Leading Inclusively: Skills Every Manager Should Know

Together, these three pillars aren’t just moral imperatives - they are strategic drivers of better decision making, innovation, and long term business success.

Research shows that companies with stronger diversity at the top are materially more likely to outperform on profit, and more diverse leadership drives more innovation. For example, McKinsey’s analysis shows top-quartile companies on ethnic and cultural diversity were substantially more likely to outperform peers on profitability. Companies with above-average leadership diversity also report higher innovation revenues.

For managers, the message is clear: inclusive leadership isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a core skillset that directly improves performance, engagement, and retention.

Why inclusive leadership matters

The latest UK data highlights both progress and gaps, and shows why managers matter most in turning policy into everyday practice:

·      Women now hold 35.3% of leadership roles across the FTSE-350 (data snapshot: executive & direct-report data, 31 Oct 2024). This is progress but still below the collective 40% leadership target many organisations were aiming for by 2025.

·      In the FTSE-100, people from ethnic minority backgrounds hold 19% of all director positions (Parker Review / data reported to end-of-2023). Progress has been made, but senior-management representation still lags behind.

·      Four in ten people with disabilities, chronic health conditions, or who are neurodivergent in the UK reported experiencing microaggressions, harassment or bullying at work in the past 12 months (Deloitte’s Disability Inclusion at Work survey; UK sample fieldwork Jan–Apr 2024).

·      59% of UK employees say their employer still has “considerable work” to do on DEI. That gap between employer priorities and employee experience is exactly where inclusive managers must act.

This mix, progress on representation but persistent inclusion gaps, explains why managers are the crucial link between strategy and day-to-day experience.

Skills every manager should build

Inclusive leadership is a skillset you can train and practice. Focus on building these capabilities:

1. Self-awareness & bias recognition: Notice your blind spots and the shortcuts (heuristics) that influence your decisions.
2. Empathy & listening: Make space for people to share and let lived experiences shape decisions.
3. Cultural competence: Adapt how you communicate and set expectations across different cultures; avoid assuming one approach works for everyone.
4. Psychological safety:  Build teams where people feel safe to speak up, ask questions and learn from mistakes.
5. Inclusive communication: Use words, formats, and channels that include everyone (e.g. captions, flexible meeting times).
6. Fair decision making: Be transparent about how hiring, promotions, and project assignments are decided, using clear criteria.
7. Flexibility & accessibility: Design work, meetings, and events to include people with different needs (neurodiversity, disabilities, caregiving).
8. Data literacy & accountability: Track inclusion through surveys and disaggregated data, and act on what you learn.
9. Coaching & sponsorship: Support and advocate for underrepresented talent by giving them opportunities to grow.
10.  Allyship & advocacy: Use your influence to remove barriers and call out unfair behaviour when you see it.
11. Systems thinking & change management: Recognise how policies, incentives, and culture interact, and drive lasting change (not just one-off initiatives).

If you’re short on time, focus first on psychological safety, fair decision making and sponsorship - those deliver visible, fast wins and signal real commitment.

How to put these skills into action

Concrete, repeatable actions help skills stick:

1. Training with deliberate practice: combine micro-learning with roleplays, real-world tasks and manager cohorts.
2. Feedback loops: run short pulse surveys (segmented by group) and publish actions taken within fixed windows.
3. Reverse mentoring: pair managers with colleagues from underrepresented groups for two-way learning.
4. Policy check-ups: audit recruitment, promotion and flexible working rules to remove bias and barriers.
5. Visible leadership: reward inclusive behaviours in promotion criteria and performance conversations.

The reality: barriers and breakthroughs

Time pressure, competing priorities and patchy data slow progress. But managers who treat inclusion as a capability (not an optional HR tick box) change local culture. The returns are real: better engagement, stronger innovation and improved retention in a competitive talent market.

How Expert LMS can help

Building inclusive leadership is a behaviour change challenge; the right platform helps managers practise skills in context:

• Modular learning paths - short modules on diversity, inclusive decision-making, and accessibility.• Scenario practice - creAIt simulated decision exercises where managers get feedback on inclusive behaviours.
• Pulse & reporting - integrate quick team pulses so managers can track whether behaviour changes are landing.

Expert LMS’s mobile-first, flexible courses can embed the daily habits that translate policy into practice.

Conclusion

The future of UK work will be diverse by default. Whether it is inclusive depends on managers. By building these skills and using data and deliberate practice to hold themselves accountable, managers don’t just improve morale: they future-proof organisations.

Resources

• McKinsey & Company — Diversity wins: How inclusion matters (report, May 19, 2020). (Findings on likelihood of financial outperformance for highly diverse companies.) McKinsey & Company
• Boston Consulting Group — How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation (BCG study, Jan 2018). (Findings on higher innovation revenue for diverse leadership teams.) BCG
• FTSE Women Leaders Review — 2025 report (leadership data compiled to 31 Oct 2024). (Women: 35.3% of leadership roles across FTSE-350.) FTSE Women Leaders
• Parker Review / EY coverage — Parker Review results (data to 31 Dec 2023): ethnic-minority directors in FTSE-100 now 19% of director positions. EY
• Deloitte — Disability Inclusion at Work (press release & survey; Dec 3, 2024; UK sample in Jan–Apr 2024): 40% reported microaggressions/harassment/bullying in past 12 months (UK respondents). Deloitte Italia
• Diversio — Future of DEI in UK Workplaces (Dec 11, 2024): 59% of UK employees believe their companies still have considerable work to do on DEI. Diversio