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Sarah Tobin for Blackmill Consulting

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Earn trust and lead inclusively

A good leader is someone who has a clear vision. Someone who is courageous enough to be vulnerable. Someone who has empathy, integrity, honesty, humility, and helps people reach their goals. A great leader is someone who does all the above and also leads inclusively with equity and diversity in mind. An inclusive leader manages a diverse group of people, and does so by respecting their uniqueness in an empathetic, bias-free way. They ensure that all team members feel that they are treated respectfully and fairly, are valued, and sense that they belong. These leaders actively seek and consider different views and perspectives to better inform their decisions. When a leader fosters a culture of inclusion and diversity, astonishing transformational outcomes are achieved. Research from Deloitte Insights shows that inclusive leadership directly enhances performance. Teams with inclusive leaders reported a 17% increase in team performance, 20% increase in high quality decision making, and a 29% increase in team collaboration. But the most important benefit of inclusive leadership is to earn trust. Trust is vital to successful relationship and leaders should grant it, but not assume they are trusted. They have to earn it, by providing safety, being honest and authentic role models, promoting two-way feedback, reducing unconscious bias, and advocating for those who cannot for themselves.

Continue reading the blog at https://blackmill.co/blog/earn-trust-lead-inclusively

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