INsight/ The Human Connection
Photo by Shoeib Abolhassani on Unsplash.
Manila, 26 October 2023 — When we forget inclusive leadership.
Story
It happened this week. The first shock after the cruel October 7 attacks on civilians in southern Israel started making way for deeper and more inclusive reflections on the value of human lives and the long-suffering of people in that part of our world. For example, we heard Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, saying that Palestinians are no less human than Israelis, as he asked the world to realize that “standards and human, ethical values should be unified without discrimination based on identity or nationality.” In other words, every life matters equally.
Oftentimes, we humans have a problem with seeing the truth of that principle. Developmental psychologists and philosophers associate that with the ‘ethnocentric’ worldview that each of us will inhabit for a shorter or longer time during our lives. The ethnocentric view helps us to reduce the world’s complexity around us in order to cope better with our life conditions. We do that by distinguishing our in-group (us) from out-groups (them). Dealing with complexity and suffering around us becomes easier this way. We decide that we are ready to give our love to people in our in-group, and no further than that. Sadly, we saw much of this in the news during the past two weeks.
Some people continue to inhabit the ethnocentric worldview for most of their lives. For them, embracing a wider ‘worldcentric’ worldview where all people enjoy equal rights and where love can extend far beyond the people in their in-group, will remain a huge challenge. People who inhabit a wider worldview, however, are vulnerable to regress to the comforts of narrow us-vs-them thinking during times of stress and crisis. We can observe this in our workplaces and in the news about our wider world. This regression can even happen momentarily, like when we are working hard and are narrowly focused on completing a task. Have you ever been too full of your own ideas to shut out what others think?
Challenge
For many people in our societies, the human drive to divide the world into in-groups and out-groups is strong. Our challenge to become inclusive leaders who connect, care, and collaborate is, therefore, not easy. How do we start? By practicing human values and connections, I would say. In my experience, three practical steps can help us with that. The first is to accept other people as they are and suspend judgment about them and their behaviors. Instead, start spotting how different people can be, in so many ways—not just the dimensions we read about in diversity surveys, which often only scratch the surface.
Second, reach out to people who are different from you and who may hold (very) different views from yours. Even when that is difficult. Give yourself space to reflect and realize that diversity among people can make your team and your organization stronger and more successful. In the national philosophy of Indonesia, this is called unity in diversity. Set out to become an inclusive leader, starting in your team—and after doing homework on your own mindset. A great way to practice this, I found, is to acknowledge people for what you observed them doing or saying, even in cases where you didn’t agree with the view they expressed. Acknowledging them for what they said (or did), without any judgment, can be a valuable first step.
Third, make sure that your personal, professional, and strategic networks include people who are different from you. Leaders need strong networks. Deliberately reaching out and connecting with people who are different from you will help you to counter homophily (the love of sameness) which is one of the two primary causes of having weak networks, the other being proximity. To learn more about building strong diverse networks, check out the work of Herminia Ibarra, a leadership specialist and professor at London Business School. Our world cries out for inclusive leaders. You can be one of them.
Question
I have a difficult question for you this week.
As you reflect on your own worldview and look at the problems in the world around you, can this be a good time for you to expand your worldview and become an inclusive leader who works on mastering the art of human connections?
When you invest in the Leader in Transition program, you’ll get more insight into this and learn how to communicate with, and influence, people who are different from you, including those who are in your out-groups. That’s what inclusive leadership is about. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
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