Author: Shona McFarlane
The most powerful leaders aren’t the loudest in the room - they’re the ones who make others feel safe to speak, share, and be themselves. At its heart, inclusive leadership is about psychological safety: creating a space where people can voice ideas, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear of embarrassment or blame. When teams feel safe, innovation flourishes, collaboration deepens, and wellbeing improves.
Even Google discovered this. In Project Aristotle, a large-scale study looking at what makes teams effective, researchers expected to find that success was driven by talent, experience, or intelligence. Instead, they found one factor that stood above everything else: psychological safety. The highest-performing teams weren’t the ones with the most geniuses - they were the ones where people felt safe to speak up.
But inclusion goes beyond empathy, it’s about awareness and action. That includes understanding neurodiversity: the many ways our brains process information, communicate, and experience the world. Neurodivergent colleagues with ADHD, autism, or dyslexia often bring creativity, focus, and unconventional thinking, yet may struggle in environments that expect everyone to behave the same way.
Inclusive leaders recognise this. They ask, “What does this person need to do their best work?” rather than, “Why don’t they fit the norm?” They adapt communication, invite different perspectives, and celebrate the richness that diversity brings.
One leader I worked with recently shared how a simple change transformed her team. She noticed that one of her most talented team members - someone with ADHD - rarely spoke up in meetings. Instead of assuming disinterest, she asked privately how she could make the meetings easier to engage with. He explained that quick-fire discussions made it hard for him to process his thoughts in time to contribute. So she started sharing agendas in advance and inviting written input after meetings.
Within weeks, his ideas began to flow - creative, insightful, and often game-changing. The whole team noticed the difference. One small act of curiosity opened the door to confidence, collaboration, and trust.
That’s inclusive leadership in action. It’s not about grand gestures or slogans; it’s about everyday awareness, noticing, asking, listening, and adapting. True inclusion isn’t a one-time initiative - it’s a daily practice of curiosity, compassion, and courage. When leaders model these qualities, they don’t just build better teams, they build workplaces where every individual feels valued, heard, and safe to shine.
If this resonates with you, I’m running a one-day course - Inclusive Leadership: Building Psychological Safety, Inclusion, and Neurodiversity Awareness in Teams.
It’s a practical, reflective day exploring how to create cultures where everyone can thrive.