As our awareness of heterogeneity of the world around us increases, we awaken to a kaleidoscope of experiences and stimuli that was buried in our unconscious state of being.
We become aware of the smell of the earth after a rainy evening, the sound of the cricket, the freshness of the morning breeze, the touch of the falling dew and the faint chirping of the cuckoo.
At a physical level, this process is viewed as part of transitioning from adolescent to adulthood while at a metaphysical level; it is an evolution of our senses, a heightened sensitivity towards sights, sounds, smells, feelings that was in the growing years taken somewhat for granted.
When we consider this as a parallel to our individual and professional journey as a manager or a leader, we are opening ourselves to nuances of human relationships, inter connectedness, differences, similarities and a myriad feelings.
As gold needs to be blazed for purity, our spirits too need to ferment and grow in emotional capability. It is this process which determines a gradual evolution towards developing an inclusive behavior. A collective demonstration of this behavior creates an eco system that permeates through the cultural fabric of the organization.
Is inclusiveness a Value or a Competence?
As a value, inclusiveness gets positioned like ethics and integrity as core to individuals. In my view, this is the error that most organizations make as ‘inclusivity’ cannot be taken merely as an assumed value or a natural behavior for individuals; it is rather acquired with emotional maturity and experience.
Hence if we view inclusiveness as a competence, we would need to measure it, build and reinforce it as we do with other competencies that are a part of our developmental efforts.
So how does one measure Inclusiveness and this really brings me to a term that I have been reflecting for a while and placing for consideration as a future of workforces and developmental focus.
The ‘Inclusiveness Quotient’ (Inc Q)
Inclusiveness Quotient is a term coined to measure the degree to which an individual is inclusive in relation with others. Inclusion is a factor of emotional evolution and maturity and gets exhibited or expressed through behaviors and emotions while dealing with relationships and being tolerant of differences. Hence this quotient measures the degree of this inherent sensitivity in an individual.
Inclusiveness Quotient can be also measured at a team level. For a collective, this helps in assessing the sensitivity of the prevailing environment in dealing with relationships and differences emerging from diversity of thinking, backgrounds, cultures, gender, age and experience as a few elements at play.
Lack of inclusive behaviors could lead to feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, trauma and other negative emotions experienced by members of the team.
So what is your Inc Q?
