Do you want to lead a team that brings their best effort and a wide range of skills and perspectives to their work? Then it\u2019s up to you to be an inclusive leader who makes sure everyone on your team feels valued and respected. These five beliefs can help you adopt an inclusive mindset that shapes how you hire people, connect with and develop them, help them advance, and work with them to build team culture.<\/p>\n
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Some managers may think certain direct reports aren\u2019t capable of growing\u2014or don\u2019t want to. One manager told us they\u2019d basically written off trying to develop one member of their team because the person was \u201cjust here for a paycheck.\u201d But assuming someone doesn\u2019t have it in them to grow is probably the best way to assure that they won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The truth is nearly everyone wants to learn and grow. And when people are held back, our research shows that they often feel it\u2019s not due to their lack of interest or ability but because they\u2019re not one of their manager\u2019s \u201cfavorites.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consider this: Would you want your boss to believe that you\u2019ve already fulfilled all of your potential\u2014or that your best is yet to come?<\/p>\n
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It can be tempting to assume that your team members want the same kind of support that you wanted when you were in their position. But support is not one size fits all.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve not had to adjust your schedule to take care of a family member, you might not realize the value of a flexible schedule to a direct report. Or maybe when you were starting out, you appreciated the boss who gave you the autonomy to figure things out on your own\u2014so that\u2019s the kind of boss you try to be. But your direct report might learn more effectively with more coaching or by teaming with a senior colleague. There are many ways to support your team, and each team member has different needs.<\/p>\n
Your team has a culture. It shows up in how you interact with each other, what you expect of each other, how you make decisions\u2014and in many other ways. If you haven\u2019t made a conscious effort to create a culture where everyone feels valued, your culture is likely not as inclusive as it could be.<\/p>\n
As a leader, you have an important role to play, but your team\u2019s behavior largely defines your culture, so include them in shaping it. In our research, 50 percent of direct reports told us that they\u2019ve tried but they couldn\u2019t influence their team\u2019s culture. By definition, they are on non-inclusive teams.<\/p>\n
Seventy-six percent of managers we surveyed told us that as soon as they got approval to make a hire, they had the \u201cright\u201d person in mind. And 53 percent said they can tell if someone has the potential to be promoted the moment they\u2019re hired\u2014before they\u2019ve done any work. When you become convinced that only one type of person can succeed in a role, you narrow your view and let talented, qualified candidates pass you by. But when you cast a wide net for your pool of candidates\u2014both in your initial search and in your evaluation process\u2014you have a better chance of building a more complete, versatile team with diverse skills and perspectives.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tempting to give a job or a promotion to the candidate who presents their case most compellingly. But doing so could place more value on self-presentation than on the skills required for the job. For a position where someone will be analyzing data and solving complex problems all day, how much does it matter if they get nervous and fumble their words during an interview? Having standards to meet for a role\u2019s core competencies can keep you focused on the most relevant skills when hiring and promoting.<\/p>\n
By adopting these beliefs, you can build a stronger team and bring an inclusive mindset to everything you do as a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n