Most leaders we work with, when asked if they are inclusive, answer with a resounding YES! Everyone would describe themselves as having empathy, being fair, and showing respect.

All essential characteristics of good leadership.

But inclusion also requires adaptation, the ability of leaders to adapt their approach and strategies in the face of changing environments and challenges. This also means adapting thinking and behaviour.

Organisational psychology tells us that leaders shape psychological safety less through what they say and more through how they think and make decisions.

The unintentional bias we all carry

Most leaders unintentionally privilege their own thinking style:

• They ask questions the way they prefer to answer them
• They value decisions made the way they would make them
• They interpret confidence through their own lens

This isn’t a flaw. It’s not something that only leaders do. It’s human, we all favour our own thinking styles.

The problem is, if we are unaware of this unintentional bias and we don’t check it, it can influence whose voices are heard and whose are not.

Inclusion as a leadership capability

The HBDI® is the assessment based on the Whole Brain® Thinking model, a time-tested framework to decode and harness cognitive diversity of individuals, teams, and organisations. It has been taken by more than 4 million people in more than 60 countries worldwide. HBDI® helps leaders recognise their default thinking preferences and intentionally flex their thinking and leadership approach:

• Slowing down when reflection is needed
• Creating space for challenge without threat
• Valuing different paths to the same outcome
• Making sure logic is balanced with humanistic aspects
• Dreaming big whilst getting into the detail of getting things done

Research on inclusive leadership shows that teams feel safer when leaders demonstrate curiosity rather than certainty. Knowing and accepting that different people have different thinking styles and ways of approaching work means that when a leader shifts their thinking from “convince me” to “what might I be missing?” changes everything.

Psychological safety grows where curiosity leads

When leaders show that different ways of thinking are genuinely valued, people show up fully, genuinely, creatively and more engaged.

Psychological safety is a leadership capability, that is developed through leader thinking and behaviours.

Steople’s approach

At Steople, HBDI® is embedded in leadership development at the organisational and team levels, as well as in individual coaching programs, because this tool provides powerful insights that help create sustainable behaviour change and positive organisational outcomes.

Build inclusive leadership capability with evidence-based insight by using HBDI® to help leaders flex their thinking, communication, and decision-making.

Discover how Steople integrates HBDI® into leadership development and coaching by contacting your local representative today.

Next week: how teams—not just leaders—create psychological safety together.