Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Lecture Notes
Chapter 12: Inclusive Leadership
Learning Objectives
12-2 Outline the model of inclusive leadership.
12-4 Discuss the strengths of inclusive leadership.
12-5 Recognize the applications of inclusive leadership.
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. Description
A. Inclusive leadership: A model of leadership that addresses the challenges of a more
diverse workforce.
i. Particularly focused on integrating and supporting women and people of color in
the workplace.
ii. Diversity can be a competitive advantage in an organization if managed
effectively.
B. Diversity management: Incorporates programs and practices designed to improve
interaction among diverse people and make this diversity a source of innovation and
increased effectiveness— rather than a source of miscommunication, conflict, or
obstacles to employees’ performance, satisfaction, and advancement.
i. These principles have quickly become central to modern inclusive leadership.
C. Initially, diversity management centered around formal human resource practices:
i. Improved opportunities for historically marginalized groups.
a. Many sought to increase the number of employees from
ii. Organizational initiatives that promote and value all types of differences among
employees.
iii. More systemic approaches were developed:
a. Leverage the benefits of diverse knowledge, perspectives, and skills.
b. Facilitate organizational learning and growth.
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D. Since the beginning of the millennium, the concept of inclusion has emerged as a key
psychological construct for realizing the benefits that diversity can bring to the
workplace.
i. Promotes the reduction of negative and problematic processes grounded in
discrimination and oppression.
ii. Fosters a positive vision of what might replace these undesired behaviors,
policies, and systems.
iii. However, scholarly contributions to the inclusion literature have largely
progressed without a clear theoretical foundation and have primarily focused on
construct definition.
E. The demand for inclusive leadership is just one of many increasing demands we have
heaped on leaders, which must be navigated simultaneously with:
i. Globalization.
ii. Boundary spanner roles.
iii. Linking and creating direction, alignment, and commitment.
a. Across individuals, teams, or networks.
F. Modern leaders must be able to identify or create opportunities for growth and
competitiveness, while maintaining an environment where differences are valued.
i. Differences can be incorporated into the main work of an organization to
enhance:
a. Strategies.
b. Processes.
II. Inclusion Defined
A. Inclusion is a basic human need that people experience in their interpersonal
relationships.
i. Schutz (1958) argued people express their need to be included by how they
communicate with others.
B. Relational leadership: A model of leadership focused on the relationship between a
leader and follower as the unit of analysis.
i. Inclusiveness is enacted and socially constructed through leader-follower
interactions.
C. Unlike participative leadership:
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i. It is applicable to situations in which members’ statuses vary according to the
degree to which they are considered insiders.
ii. Incorporates behaviors to include those whose perspectives and opinions might
otherwise be ignored.
D. Individuals from diverse social and cultural groups are often excluded from networks of
information and opportunity in organizations; accordingly, inclusion has also been used
to describe worker participation and empowerment.
i. Such as the extent to which individuals:
a. Can access information and resources.
ii. Rather than emphasizing difference as an organizational commodity, inclusion is
focused on the degree to which individuals feel they are a part of critical
organizational processes.
E. Optimal distinctiveness theory: Holds that individuals strive to balance their basic
human need to be part of larger social groups with their need to maintain a distinctive
self-concept.
i. People want to belong, but don’t want to lose their sense of self.
a. This is inclusion—where you feel like a full member of a group without
sacrificing your individuality.
ii. A definition according to this theory would be “the degree to which an employee
perceives that he or she is an esteemed member of the work group through
experiencing treatment that satisfies his or her needs for belongingness and
uniqueness.”
iii. A framework of optimal distinctiveness theory has two components:
a. Belongingness: Desire to be included.
iv. There are four possible outcomes of this theory:
a. Exclusion: An outcome where both uniqueness and belongingness are
low; individuals are not treated as uniquely valuable organizational
insiders, while other members and groups are.
b. Differentiation: An outcome of low belongingness and high uniqueness;
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
F. Inclusion is the ideal way to address diversity—accepting others without requiring them
to give up parts of themselves to belong.
i. Inclusion creates a dynamic system that is prescribed by the values, policies, and
practices of an organization.
a. Enacted by people at all levels, including supervisors and coworkers.
G. Inclusive leadership has three goals:
i. Creating shared identity among group or organizational members.
a. Everyone feels they belong.
ii. Reducing status differences.
a. Ensures individuals are treated with respect and concern.
iii. Facilitating the participation and involvement of all.
a. Everyone has equal voice and input in making important decisions.
III. A Model of Inclusive Leadership
A. Antecedent Conditions
i. Antecedent conditions: Preceding factors that affect the development of and use
of inclusive behaviors by leaders.
ii. Leader characteristics have a significant effect on the ease of adopting inclusive
behaviors:
a. Pro-diversity beliefs: The degree to which a leader sees diversity in
groups as beneficial and is able to recognize each person’s differences
iii. Group diversity cognitions will also make inclusive leadership easier or more
challenging depending on group opinions.
a. Diversity cognitions within the group: An influence on inclusive
leadership, based on individual beliefs in the value of diversity.
iv. Organizational policies and practices can indicate organizational support for a
commitment to diversity.
a. Organization policies and practices: A potential motivator of inclusive
leadership, with some groups of practices that may facilitate the
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b. Fairly implemented employment practices and diversity-specific
B. Inclusive Leadership Behaviors
i. Psychologically safe environments: Cultures with a shared belief that members
are safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking and will not be subjected to
negative repercussions, such as embarrassment or rejection, for speaking up
within those teams.
ii. Leader inclusiveness: Represents behaviors engaged in by leaders to include
opinions and contributions of those who might be otherwise excluded from
certain deliberations and decisions.
a. Inclusive leadership is particularly relevant in situations characterized by
iii. Qualities of inclusive leaders:
a. Encourage divergent viewpoints.
b. Genuinely appreciate differing views and contributions of others.
C. Outcomes
i. Psychological safety, employee well-being, and work engagement tend to be
higher in teams with inclusive leaders, particularly for low-status individuals.
a. Well-being: A group of qualities including positive emotional states and
ii. Also has direct effects on follower creativity and innovative work behavior.
iii. Leader inclusiveness within the context of a positive diversity climate was found
to be related to follower helping behaviors directed at both the leader and other
group members.
IV. How Does Inclusive Leadership Work?
A. A few common elements have emerged in the literature:
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
i. Shared identity: In which an individual’s value to the group is communicated by
the leader, who is seen as a representative or prototype group member that
establishes behaviors that group members should adopt.
a. Leader behaviors that invite and appreciate others’ contributions help
ii. Another inclusion measure is behaviors that reduce status differences within
groups.
a. Soliciting and integrating all inputs.
iii. Follower participation and involvement continues to prove important in decision
processes.
V. Strengths
A. Emphasizes the involvement and engagement of everyone in the group.
i. Although members of historically marginalized groups may be more likely to
B. Enhances other relational leadership theories such as leader–member exchange and
transformational leadership.
i. Values positive follower relations, recognition of each member’s unique
C. Makes leadership a shared responsibility of everyone in the group.
i. Consistent with emerging paradigms that define leadership as a socially
constructed and shared phenomena.
VI. Criticisms
A. Term lacks clear definition.
i. Has been used as an all-encompassing construct for any approach to leadership
that incorporates behaviors to form quality-based interpersonal relationships
with followers and to show appreciation and support for their efforts.
a. As a result, findings regarding antecedents and outcomes of
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SAGE Publishing, 2022
b. Has also resulted in interchangeable use with leader-member exchange.
B. Challenging to measure.
i. Historically, measures for assessing leader inclusiveness have asked employees to
provide such ratings for the authority responsible for directing others’ efforts.
C. Few studies have tried to relate core components of inclusive leadership to existing
literature.
i. More research is needed to empirically examine the relationships between the
antecedent conditions, leadership behaviors, and outcomes outlined in the
model.
VII. Application
A. Inclusive leadership can likely be learned and developed, but it is not clear what to learn
or how.
i. Booysen (2014) highlights the shift from authoritative hierarchical power to
distributed, follower-empowering approaches.
a. Leaders elicit and facilitate dialogue.
b. Leaders are part of the collective.
B. The process of inclusive leadership development can be illustrated using the
assessment-challenge-support (ACS) model.
i. Three critical elements:
a. Assessment.
b. Challenge.
c. Support.
ii. Has not yet been applied to inclusive leadership specifically.
C. Assessment
i. Assessment: An evaluation of strengths and opportunities for development as it
relates to creating an inclusive organizational environment.
a. Should involve understanding and reflection on one’s identity,
ethnocentrism, biases, stereotypes, prejudice, and privilege.
ii. Means of assessment include:
a. Discussion activities.
b. Privilege worksheets.
c. Diversity workshops, training, and seminars.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
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iii. Some feel that only by acknowledging and recognizing the biases, stereotypes,
and privilege can we mitigate their impacts.
D. Challenge
i. Challenges: Events for leaders to overcome, which enhance motivation to
develop and strengthen skills needed to create inclusive organizational
environments.
a. This includes developing individual capacity to listen to diverse views,
ii. In general, breaking with conventional leadership strategies will help leaders to
adapt their current approaches to create more diverse and inclusive
organizational environments.
a. This will necessarily be a challenge to many leaders, but is necessary for
building inclusivity.
E. Support
i. Support: An infrastructure and relationships that help to reinforce behaviors
learned, as suggested by the ACS model.
a. Support is key to overcoming the challenges of inclusivity.
b. Includes mentors, colleagues, and significant others, among others.
ii. The organization itself may also play a significant role in offering support to
leaders attempting to create a more inclusive environment by:
a. Providing accountability structures, diversity councils or advisory