Leadership Allyship

“We propose that organizations should develop leaders into allies who are trained to intervene as well as to develop and clarify workplace norms prohibiting subtle forms of targeted workplace mistreatment. Leaders can become impactful allies when they prioritize creating an inclusive organizational climate.”

LEADERS AS CHAMPIONS OF DEI&B

Leadership allyship is an essential DEI&B workplace disruptor with powerful impacts on performance.

“Leadership is one of the main factors in bringing positive change to the organization; Leaders are the one who control and take charge of the operation of an organization and…good leaders can also influence their employees and motivate them by strengthening a positive organization culture” (How Effective Leadership can Facilitate Change in Organizations through Improvement and Innovation).

Dedicated DEI&B allies at the leadership level:

  • mentor employees with a focus on oppressed, marginalized or unrepresented employees.

    • The formation of personal relationships with underrepresented minorities helps with the promotion of equity in the workplace through sponsorship.

    • It also is a benefit to the employees who are mentored - DE&I leaders support their apprentice in getting internal and external opportunities and expand their own networks to include their apprentice.

  • Actively promote a culture of inclusion through intentional, positive and conscious efforts to progress the interests of an underrepresented group

  • Try to influence the ecosystem more broadly

Below we depict different ways companies can pilot leadership allyship and the possible resources these pilots would require.

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES & BARRIERS TO SUCCESS

Because any type of change can be hard, we have anticipated potential barriers you might face when implementing this disruptor.

  • LEADERSHIP BUY-IN

    • must ensure there are enough leaders to effectively mentor those interested

  • AGREE TO FREE UP RESOURCES TO FOCUS

    • including time to commit/prioritize

  • DIFFICULTY ENSURING HOW TO BUILD THIS INTO THE CULTURE

  • ACCOUNTABILITY

    • building and measuring specific goals for these leaders  

    • making this an “expected” behavior or leadership competency

  • Learn about how implementing a champion of inclusion can help boost the success of your DEI&B efforts.

    Champion

  • Learn about how open continuous feedback can help create an inclusive environment.

    Feedback

  • Learn about how we are helping to facilitate change within the biotech industry.

    Our Approach

  • Learn about how DEI&B can support your company’s core values and mission.

    DEIB as a Core Value

  • Learn about more about our other products by going back to the Working Product Home page.

    Our Products

  • Download our full Performance Management Toolkit to learn more about the disruptors, company pilots and get our face2face feedback templates.

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