Abstract
Our world is rich in ethnicity, belief, social and economic differences, social and physical disability, and equality. Inclusion is the understanding of the ability and developmental diversity of human communities to coexist with sociocultural and racial differences as well as different socio-cultural or racial factors, and the understanding of being able to coexist with people with physical, intellectual, and developmental differences while respecting their cultural contexts. The main driving motivation of the inclusive leadership approach is the cooperation of the employees in the organization, the empowerment of the employees by constantly supporting them, the courage to change against the status quo, and the curiosity to learn about cultural diversity and differences. Inclusive culture, on the other hand, increases organizational resilience. In this section, the possible connections between inclusive leadership, organizational resiliency, inclusion, and culture will be revealed through the lens of inclusive organizational culture, interdisciplinary and intercultural.
TopIntroduction
People have had to leave their geographies for various reasons in the historical flow. This separation, which is expressed with the concept of migration, has brought along a multifaceted effect on people and geography. Experienced migrations have paved the way for changes and transformations in beliefs, thoughts, rules, and structures about human beings (Eki̇ci̇ & Tuncel, 2015). Due to wars, conflicts, and political and economic instability in today's world, people are forced to leave the countries where they live intensely. These changes have brought about radical changes in the organizations created by people. Multiculturalism of human resources, which includes differences in many contexts such as race, language, religion, culture, and physical ability, leads at the beginning of the changes for organizations.
We live in societies that try to convince us that there is only one way to be “normal” as individuals. We often feel measured by a strict standard: white, strong, young, intelligent, successful, attractive, thin, and preferably male. Normality is defined by society and it is a tight bell curve that allows very little deviation. Even those who feel within the confines of the curve feel pressure to adapt to the normal, while those who fall outside of the normal inclined to see themselves as not only different but also incomplete (Klift & Kunc, 2019). Human societies are based on race, gender, language, color, religion, talent, and sexual orientation and are very diverse. Understanding that diversity, not uniformity, is the real social norm, living with respect for differences, has to be an important feature of productive and peaceful cultures. Diversity, if managed well, can be a source of collective strength for organizations. Different cultures and different orientations can enhance the capacity of organizations to increase their organizational resilience by giving more flexible responses to turbulence.
Inclusiveness can be defined as the practice or policy of providing equal access, opportunities, and participation for all individuals, regardless of their background, identity, or characteristics. It involves creating an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and included, and where diversity is celebrated. Inclusiveness is about creating a society, organization, or community where everyone is embraced, respected, and provided with equal opportunities to thrive and contribute their full potential (Anand, 2022; Brown, 2019). Leaders have transformative effects on the culture of the organization (House et al., 2004; Madi Odeh et al., 2021). In today's organizations with high human resource diversity, inclusiveness is becoming a fundamental understanding for success. Due to their transformative and decisive role on culture, leaders should be aware of this capacity and evolve the organizational culture with inclusive organizational culture components.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Leader: Person on charge who has transformative effects on the culture of the organization
Xenophobia: Set of beliefs and ideas based on the assumption that foreigners pose a threat to the nation and people of that country as an expression of ideology. Xenophobia breeds irrational fear, distance and hatred towards differences, foreigners and immigrants, and sees foreigners as the cause of all bad things.
Inclusive Leadership: It rises on the basis of accepting and respecting the individual differences among employees, and involving them in the processes by establishing cooperation and effective communication with them. Inclusive leadership is successful in bringing the organization to desired results and making strategic decisions by overlapping common goals with differences. The inclusive leader is the assurance and insurance of all diversity working in the organisation.
Inclusive Culture: Culture in which everyone's voice is heard, understood, and integrated for practice, thanks to the effective management provided by the management, and the fact that individuals with differences understand each other and resolve their conflicts in a functional way.
Organizational Resilience: Ability of organizations to cope with negative situations, as well as the ability to adapt to a different and risky environment.