Chapter 9: Embracing Diversity

and Inclusion

[Northouse, Peter G.. Introduction to Leadership]

Introduction

 Leaders are required to understand diversity and inclusion, and the

essential role these play in organizational outcomes.
 Addressing diversity and inclusion is a multilayered process that
requires a wider range of leadership practices.
 Although the terms diversity and inclusion seem to represent
distinctly different concepts, they are actually interrelated
processes.
 You must be prepared to address diversity. How you approach
diversity and inclusion will have an impact on your success as a
leader.
Diversity Definition

 Diversity: is about variety or difference.

 Diversity: the amount of difference among members of a group or
an organization.
 The core dimensions of diversity include age, gender, race, mental
and physical abilities, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Diversity Definition

 The primary dimensions of diversity are more powerful and less changeable, while the
secondary dimensions can change, are less visible, and are less influential in how
they impact our lives.
Inclusion Definition
① Including diverse ppl to feel part of a whole
Not changing them to fit in but accepting them as they are
b
 Inclusion: is the process of-
incorporating differing individuals into a they become insiders

group or an organization.
 It is creating an environment where people who are different feel
they are part of the whole.
 For example, inclusion is about the majority incorporating the
opinions of the minority and giving voice to the people who are
seldom heard.
from diff background + allow them to participate
diverse company-hiring pol to company
activities

voices hard
②
are
minorities
Equity Definition

 Equity, recognizing the historic inequalities that have kept some

groups, particularly racial minorities, from having the same access to
programs, financial resources, and jobs as others have.
 Equity is not the same as equality, which aims to ensure that all
people receive equal resources.
 In short, diversity focuses on recognizing differences, inclusion is
concerned with embracing those differences, and equity aims to
provide equal access to resources for historically disadvantaged
people.
Inclusion Framework
 Individuals have two opposing needs in regard to being a part of a group. First, they have
a desire to assimilate and be included; second, they have a need to differentiate
themselves from the group.
Inclusion Framework

 The Exclusion quadrant (top left):

 It represents individuals in a group or an organization who feel left
out and excluded; they do not feel a part of things, and they do not
feel valued.
 Exclusion occurs when organizations fail to see and value the
unique qualities of diverse employees and fail to accept them as
organizational insiders.
 Exclusion represents a complete failure to deal with matters of
diversity.
Inclusion Framework
 The Differentiation quadrant (lower left):
 It describes individuals who feel unique and respected but who also
feel left out and not a part of the in-group.
 Differentiation occurs when organizations accept and value the
unique qualities of members who are different but then fail to let
these individuals become full members of the organization.
Inclusion Framework
 The Assimilation quadrant (top right):
 It represents people who feel they are insiders and in the
organizational in-group but whose unique characteristics are not
really valued by the organization.
Inclusion Framework

 The Inclusion quadrant (lower right):

 It describes individuals who feel they belong and are valued for their
unique beliefs, attitudes, values, and background.
 This quadrant represents the optimal way to address diversity.
 It means, in short, accepting others and at the same time valuing
them for who they are without requiring them to give up valued
identities or cultural features (Ferdman, 1992).
Leader Practices That Advance Diversity and
Inclusion
 A questionnaire to measure inclusion in work groups developed by Ferdman and his
colleagues identified six key components of the experience of inclusion.
1-Feeling Safe

 In situations where one person feels different from others, the leader
plays a fundamental role in letting that person know that he or she
will not be hurt physically or psychologically if his or her ideas differ
from others .
 Leaders need to communicate with each of their followers in such a
way that all of them feel they are a part of the whole.
 It is a safe feeling for individuals to know they will not be rejected by
the group for their uniqueness.
2-Feeling Involved and Engaged

 It is important for leaders to make their followers feel engaged and

involved because they will be more productive and satisfied.
 leaders should treat followers as if they are insiders, as people who
are important and deserve to know what is going on within the
organization.
 People feel involved and engaged when they know they are full-
fledged group members and that their participation matters.
3-Feeling Respected and Valued

 “Treat others as you would like to be treated”—is at the core of how

leaders can help followers feel respected and valued.
 None of us like to be judged, stereotyped, ridiculed, singled out,
disconfirmed, ignored, or belittled.
4-Feeling Influential

 When people express their ideas and are heard, they feel like they
exist and that they are meaningful.
 Effective leaders help followers feel influential when they recognize
that followers want to be heard and have an impact.
 Letting followers participate in important organizational discussions
and acknowledging their comments and suggestions as substantive
and valuable makes those followers feel influential.
 Allowing followers to feel influential is by including them in the
decision making of a group.
5-Feeling Authentic and Whole

 The tension between wanting to be yourself and wanting to be a

part of the group can be counterproductive to feeling authentic
and whole.
 Leaders can address this tension for followers by creating an
atmosphere where individuals feel free to be as honest and
transparent as theyseyare comfortable being.
art who are

 To be transparent and authentic, followers need to feel trust from

the leader.
 Leaders need to establish environments where being fully
transparent with one another is rewarded and not punished.
6-Recognizing, Attending to, and
Honoring Diversity
 People want to be treated fairly. They do not want to be
discriminated against because of their social identity.
 Having leadership that understands and embraces diversity in the
organization can be critical for innovation.
 Leaders need to be fair-minded and open-minded toward all of
their followers.
 Leaders need to work through conflicts related to differences in
mutually beneficial ways.
 Leaders need to be attentive to recognizing the ways people differ
and honoring the individuality of each of them.
Barriers to Embracing Diversity and
Inclusion
1- Ethnocentrism
2- Prejudice
3- Unconscious Bias
4- Stereotype
5- Privilege
1- Ethnocentrism

 Ethnocentrism: is the tendency for individuals to place their own

group (ethnic, racial, or cultural) at the center of their observations
of others and the world.
 Ethnocentrism is the perception that one’s own culture is better or
more natural than the culture of others.
 It prevents people from fully understanding or respecting the
viewpoints of others.
 The more ethnocentric we are, the less open or tolerant we are of
other people’s cultural traditions or practices.
2-Prejudice

 Prejudice: is a largely fixed attitude, belief, or emotion held by an

individual about another individual or group that is based on faulty
or unsubstantiated data.
 Prejudice refers to judgments we make about others based on
previous decisions or experiences and involves inflexible
generalizations that are resistant to change or evidence to the
contrary.
2-Prejudice

 Prejudice inhibit understanding by creating a screen that limits one’s

ability to see multiple qualities of other people.
 Leaders need to think about, recognize, and address when systemic
discrimination exists within their organization and find ways to create
inclusion with followers and groups who exhibit differences.
3-Unconscious Bias

 Unconscious bias occurs automatically and is triggered by the brain

making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations
that are influenced by our own personal background, experiences,
memories, and cultural environment.
 For example, in screening potential candidates for a job, you may
unconsciously choose to interview candidates who are similar to
you in age, gender, ethnicity, or having attended the same schools.
3-Unconscious Bias

 it is important for leaders to recognize not only their own

unconscious biases, but those of their followers as well.
 One way to learn and address unconscious biases is to have
discussions with others, especially those from socially dissimilar
groups.
 Sharing your biases can help others feel more secure about
exploring their own biases.
 Providing unconscious bias training can reduce the impact of bias in
the workplace.
4-Stereotype

 A stereotype: is a fixed belief held by an individual that classifies a

group of people with a similar characteristic as alike.
 Labeling everyone the same results in assuming things about some
individuals that are not true.
 Stereotypes provide a way to generalize information.
 For example, if you say, “Nightshift workers are lazy,” you are
characterizing every worker who works that shift as lazy, when in
fact it may be only one or two workers.
 Stereotypes have a significant impact on how leaders treat
followers. To include followers and embrace them fully, leaders
need to be attentive and open to the individual nuances of each of
their followers.
5-Privilege

 Privilege is an advantage held by a person or group that is based

on age, race, ethnicity, gender, class, or some other cultural
dimension, which gives those who have it power over those who
don’t.
 Privilege has been described as an unfair advantage that some
people have in comparison to others.
 In situations where it exists, privilege excludes others and puts them
at a disadvantage.
 If one were to challenge privileged individuals about their privilege,
they might say they obtained a good job because they worked
hard and put in long hours.