You might not immediately associate courage with building inclusion and belonging in the workplace. But courage lies at the heart of meaningful and lasting change.
Why Courage is central to Inclusion
As leaders, we often rely on data, experience, and instinct to inform our decisions. But when it comes to inclusion—especially if we’re part of the dominant culture—we may not see the full picture. The data that truly matters might appear as subtle comments, quiet withdrawals, or unspoken discomfort. These are signals that are easy to miss or misinterpret.
Newcomers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, often face stark choices: conform to the dominant culture or remain on the margins. They might smile through in-jokes they don’t understand, stay silent during “banter,” or disengage from spaces where they don’t feel seen or safe.
As a leader, it takes courage to ask why some people pull back or hesitate to speak up. It takes courage to call out behaviours dismissed as harmless fun but which may carry exclusionary undertones. And it takes courage to risk being the one who speaks up—even when others don’t see the problem.
My Leadership Challenge
I’ve faced the dilemma of whether to speak up or go with the flow many times in my career. One early instance stands out. I was a young manager of a residential unit for adults with learning disabilities. I was brought in to modernise a service rooted in outdated practices—where adults were treated like children and staff assumed a parental role. These dynamics had gone unchallenged for years.
When I observed staff using punitive tones with residents, I had to choose: do I ignore it, or do I intervene? More importantly, how could I intervene without reinforcing the same parent-child dynamic, this time between me and the staff? I chose to quietly call the staff member out of the room and shared my discomfort with their tone. I then asked them to consider alternative approaches to handling the situation.
This was long before person-centred care was widely adopted, and some staff looked askance at my approach. Yet over time, we gradually shifted to a more compassionate and supportive model.
As I learned in that early experience, inclusive leadership requires us to do hard things. It asks us to challenge the status quo, interrupt bias in the moment, and use our voices on behalf of those who may not yet feel empowered to use theirs. It requires acknowledging that what feels “normal” to us may be alienating to someone else.
In my third book, The Inclusion Edge, I describe the first step toward becoming an inclusive leader as awareness—specifically, bias-awareness. When we begin to notice the subtle (and not so subtle) ways some people have power and agency while others do not, we can start taking meaningful steps to change that.
Here are some ways leaders can build their courage and grow as inclusive changemakers:
- Be open to the experiences of others
Don’t wait for others to bring issues to your attention. Read, listen, watch, and learn about equity, bias, intersectionality, and systems of power. The more you understand, the braver you become. A simple way to do that is read and consume media from people from different backgrounds and experiences.
- Be the voice that nobody hears
We’re often so used to “the way things are done” that we don’t realise whose voices are elevated—and whose are silenced. Whether intentional or not, the impact is the same: maintaining the status quo.
You can disrupt this by becoming more attuned to how power flows in your organisation. Simple acts like speaking up when someone is interrupted, acknowledging overlooked contributions, or correcting misattribution of credit can go a long way. Your voice carries weight—use it as a force for inclusion. These everyday actions build your courage muscle.
- Be the beacon for others to find their way
You may come from a majority culture, or you may be a minority amongst your peers, but either way you have currency that you can use as a force for good. Think about where you hold power and how you can use it to elevate others. For example you might recommend someone for a stretch opportunity, or challenge biased decision-making in a meeting , or advocate for fairer processes when you see imbalance.
Being an inclusive leader doesn’t mean always getting it right. It means being willing to try, to listen, to learn—and most of all, to lead with courage, even when it’s hard.
If you’ve experienced a moment where you had to show courage in a challenging situation, I’d love to hear it. And if you’re looking to build confidence in leading inclusively, get in touch—we’d be delighted to help.