persist. They are important. They affect how people perform, feel and are perceived.

We need to focus not only on policy and process but also culture if we are to create truly inclusive workplaces. Leadership is the first step. This starts by seeing inclusion as not just a side-project, but as an essential feature of great leadership today.

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