A leader’s guide to fostering inclusion by creating a positive diversity climate

This chapter outlines how inclusive leadership behaviors can help leaders create a diversity climate in which employees experience feelings of inclusion. The authors argue that a diversity climate consists of two components. The fairness & discrimination component refers to the extent to which employees perceive that the organization promotes fairness and eliminates discrimination. This component enhances employees’ feelings of belongingness. The synergy component refers to the extent to which employees perceive that the organization promotes, values, and integrates everyone’s input to enhance collective learning and performance. As such, this component allows everyone to contribute and enhances employees’ feelings of authenticity. In combination, feelings of belongingness and authenticity cause employees to experience inclusion and can help organizations leverage some of the potential benefits of diversity. To help leaders create such a climate, the authors outline a number of specific leadership behaviors, targeted at each component. The chapter ends with concrete action items that will help leaders manage diversity and be more inclusive.