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FranklinCovey Launches New Course, Inclusive Leadership: Practical Ways to Cultivate Inclusion & Build a Better Team

May 16, 2023 at 6:13 AM EDT
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Course Helps Leaders Create a Workplace Environment Where Every Team Member Feels Valued and Sees an Opportunity to Thrive

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023-- FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC), one of the largest and most trusted leadership companies in the world, announced today the launch of its newest course, Inclusive Leadership: Practical Ways to Cultivate Inclusion & Build a Better Team™. The course helps leaders create a workplace environment where every team member feels valued and sees an opportunity to thrive.

Many organizations today are focused on building diverse and inclusive cultures. To support that, they may have made progress on building more diverse teams. But diversity may not be enough, according to employees who are vocal that their workplace experience is not always inclusive.

Research conducted by McKinsey & Company shows that even companies who score high in diversity metrics still have employee pain points on inclusion. “While overall sentiment on diversity was 52% positive and 31% negative, sentiment on inclusion was markedly worse, at only 29% positive and 61% negative. This encapsulates the challenge that even the more diverse companies still face in tackling inclusion. Hiring diverse talent isn’t enough – it’s the workplace experience that shapes whether people remain and thrive.” (McKinsey & Company, Diversity wins: How inclusion matters, May 19, 2020.)

Additionally, building a more diverse team makes inclusion even more challenging because leaders can no longer rely on common backgrounds and experiences to create belonging.

“Inclusiveness isn’t just nice to have on teams,” according to research conducted by Deloitte. “It shows that it directly enhances performance. Teams with inclusive leaders are 17 percent more likely to report they are high performing, 20 percent more likely to say they make high-quality decisions, and 29 percent more likely to report they are behaving collaboratively.” In short, inclusive teams produce better results. (Bourke, Juliet, “The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution: Eight Powerful Truths,” Deloitte, January 22, 2018.)

No one influences the work experience for team members more than leaders. They’re the pivotal players in making meaningful progress toward culture change by acting inclusively. But many leaders don’t know what to do differently in terms of their practical, day-to-day behaviors to make a real impact. They haven’t developed the vital skills needed to disrupt bias, lead inclusively, and create a strong sense of belonging that invites every team member to offer their best.

“Inclusive Leadership raises leaders’ awareness of how their assumptions or bias may diminish team members’ sense of being respected, valued, and belonging,” said Jennifer Colosimo, FranklinCovey President, Enterprise Division. “Leading inclusively isn’t about doing more. Participants are challenged to apply an inclusive lens to things they’re already doing in the flow of work. Simple adjustments in how they engage individuals, create opportunity for them, and shape their team culture increase team members’ sense of inclusion and belonging at work. These practical skills help leaders prioritize inclusion in their daily behaviors to disrupt bias and create an environment where everyone feels valued and sees an opportunity to thrive.”

Challenge

Solution

Leaders form strong connections with some team members but keep discussion surface-level and “efficient” with others, limiting their engagement and contribution.

Connect to understand every team member by choosing to learn their unique interests, skills, and vision for their future.

Leaders rely on assumptions – which are susceptible to biases – that cause them to overlook potential on their team.

Create opportunity by looking for potential in every team member, addressing any barriers to success, and advocating for them along the way.

Many team members feel a lack of belonging on their teams with little optimism it will improve.

Cultivate team inclusion by engaging the team to define specific behaviors that will shape and sustain a culture of belonging.

Inclusive Leadership consists of three sessions and provides participants with a practical framework, skills, tools, and practices for leading inclusively.

Session

Participants will be able to:

1: Connect to Understand

  • Understand why leading inclusively is a core leadership skill.
  • Build meaningful connections with team members to increase understanding of their needs.

2: Create Opportunity

  • Disrupt the influence of bias while evaluating team members’ contributions and potential.
  • Advocate for each team member consistently and frequently to increase their visibility.
  • Assign work with the intent of helping people develop and display their potential.

3: Cultivate Team Inclusion

  • Model inclusive behaviors during daily interactions.
  • Work with their team to identify and commit to inclusive culture-building behaviors.
  • Effectively offer redirection feedback on non-inclusive behaviors that impact the team’s culture.

Colosimo said, “Inclusion has a pervasive impact on key business drivers, such as culture, employee engagement, innovation, recruitment and retention, well-being, and leadership effectiveness. Psychological safety, belonging, and a sense of opportunity are rooted in the experience of inclusion. Inclusive leadership is a crucial competency that empowers leaders to build high-performing teams, shape culture, and navigate the dynamic landscape of the modern world of work.”

Inclusive Leadership is available through the FranklinCovey All Access Pass® on the FranklinCovey Impact Platform. It consists of three sessions, all of which include reinforcement microlearning. It can be delivered by FranklinCovey consultants or certified client facilitators in 1-day or spaced over time: Live In-Person and Live-Online (three 90-minute sessions) or OnDemand (three 30-minute modules). Components include a Facilitator Guide, Participant Guide, Inclusive Leadership Cards, and Tools (digital or physical).

The FranklinCovey All Access Pass allows passholders to expand their reach, sustainably impact performance, and achieve breakthrough results. It provides access to a vast library of FranklinCovey content, including assessments, training courses, tools, and resources available Live In-Person, Live-Online, and OnDemand. For more information, visit or call 888-868-1776.

About FranklinCovey

FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC) is one of the largest and most trusted leadership companies in the world, with directly owned and licensee partner offices providing professional services in over 160 countries and territories. The Company transforms organizations by partnering with clients to build leaders, teams, and cultures that get breakthrough results through collective action, which leads to a more engaging work experience for their people. Available through the FranklinCovey All Access Pass, FranklinCovey’s best-in-class content, solutions, experts, technology, and metrics seamlessly integrate to ensure lasting behavior change at scale. Solutions are available in multiple delivery modalities in more than 20 languages.

This approach to leadership and organizational change has been tested and refined by working with tens of thousands of teams and organizations over the past 30 years. Clients have included organizations in the Fortune 100, Fortune 500 and thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, numerous government entities, and educational institutions. To learn more, visit www.franklincovey.com and enjoy exclusive content across FranklinCovey’s social media channels at: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

PRESS CONTACT: Debra Lund, Email: Debra.Lund@FranklinCovey.com, Phone: 801-244-4474

Source: FranklinCovey