How to create an inclusive workplace

National inclusion week begins on Monday and as a social historian, author and adviser on inclusion, ethics and anti-racism, Nick Basannavar is at the forefront of global debate. Running his own consultancy, he works with leaders in corporates, charities and governments. Here he shares his simple advice for greater inclusion at work.
1 Stop talking. Just because you’re the most senior person in the room doesn’t mean you’ve got something important or interesting to say. Enable the conditions for others to talk, particularly those with less power. Then listen to them. Keep doing this.
2 Ask better questions. You’re busy. So what? Start from the assumption that there will never be enough time. Now, what’s the real question you should be asking to make the place you’re in a better one?
3 Think hard about your principles. Not enough leaders consider why they do what they do. Consider your ethical positions and show your workings to others at the right moments. Help them to do the same. Appreciate each other’s positions meaningfully and you will build healthier cultures.
4 Attune. Build trust with those around you by paying attention, practising compassion and sharing parts of yourself that aren’t simply your experiences of work. Un-practise your learnt behaviours.
5 Challenge at the right time. This is an artform: knowing when you have built just the right level of trust to challenge the individual, the system or the power structure to advance the case for behaviour change, or justice, or both.
6 Read poetry. Everything you need to learn about the human experience is contained in literature. All you have to do is look.
National inclusion week runs from September 23 to September 29