Twenty-second International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The global pandemic has shown us the importance of fostering work environments with dynamics that catalyze new frontiers. Now more than ever leaders need to support solutions-oriented groups that initiate, collaborate, and execute on change work to ensure their organization can stay relevant. This interactive focused discussion will address inclusive leader scenarios that require walking the edge between inclusion and exclusion. The discussion will focus on how unproductive friction by resistors and/or saboteurs can negatively impact a group’s progress requiring inclusive practitioner leaders to leverage specific strategies to address potential derailment. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own experiences when having to walk the edge of inclusion and exclusion to insure the preservation of an inclusive and change-oriented environment. The presenter will share a framework that overviews specific strategies relevant to negotiating the inclusion and exclusion edge to advance generative and inclusive workplaces. Participants will consider how to inclusively set boundaries and gain strategies for dealing with team members across a continuum of indifference, resistance, and hostility. Participants will also be invited to share their own experiences and strategies to further refine the model.