Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work. – Andrés Tapia
Organizations across the globe are currently spending more than $8 billion dollars per year on diversity programs. Nearly ⅔ of the diversity professionals in the U.S. were installed within the last six years. There are many books and courses that lay out the activities and changes that need to take place within an organization. There are even more options for reading in regards to the necessary traits for the modern leader. The authors of The Five Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders, Andrés T. Tapia and Alina Polonskaia, have written a book worthy of being considered by anyone looking to move beyond recognizing the need and to acquiring and utilizing “actionable behaviors and competencies” that are embodied in five disciplines.
The five disciplines outlined in this work include:
- Builds Interpersonal Trust
- Integrates Diverse Perspectives
- Optimizes Talents
- Applies an Adaptive Mindset
- Achieves Transformation
In addition to these disciplines, the authors also outline five enabling trait clusters and eleven enabling traits that fall within those clusters. All of these traits contribute to the leaders ability to internalize the disciplines and, more importantly, to apply them in the organizational setting.
Readers will appreciate that this book also describes the journeys of four organizations that are exemplars of these principles in action. Organizations like Barilla and John Deere have applied these principles and seen success across their organizations. Of course, the challenge for the reader is to begin the implementation of these principles in life and work.
We need to resist the tyranny of low expectations. We need to open our eyes to the inequality that remains. We won’t unlock the full potential of the workplace until we see how far from equality we really are. – Sheryl Sandberg