Inclusion Part 3: Leadership Challenges and Opportunities of Working Virtually

There is a call for leadership to show up differently, right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is up to us as leaders to shape how we can serve our families, communities, organizations and teams during this unprecedented time. Currently, there’s a lot of buzz regarding leadership’s role to reach out, communicate, understand and empathize. This blog challenges the face of the individual Leader: What is your commitment to do things differently right now amidst change and uncertainty?

In our first blog and podcast, we addressed leaders paying extra attention to focus on inclusivity, right now, as we navigate working virtually while physically separated. We challenged our readers to absorb the concepts of two great books that discuss organizational and cultural dynamics that hinder inclusiveness, and how Leaders must create an environment where people are comfortable speaking up; “The Loudest Duck – Moving Beyond Diversity While Embracing Differences to Achieve Success at Work” by Laura Liswood, and “The Fearless Organization – Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth” by Amy C. Edmondson. The challenges of inclusion and diversity do not go away just because the working landscape is now virtual. In fact, these challenges become more difficult and more relevant.

Peeling back the onion layer, how do we address these challenges? This led to our second blog, Communicating Virtually in an Inclusive Culture , where we discussed actions people can take to be communicative and inclusive during this new virtual pandemic. These actions include but are not limited to; a) creating moments for check-ins, inquiry and listening, b) enhancing personal and team learning and connectedness, c) being humble, include others that may be quieter or more reserved, and d) considering how we want our people to say and feel about our organizations and teams when we return to the new normal.

Something to think about around the most important challenge, Leadership….

We have been thrown into being virtual leaders without a lot of pre-planning or upfront training on the different nuances of working virtually. Focusing on BEING a virtually inclusive leader now will manifest your amazing leadership skills in a variety of platforms in the new future. You will not be solely reliant on the traditional senses and the traditional ways of conducting meetings and having conversations. Within the virtual world, you will listen for what you don’t hear, be intuitive, and trust yourself that you can inclusively lead your team and organization to make things happen differently.

The path to BEING a Virtually Inclusive Leader

At JMJ, we coach and support around several leadership principles and practices. One principle is in the art of BEING. As leaders, we can get caught in the demands and expectations of DOING the tasks that create processes for flow, make productivity happen, meet the demands of our clients/customers, etc. However, the more we learn about the art of great leadership, the more we know that the character, values, and gestures of leaders is what drives individuals and teams. This is why practicing inclusiveness is critical.

The assertion is that leaders are aware of who they are and who they want to be. Leaders look within, embrace ongoing development, and seek to understand themselves. In other words, they work on BEING by identifying practices and taking a stand to make them happen. There are Keystone Practices, those actions that Great Leaders do all the time that show who they are, what they care about and how they show up when interacting with their teams and within their organizational culture, that can help in becoming a virtually inclusive leader. Ask yourself how you are BEING in each of these practices. Do I have knowledge of these practices and how do I apply them?

1. Developing and expanding relationship(s)
2. Making it personal
3. Having an integral perspective
4. “Owning” the perceptions that drive the action
5. Taking responsibility for what is so (the current reality)
6. Taking a stand
7. Expressing appreciation and acknowledgment

Take the opportunities afforded by being virtual NOW to focus on your Inclusion Leadership

In our previous blogs as well as the books we mentioned above, every organization and every team will have a dominant culture and managers within that culture, “the elephants”, along with those individuals who are in the non-dominant group, “the mice”. We challenge the elephants and the mice to dig deep within themselves and practice virtual inclusive leadership. Each has responsibilities and accountabilities, so seize this new virtual opportunity for self-improvement.

If you are a leader and/or a manager of a team on a project or within an organization, you are the elephant within your sphere of influence. Challenge yourself and empower your team by purposefully practicing virtual inclusive leadership:

• Start with yourself. How can you lead others/support others if you are not in tune to your own thoughts and emotions? Learn to be self-aware by deliberately focusing on understanding how you are and how you can be perceived right now. Take a pause, take a breath, identify with the thoughts and the emotions you are experiencing right now. Own it. You can only adjust if you know your starting point.
• Make a commitment to learn. Read books and put time into gathering knowledge for self-improvement. Set the practice that each day, an article or a chapter in a book will be read around leadership.
• Value your responsibility around listening. Many leaders view their role as controlling the conversation and making decisions. However, listening is an extremely valuable skill for a leader. There are specific steps to effective listening from a variety of sources. Pick the one that best suits you.
• Be intentional about developing virtual inclusive leadership skills. During each meeting, have a pad and pen ready (or your note-taking app), listen for what is not being said. Take notes on what seems different. Reach out to individuals with specific acknowledgments or inquiries about cares/concerns, be specific in what you heard and ask if there is any need for assistance.
• Practice watching for the ‘mouse’ that is not speaking. Virtually, people can hide in the woodwork. Take notes on who is talking the most and those who are not contributing. Follow up with individuals with inquiry, such as, ‘Today in our meeting, I noticed you were quiet; is everything ok?’ Ask if there is any need for assistance.
• Self-assess through a trusted internal Leadership Partner. Share your reflections, approaches and growth desires around inclusivity with this trusted individual. Ask for and be open to feedback from this partner. Ask them to score you on a “smile index” during your meetings; “How did I do relative to my intentional virtual inclusion?”. Reflect and use their feedback to continually improve.

If you are a member on a team, but not necessarily part of the dominant group, you, as a mouse, also have a strong role to play in building an inclusive productive environment:

• Challenge yourself professionally and personally. Step into the opportunity that is provided. Support the dominant group by having courage to speak up. Remaining silent when you have ideas will not allow for the best outcome, nor the growth of an inclusive culture.
• Presence yourself at the Virtual Engagements. Be aware of your own communication styles and approaches as well as those of the rest of the team members. Ask if the team has set up covenants and commitments to around virtual behavior. If not, volunteer to be part of the creation team.
• Practice Active Listening and Care. Challenge your own ‘stories’ and perceptions of how the virtual engagements as they currently exist are either inclusive or non-inclusive, and trust that you can make a difference.

Take on this Virtual Inclusive Leadership challenge now. Empower and challenge yourself and other leaders. Practice intentional inclusiveness and gain feedback. Now more than ever, we have been afforded an opportunity to focus on inclusivity in a dynamic way to lead individuals and teams in a virtual environment. Not only will this benefit us and our organizations now, but well into the future. Why wait?

JMJ works with clients around the world, unlocking human performance to transform cultures. Contact us today to learn how we can collaborate together to help you transform your leadership approaches to inclusion and diversity, creating an environment where people can adapt, grow and flourish.