Manila, 16 February 2022 — Why a holistic approach is important for inclusive leaders.

Story

It happened in 2021. As society keeps changing, so does our understanding of how leadership works. The two evolve together and have seen a lot of changes over the past decades. Leadership researchers are working hard to keep up with the latest emerging issues in society. In recent years, for example, more attention has been given to the challenge of managing diversity in the workplace. This has prompted more studies into inclusive leadership.

In the West, no one has studied the recent evolution of leadership theories and models as thoroughly as Peter Northouse, emeritus professor of communication at Western Michigan University. In 2021, more than 25 years after he published Leadership: Theory and Practice, the 9th edition of this classic came out. Over the years, the book has, for good reasons, become required reading for students and practitioners alike. Interestingly, the latest edition of the book includes a new chapter on inclusive leadership. 

Northouse’s book has been called a compendium of leadership theories, and I agree with that description. He has maintained a structured approach across the chapters, looking into the peer-reviewed literature on each theory he reviewed, followed by its applications, a description of strengths and weaknesses, some cases studies, and diagnostic tools. By rigorously sticking with this structure, he offers readers a unique and convenient overview of the history of leadership, at least from a Western perspective. I would like to go a step further and contrast this with a more holistic, Eastern perspective on the topic.

Challenge

The ways in which societies and individual human beings develop are extraordinarily complex, and it follows therefore that the same applies to the study of leadership. There is so much that we still know little about, such as about the nature of consciousness, which has a bearing on almost every aspect of leadership we want to study. By dissecting leadership into numerous models and applications, it is easy to fall into the Western trap of getting obsessed with the details at the expense of understanding the whole, which is what the East has traditionally focused more on. 

In English, there is a saying for this, that we ‘can’t see the forest for the trees.’ It warns us against failing to understand or appreciate a larger situation by considering only parts of it, and studying these in-depth. When we fall prey to this approach in the study of leadership, we end up discussing which theory or model is more useful than others, pitting them against each other, when all they do is to show us different perspectives of what leadership is essentially about. The important questions, as I see it, are how the various perspectives fit together and what a more holistic understanding of leadership can teach us to improve our practice.

Fortunately, several understandings have emerged over the past decade to help us see the essence of leadership in a fairly simple way that lends itself to practical application. First among these is the notion that leadership is about a process where individuals and groups of people influence positive changes to generate better outcomes. The focus is on influencing change. Second, the notion that leaders are people who practice showing up with certain behaviors more frequently than other people. Everyone who is committed can learn how to do that. And third, the notion that our leadership grows by taking on exciting challenges and learning from assessments and feedback from others. In contrast, we discovered that knowledge contributes less than we used to think.

Question

To Northouse’s credit, the new chapter underlines the importance of behaviors, going as far as to define inclusive leadership as a set of behaviors to influence better outcomes such as “psychological safety, work engagement, creativity and innovation, helping behavior, learning from errors/failures, and work unit performance.” I agree with this focus on important behaviors.

From my experience, I also support the conclusion that learning to be an inclusive leader requires “a change in mindset, a shift in values, and the adoption of a new style of interacting with others.” I would add, however, that this is not limited to one new style, but involves several different styles. From a holistic perspective, we recognize that inclusive leadership involves several kinds of behaviors and styles of communication to suit the needs of different audiences and situations. In other words, there’s a lot to learn and practice.

In my work with clients, we explore a set of inclusive leadership behaviors in seven distinct ways. These correspond with the worldviews and communication styles that we encounter in workplaces around the world, informed by the research into developmental psychology. In a fast-changing world, what appears to be a constant is how we humans navigate worldviews in our work and life. Hence, to become effective inclusive leaders, it will help to appreciate and practice each of the seven ways. And that leads me to my question for you this week: What you are doing to become an inclusive leader in your workplace?