Leadership Diversity & Inclusion Statement

Being a diverse leader means setting up your personnel in a way their intellectual and cultural diversity can thrive. The differences in a team can quickly become the mesh that holds them together.

According to leadership membership exchange, a leader must reach out to their followers to make sure they know they are valued, as well as listen to the challenges they face. Leaders can never be as tuned into the issues their followers face, which is why it so important they build the dyads  described in leadership membership exchange.

Identifying bias is an important part of leadership. Knowing others bias is important as well. Being able to  overcome your bias while still preserving the foundation of your background is extremely important to leadership. For example, overcoming the biases I have gained at VMI is important, but I cannot loose the discipline, ethics, or skills I have learned. While VMI may make me think many people are “lazy” their idea of hard work looks very different than mine.

Currently I do no think about my followers backgrounds, and if I have, it rarely effects my leadership. This is due to my somewhat limited role as Band Clerk. While it is important to recognize their backgrounds, it will likely not effect the decisions I make.

After refining my leadership, I realize that the key to diversity and inclusivity is making sure everyone gets a fair shake. Everyone who seeks to succeed should have a fair chance to do so. Those who try to improve themselves should have the full support of their leaders. In my position, it is my job to push my followers to improve even when they have given up on themselves.