Many organizations still face lingering challenges as they work to develop more inclusive leaders for the decade ahead. Here’s what promises to help… -BY Joseph Warren

It’s frustrating to realize that despite the millions of dollars and thousands of hours that have been spent on building inclusive leadership teams, many companies still don’t have enough inclusive leaders to succeed in the decade ahead. Worse, these leaders often can’t be hired from the open market – the competition for high-quality leadership talent is simply too fierce for this to be a reliable sourcing method. As a result, firms need to do more to develop inclusive leaders from within their own organizations.

That’s right – firms need to do more. While everything that’s been done already has helped, lingering challenges are preventing companies that care about inclusivity from having the robust internal talent pools and pipelines they need for the next generation of leaders. Here, some of the biggest lingering challenges will be examined, with an eye toward making meaningful progress.

Challenge #1: The easy conversations are over

A long-standing challenge for firms working to develop more inclusive leaders is the reality of the conversations that need to happen. In a nutshell, the easy conversations are done. They were table stakes. Now, it’s time for more advanced and strategic conversations.

This challenge falls into the same category as “tick box” trainings and events. There’s no competitive advantage in the basics, or in purely performative diversity exercises. Nurturing and expanding inclusivity at a leadership level requires full engagement and ongoing, evolving activities for anyone in leadership or on a leadership track.

To make these next-level conversations happen – and keep happening over time, firms will be most successful when they tie inclusivity to clear metrics and performance evaluations, according to surveys by Justworks, Mckinsey, and others. This rewards demonstrable inclusivity gains, and creates a space for tough conversations about behaviors on an annualized basis (at a minimum!). After all, it’s one conversation when the dialogue is, “This manager fails to advocate for the women on his team. Something needs to change,” and quite a different discussion when the statement is “The turnover rate for women in this workgroup is triple that of comparable groups, and exit interviews cite a lack of managerial support as a cause. Something needs to change.”

By linking inclusivity to other business and operational metrics in this way, firms send a clear message that leaders need to be authentically inclusive and that what’s happening will be regularly discussed. This kind of message can open doors for real change and also for targeted training, to ensure leaders have the skills to deal thoughtfully and appropriately with a diverse team. As a result, managers and managerial prospects can get a clearer picture of the behaviors that are expected of the leadership class – and feel they are supported as they develop those behaviors.

Challenge #2: Companies aren’t starting smart on Day 1

A second lingering challenge for many companies when it comes to developing inclusive leaders is that the development isn’t starting at Day 1. Instead of building inclusivity expectations and training directly into onboarding practices, many firms are left playing catch-up. Inclusivity training for leaders may thus be piecemeal, entirely reactive, or left to the individuals themselves. From a talent pipelining perspective, this is less than ideal. To have high quality leaders in the future, firms need to be making the investment – right from the start – in creating those leaders now.

Building inclusivity into onboarding training for new hires serves multiple purposes. First, it brings everyone to the same page around values and expected behaviors within the company culture. This provides an early opt-out opportunity for candidates not interested or aligned with the company’s inclusivity values. Second, it provides level-setting training to ensure everyone has the same operational framework for approaching inclusivity issues, preventing many future problems. Finally, it is vital for helping to shape the organizational culture, so that future generations of leaders can bring a strong internal history of inclusivity to the table when its time for advancement and promotion.

Challenge #3: Mentors and sponsors remain scarce

One of the last lingering challenges in developing inclusive leaders and leadership teams is a scarcity of senior level mentors and sponsors to model and champion inclusive behaviors. There are a number of contributing factors to the gap, but one clear outcome… employees who feel excluded or unheard, as well as rising leaders who feel they have no one to support them on their journey.

To address this issue, McKinsey recommends looking beyond traditional 1:1 match up programming. Among employees and junior leaders who reported that they felt inclusion at their organizations, a 1:1 relationship was the minority. Instead, three to five mentors or sponsorships were credited with making a difference.

That can sound scary, especially to D&I teams already struggling to find even solo mentors for junior employees. Now each one needs multiples? How will that happen? One solution is facilitating greater access to senior leadership by junior team members and high potential talents. Employee resource groups can be one venue for this, as well as grouped learning sessions of themed outings with senior sponsorship. In McKinsey’s studies, early findings indicate that frequent and substantive interactions with multiple potential sponsors and advocates moved the bar on inclusion even more than a solo, dedicated mentorship type relationship.

Bringing this added access to senior sponsorship to the table along with smart starts from Day 1 and data-driven frameworks for next level conversations creates a space for inclusive leaders to develop, grow, and thrive. Plus, with strong roots and strong ties to their current organization, these inclusivity minded leaders of the future are more likely to stay with the firm and be ready and available as they’re needed. Now, it may take years to fully appreciate the benefits, but addressing the lingering challenges of developing inclusive leaders should pay significant dividends for firms willing to do the hard work.