Jonathan Yeo

What role do senior leaders play in fostering an inclusive environment that empowers individuals from all backgrounds and gender?

Fostering inclusion has to start at the top. If the executive team and senior leadership are not bought into the why, and actively engaged in the how, of inclusive leadership, then any efforts at other levels of the organisation will ultimately feel hollow. 

How have you used your influence to support other individuals in achieving more in their career?

As a consultant, I’m in an effective position to challenge the accepted wisdom that can build up in an organisation. One area that I love to get organisations to think differently about is potential versus performance. Reviews and KPIs can tell us how someone is performing in their role today, but they don’t necessarily tell us how someone will perform tomorrow, or in a new role or opportunity, and often ignores their potential for transformation. I challenge leaders to see possibility in every team member, not just the ones who’ve already worked out the way forward, or have easy access to those pathways. 

What tangible steps can organisations take to create a culture of equality at the leadership level?​

I think organisations need to be more realistic about what creates a true experience of equality. Representation is important, and it’s a worthy goal to have more backgrounds represented in senior roles, but that is also inevitably a long term goal - it may require nurturing internal talent over years. The experience of equality for anyone in organisation comes from their sense of whether they are valued, heard, and supported — and that comes from how leaders behave, regardless of their backgrounds.

What advice would you give to those looking to champion inclusive leadership in their organisations?

Don’t just get buy-in from the top for an initiative on inclusion - start the initiative there. Not only does the senior leadership team need to be the role models of inclusive behaviour, they also should have the opportunity to explore their own experiences of inclusion and exclusion, which will then help them be champions of it for others.

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