By putting DEI into practice, it allows for change, even within the terminology used. Equality has given way to equity, and you will often see the word ‘belonging’ added as well. These changes aim to capture the goals, which in turn seek to provide appropriate guidance to people working within organisations.
As a leader, if you genuinely want to support the concept of equity, your decision-making must reflect it. It involves much more than simply promoting the right people. It includes supporting businesses that demonstrate equity, even outside your organisation. Additionally, you will need to resist working with organisations that do not include equity as part of their core values.
This approach does not make you a judge and jury for other organisations – every business is on its own journey.
Small businesses, for instance, may lack the resources to implement every aspect of good practice that larger organisations should demonstrate. However, you must call out bad behaviour wherever you encounter it.
A good leader will remain curious and continually develop their understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). They will strive to assist those facing barriers rooted in the privilege of others’ positions or circumstances. The most challenging part is combining that curiosity and understanding with the strong values that every leader should uphold. Recognising one’s own biases can be equally difficult. Humility is essential.
What should leaders be mindful of when engaging colleagues and delivering real change?
No single person is likely to have had the same experiences as the leader. This means that colleagues will always be on a different part of the DEI journey.
As a leader, being further along that path does not necessarily mean you know more than your colleagues.
Everyone’s life experiences are real to them and have taught them lessons about other people. They bring those experiences to work, and the business cannot change them. Therefore, any engagement must be relevant to the individuals involved. In practice, this often means creating communities within the organisation that share common interests or experiences and engaging with them collectively.
For smaller businesses, it may be more effective to encourage colleagues to explore external communities and bring their insights back to the organisation.
Listening to colleagues is the starting point. What is their understanding? There is little value in discussing intersectionality with someone who only has a cursory understanding of privilege. You may have had similar discussions numerous times before, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something new to learn each time.
How can we take DEI policies and strategies off the table and ensure they live and breathe?
Senior leadership must support any DEI policies and strategies. This often requires buy-in from the most senior members of the organisation. Without their support, these policies risk being implemented only on paper.
Stories bring policies to life. Listening to a Black woman explain how she feels when people ask if they can touch her hair, hearing a neurodiverse person discuss the trauma of being overwhelmed at school, or seeing the impact of dark evenings on the well-being of a woman commuting through a tough neighbourhood—these stories help colleagues, and senior management, understand what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Not everyone will understand, and not everyone will want to understand. But if the majority do, the values of inclusive leadership will become embedded in the organisation, and most colleagues will learn to uphold those policies and strategies.
The capitalist case for DEI
Finally, let’s address the capitalist reason for embedding DEI policies in your business’ DNA – profit. Research indicates that organisations with strong DEI values tend to be more profitable.
While there may be DEI sceptics, just as there are climate change deniers, leaders must guide their organisations toward success. Inclusive leadership is a cornerstone of that journey.
DEI leadership is about combining curiosity, humility, and action to create meaningful change. By embedding these values, organisations can build stronger teams, foster understanding, and achieve sustainable success.
