Inclusive Leadership Isn't a Programme. It's How Culture Gets Built.
- Esther Kwaku
- Oct 2, 2025
- 2 min read
Culture doesn't come from your values poster or your DEI statement. It comes from the thousand micro-decisions leaders make every single day.
Who gets to speak first in meetings? Whose ideas get built on versus shut down? Who's in the room when decisions are made? Whose lived experience is treated as valuable data versus "just your perspective"?
Inclusive leadership shapes culture because leadership behaviour is culture.
When a leader actively seeks out the quietest voice in the room, they're signalling: all contributions matter here. When they admit they don't have all the answers, they're creating permission for vulnerability.
When leaders slow down a decision to ask..."Who's missing from this conversation?", they're modelling that pace matters less than getting it right.
When they don't...when they let the loudest voices dominate, when they make assumptions about who's "leadership material", when they default to "we've always done it this way" - they're also shaping culture. Just not the one they think they want.
Here's what's wild: most leaders genuinely believe they're inclusive. But inclusion isn't about intention. It's about impact. It's about what people experience in their interactions with you.
In the charity sector, we talk a lot about equity and justice for the communities we serve. But if we're not practising it internally - if our teams don't feel genuinely seen, heard, and valued - we're kidding ourselves about the change we can create externally.
Inclusive leadership requires three things:
Curiosity over certainty. Being willing to ask "what am I missing?" and actually mean it. Seeking out perspectives that aren't like yours. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Courageous humility. Acknowledging your blind spots. Owning when you get it wrong. Understanding that your lived experience - however rich - isn't universal.
Intentional redistribution of power. Looking at who has voice, visibility, and influence in your organisation. Then actively shifting it. Not because it's "fair" (though it is), but because diverse perspectives make better decisions.
The organisations with the strongest cultures aren't the ones with the best perks or the coolest offices. They're the ones where people feel they can bring their whole selves, where difference is leveraged not just tolerated, where psychological safety and high challenge coexist.
That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because leaders make it happen - one interaction, one decision, one meeting at a time.