# data[].attributes.body
Inclusive leadership, as described in the literature, addresses diversity positively, rather than as a difficulty that needs to be dealt with. Inclusive leadership can be facilitated by focusing on an organization or group's uniqueness and belonging so that individuals can be themselves, and creates a fair and safe environment (Veli Korkmaz et al., 2022). A common theme among the research done on inclusive leadership supports the knowledge that common characteristics of inclusive leaders include openness, availability, and accessibly (Carmeli et al., 2010; Choi et al., 2015). When inclusive leaders are present and able to lead by example and provide a safe environment for others where they feel they can express themselves, take risks, and be creative, the environment they lead will reflect this. Individuals will be more present, comfortable, creative, and engaging, as the research has suggested (Veli Korkmaz et al., 2022).

Taking a look at examples of inclusive leadership, McDonald's and Lady Gaga embody the characteristics and ideas that represent inclusive leadership. McDonald's is a corporation that is committed to diversity, equal opportunity, and an inclusive workplace culture. One of this corporations goals is to invest diverse-owned businesses, and 25% of their annual U.S. systemwide spend in 2022 were with diverse-owned suppliers. Some of McDonald's employee business networks that support their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy include PRIDE Network, Disability Inclusion Group, and Global Women's Leadership Network (McDonald’s and Largest Suppliers Join Mutual Commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion; Increasing Purchases with Diverse Suppliers, n.d.)

Lady Gaga, an American singer-songwriter and actress, also embodies inclusive leadership through her music and personal endeavors. For example, her 2011 hit 'Born this Way' became a powerful anthem for self-acceptance, specifically for the LGBTQ+ community. This song also has the potential to influence companies and organizations to create more inclusive workplaces, and promoting an environment where employees can be their authentic selves (Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” Inspires Inclusive Workplaces, 2023).

A theoretical model of inclusive leadership has been developed in the literature, and this illustrates how it builds and adds to existing forms of leadership (Randel et al., 2018). This models suggests that inclusive leadership facilitates belongingness by supporting individuals as group members, ensures justice and equity, and shares decision-making by welcoming openness to other perspectives and ideas. Inclusive leaders also value uniqueness by encouraging diverse contributions and helping group members fully contribute. By promoting belonging and valuing uniqueness, the model indicates that members receive member work group identification and member psychological empowerment. This results in behavioral outcomes that produce creativity, job performance, and reduced turnover (Randel et al., 2018).

# data[].attributes.body
McDonalds is surprisingly very progressive when it comes to inclusion in the workplace providing to us an example of what inclusive leadership may look like in the real world. The fast food chain giant provides cultural competency training to thousands of their employees every year (The best examples of inclusive leadership, 2022). They have also worked to close pay gaps and continue to support the representation of women in senior leadership roles. McDonalds has also encouraged their suppliers to sign a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion or a DEI and continues to partner with diverse suppliers (The best examples of inclusive leadership, 2022).

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout her career as a singer, songwriter, and actor, Lady Gaga has always made her beliefs known and at the forefront of her work. She has been a consistent advocate and supporter to the LGBTQ+ community, children who have experienced bullying, and people of color to reduce inequalities and exclusions. During the Barack Obama administration, Lady Gaga was invited to the White House by Valerie Jarrett, the Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement to discuss the matter of bullying in schools across the nation (Jarrett, 2011). In regards to her 2017 Super Bowl halftime performance she stated “I believe in a passion for inclusion. I believe in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love, and compassion, and kindness. …My performance will uphold those philosophies” (Hunter, 2017). Lady Gaga's passion for inclusivity has led her to various philanthropic works such as the creation of the Born This Way Foundation. In joining with the MacArthur Foundation and Harvard University to launch her foundation, she has facillitated the forward movement of ensuring safety from bullying to children in school (Jarret, 2011). The Born This Way Foundation's mission is to empower youth and support youth mental health through youth focused programs (Our mission, n.d.).

# data[].attributes.body
Over the past two decades, many research ventures have been dedicated to exploring the positive impacts of inclusive leadership on psychological safety, involvement in creative working, ability to learn from errors, and work engagement (Veli Korkmaz et al., 2022).

Results from one study suggests that leader inclusiveness, which is define as leaders that welcome and appreciate others' contributions, can help overcome status and hierarchy effects, specifically in healthcare (Nembhard & Edmondson, 2006). In healthcare teams with high-leader inclusiveness, the status-psychological relationship was weakened, meaning that healthcare settings with a variety of disciplines such as medical doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc., if the leader of this group welcomed inclusivity and opinions of all, regardless of "status," everyone's psychological safety perceptions improved.

Building on this perception of psychological safety, another research article by Carmeli et al. (2010) suggested that inclusive leaders who are open, available, and accessible to individuals in an organization or team who are coming up with new ideas will create a context in which these individuals feel safe to voice and expressive new ideas. As a result, these individuals are more involved in creative work for the organization or team that they are apart of because they feel safe to do so and step out of their comfort zone.

Inclusive leadership promotes promotes participative and openness behaviors from individuals in an organization or workplace environment. As a result, inclusive leadership is a promising leadership style that is beneficial to team innovation (Ye et al., 2019). This innovation is achieved due these individuals who are led by an inclusive leader not being afraid to step outside the box, and knowing that they will be given an opportunity to learn from mistakes when applicable.

A study conducted by Choi et al. (2015), examined the relationship between inclusive leadership and employee work engagement. The participants included 246 employees of 6 companies in the service industry in Vietnam. These individuals completed the 'Employee Work Engagement Scale, Inclusive Leadership Scale, Affective Organizational Commitment Scale, and Employee Creativity Scale.' This study found that inclusive leadership positively related to work engagement. Inclusive leadership can foster a highly motivated organization, and promote individuals to want to engage in work because of the characteristics that inclusive leaders embody, such as openness, accessibility, and availability (Choi et al. 2015).

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Implementing these seven intentional acts of inclusion will encourage relationships and strengthen organizations as well as individual leadership skills. 

# data[].attributes.body
1. Deepen your self-awareness. Build a solid foundation of personal understanding. Understand your own biases, any power and privilege you may have access to, and your personal strengths and weaknesses.

2. Foster social awareness. This is the currency of dialogue and relationships with other people. Pay attention to the world around you, and use this information to build a culture of inclusive leadership.

3. Listen to understand. This is a powerful tool when used correctly, can help the listener discover three things, such as the facts, underlying feelings, and values. You will be better equipped to resolve conflicts and understand any challenges you and your team may be facing.

4. Create connections. The purpose of forming connections is to form a link between yourself and others with the intention to strengthen, encourage, and improve this bond. These connections can lead to diverse social networks.

5. Make a meaningful impact. In the daily interactions with team members or organizations, do things with the intention to create change or build upon existing ideas that will create meaningful impacts. Use your inclusive lends to reveal any blindspots by enabling yourself to be exposed to new information.

6. Lead with courageous vulnerability. Inclusive leaders position themselves in areas where they feel weak, and do so courageously. They are able to identify and share their own limitations, and challenge others' ways of thinking in a respectful manner.

7. Invest resources in inclusion. Building inclusive leadership and diverse teams that collaborate well together requires and investment of resources. However, the investment of resources needs to offer employee satisfaction and engagement and innovation capabilities (Leading Effectively Staff, 2023).

Diversity Perspective: Being pro diversity means viewing diversity as an asset and contributing factor to the teams effectiveness due to availability of differing perspectives and backgrounds (Ashikali, 2023).

Leader Humility: An important characteristic of an inclusive leader in regards to navigating a dynamic and changing environment (Ashikali, 2023).

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI): diversity allows for new perspectives, equity creates a fair environment and helps provide opportunities for individuals who need it, and inclusion promotes feelings of belonging and understanding (Ly, 2023).

# data[].attributes.body
Inclusivity is becoming increasingly important in our modern society as we see discussions developing in our school, work, and social settings. It is henceforth an important trait of leadership to be considerate of. An inclusive leader puts forth effort to recognize and make themselves aware of their own biases, as well as considers different perspectives to make informed decisions and collaborate more effectively with others (Dunbar-Smalley, 2022). This project has been created to provide education and inform others on what inclusive leadership is, and why it matters. This presentation will provide the reader with a thorough description of inclusive leadership, key concepts, real life applications and examples of inclusive leaders, and research supporting the use of inclusive leadership.

# data[].attributes.body
Ashikali, T. (2023). Unraveling determinants of inclusive leadership in public organizations. Public Personnel Management, 52(4), 650–681. https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1177/00910260231180286

Carmeli, A., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Ziv, E. (2010). Inclusive leadership and employee involvement in creative tasks in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological safety. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 250–260.

Coleman, L. R., & Taylor, E. D. (2023). The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion for effective, ethical leadership. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 42(2), 269–280. https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1016/j.csm.2022.11.002

Hunter, J. (2017, February 6). Lady gaga's message of inclusion. Dayton Daily News. https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/opinion/lady-gaga-powerful-message-inclusion/ZZXxUvsn6KoefQnRFZ0qtN/

Jarrett, V. (2011, December 6). Meeting with lady gaga on inclusion and equality for our young people. Obama White House Archives. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/12/06/meeting-lady-gaga-inclusion-and-equality-our-young-people

Lady gaga’s “born this way” inspires inclusive workplaces. (2023). www.linkedin.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lady-gagas-born-way-inspires-inclusive-workplaces-marcus-maschmedt-qvkfe/?trk=public_post

Leading Effectively Staff. (2023, May 11). Inclusive leadership: Steps your organization should take to get it right. Center for Creative Leadership. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/when-inclusive-leadership-goes-wrong-and-how-to-get-it-right/

Ly, E. (2023, May 25). Why DEI is important: Nine benefits of strong DEI in the workplace. Healthcare Equity. https://equity.uwmedicine.org/why-dei-is-important-nine-benefits-of-strong-dei-in-the-workplace/#:~:text=Diversity%2C%20equity%2C%20and%20inclusion%20are

McDonald’s and largest suppliers join mutual commitment to diversity equity and inclusion: Increasing purchases with diverse suppliers. (n.d.). Corporate Mcdonalds. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from Www.mcdonalds.com. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/dei-diverse-supplier.html

Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(7), 941–966.

Our mission. (n.d.). Born This Way Foundation. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from https://bornthisway.foundation/support-our-work/

Randel, A. E., Galvin, B. M., Shore, L. M., Ehrhart, K. H., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., & Kedharnath, U. (2018). Inclusive leadership: Realizing positive outcomes through belongingness and being valued for uniqueness. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 190–203.

The best examples of inclusive leadership in 2022. (n.d.). Coach Diversity Institute. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from https://coachdiversity.com/blog/inclusive-leadership-examples/#:~:text=McDonald's%20also%20actively%20worked%20to,%2C%20and%20inclusion%20(DEI).

Veli Korkmaz, A., van Engen, M. L., Knappert, L., & Schalk, R. (2022). About and beyond leading uniqueness and belongingness: A systematic review of inclusive leadership research. Human Resource Management Review, 32(4), 100894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2022.100894

Ye, Q., Wang, D., & Guo, W. (2019). Inclusive leadership and team innovation: The role of team voice and performance pressure. European Management Journal, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.01.006

# data[].attributes.body
Leadership and particularly inclusive leadership, play a crucial role in team members perspective of inclusiveness and in addition to this, the modeling of inclusive behavior (Ashikali, 2023). Inclusive leadership is a newer perspective on leadership that through its core, facillitates inclusivity to spread to all tangents of a teams infastructure. To understand why this leadership style is effective, we must first understand why inclusion is important. Inclusion is the process of creating an environment supporting the talents of individuals through equality, fairness, openness, and belonging. In creating an environment with differing backgrounds, ideas, and skill sets more is contributed to forward movement in which an undiversified environment would lack (Coleman & Taylor, 2023). Inclusive leadership values diversity and strives to create belonging, openness, and uniqueness on a team level. This approach to leader behavior is the defining difference between inclusive leadership and former leadership styles. In the facillitation of inclusive behaviors through a leadership role, the team members gain a sense of beloning and appreciation within the team by their own attributes being valued which in return, manifests to an increase in productivity and ideas (Ashikali, 2023). By valuing each team members uniqueness it gives way to more ideas and collaboration. With this in mind, we as OTs, can understand the importance of feeling valued and participating in something that is meaningful to us. Participation in meaningful activties increases quality of life and therefore increases occupational performance.