THE INCLUSIVE LEADER

A comprehensive call for greater inclusivity in the business world.

The core concern of Tyner’s book is a concept that will be well known to readers familiar with the American business or academic worlds: DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “Needed now more than ever is a type of leadership that is responsive to diverse markets, employees, customers, and thought processes,” Tyner writes. “Inclusive leadership supports this process of engagement and organizational effectiveness.” Tyner, a researcher and scholar, tracks data-employment trends reflected in things like hiring, employee retention, and representation in leadership roles, building a picture of the benefits and challenges involved in creating a more inclusive work culture. In a series of brief, densely researched chapters, the author seeks to help readers become more aware of any implicit biases they may have, spot those biases in others, and work to address and change them (Harvard’s Implicit Association Test is invoked here as one tool among many). Tyner addresses such concepts as cultural taxation (underrepresented groups taking on additional uncompensated work in order to curry favor with their institutions); microaggressions, like backhanded compliments and overt or implied racist behavior (microaggressions, Tyner writes, further alienate those facing discrimination); and other concepts that Tyner asserts can lead to less cooperative and, crucially, less productive organizations. Each chapter concludes with an extensive series of notes and references, but Tyner’s prose throughout is free of dry academic jargon. The result is both a sweepingly comprehensive look at the pitfalls to diversity in the workplace and a passionate call to right these wrongs. At every stage of the book, for every potential problem, Tyner offers practical, clear strategies for change.

An insightful, wide-ranging blueprint for building better, more diverse workplaces.