Conscious Inclusion

Nikki Davies, Group Diversity and Inclusion Director, Prudential

The concept of leadership has evolved. Inclusive leadership is now critical for both current and future leaders. This is evidenced by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower listing it as one of its stated super skills: skill sets expected to be in high demand across industries in the coming years. 

At Prudential, we support all our people to become consciously inclusive leaders. Inclusiveness may not come naturally, but we encourage actively engaging mindsets and behaviours that strengthen inclusion when interacting with our employees, customers, partners, suppliers and the communities and societies we serve.

What makes people feel included? It is being valued and respected for who they are: finding the sweet spot between being differentiated by unique qualities that contribute to self-worth and being accepted as an important group member they care about.

So how can leaders act in a consciously inclusive way to build inclusivity in their sphere of influence while being authentic to themself? Here are my five recommendations:

1. Be self-aware and seek feedback: Leaders are human and have default behaviours that got them this far in life. Encourage discussions with stakeholders to get honest input into how they are received and perceived as a leader through an inclusion lens. Be open to the good, the bad, and the ugly. A leader must be willing to understand how their behaviour truly impacts others and hold themselves accountable for this impact. More on that later 

2. Listen and observe: Learn to consciously listen. Too often, leaders feel obliged to have all the answers. However, if they engage with others to learn about their perspectives with an open mind, they will likely gain deeper insights and uncover new ways of thinking. Also, observing the behaviours of others allows reflection of good and bad behaviours and ways of thinking that leaders can adopt or avoid to nurture inclusion.

3. Have a growth mindset: With self-awareness developed through feedback, listening, and observation, leaders have the knowledge to be consciously in control of how they behave in certain situations. If, for example, a leader starts to get defensive or has any type of adverse reaction in a situation, they should question, “Why?”. Through analysing reactions, they may uncover a deep-seated bias or something they need to understand better to develop self-awareness. A growth mindset is central to being consciously inclusive as a leader.

4. Empathise: How others experience a situation can vastly differ from another individual’s experience. Allowing others to share their feelings about a situation without judgement is essential to being consciously inclusive, and another experience should never be discounted. Leaders do not need to explain or justify everything: consciously inclusive leaders empathise with how a situation makes another feel.

Drive accountability: Leaders take personal responsibility for behaviours and their outcomes. Not only their own, which can be uncovered through the previous four steps about themselves, but also when observing behaviour from others that is not inclusive – call it out – either at the point in time it’s seen or in private if more appropriate, but call it out, nonetheless. Commitment to consciously supporting others and building their confidence is essential for the consciously inclusive leader.