Leading Difference

Leading Difference fundamentally challenges our view of the type of leadership that is needed in a world that is increasingly divided and in organizations that are increasingly diverse. Inclusion, in such a world, is an organizational advantage that is fundamental to our core mandate as leaders. The course will provide tools, pattern recognition, and perspective intended to help you navigate difference successfully in your career and to build and lead organizations that are truly inclusive.

This course seeks to bring increased empathy and clarity to the discussion of workforce differences. This course will introduce a new definition of inclusive leadership: Leadership is about making other people better as a result of our presence in a way that lasts into our absence.

With this definition at this core, the course will take students on a journey of the key ingredients that are needed for this type of leadership to be effective. In our presence, as leaders we need to engender trust, empower others, and create the conditions for more and more varied people to thrive. In our absence, we need to be thoughtful about strategy and culture. For each key ingredient, we will explore concrete strategies we can embrace as leaders. For instance, to be truly inclusive we need to act as brokers, leveraging our experiences to help others understand their differences and have productive conversations across divides. And we’ll also explore the implications of getting the recipe right: when we create inclusive environments, collaboration occurs more easily, and respect becomes a basic ingredient baked into every interaction.

This is a general leadership course and as such will not, for example, provide all of the specialized skills a D&I leader may require.