Opening Inclusive Leadership…

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An Org Collective tool

The Inclusive Leadership self-assessment — five dimensions of equity-centered leadership and the racial identity formation model — is part of the Collective org membership. Unlock full access to continue.

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Inclusive Leadership

Self-Assessment

A private diagnostic across five dimensions of equity-centered leadership. Your scores stay in your browser — nothing is sent or shared. Score yourself honestly — this is a mirror, not a performance.

This assessment is drawn from the frameworks in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in the Workplace & Everyday Life and the ECO curriculum. It measures your current capacity — not your character. Low scores aren't shame. They're data. Every dimension is developable.

I. Voice Distribution

Who speaks in your meetings, and who doesn't? Do you track this?
I actively notice who speaks, who is interrupted, and whose ideas are credited in meetings.3
RarelyAlways
I redistribute speaking time — I invite quiet voices and interrupt dominant ones with care.3
RarelyAlways

II. Repair Capacity

When harm occurs, how do you respond?
When I cause harm, I acknowledge the impact without centering my intent.3
RarelyAlways
I take responsibility without defensiveness — no "but," no justification.3
RarelyAlways

III. Identity Literacy

Understanding your own social location and its impact on how you lead.
I can name my own social location — race, gender, class, ability, and how these shape my experience of the workplace.3
RarelyAlways
I understand the stages of racial identity formation and recognize where I am in that developmental process.3
RarelyAlways

IV. Structural Equity

Moving beyond interpersonal awareness into systemic change.
I advocate for equitable hiring, promotion, and retention practices — not just diversity statements.3
RarelyAlways
I proactively ensure accommodations are offered — not just granted under duress — for disability, neurodivergence, religious practice, and caregiving.3
RarelyAlways

V. Privilege Awareness

The willingness to examine your own unearned advantages.
I can name privileges I hold without defensiveness or guilt — I understand privilege is a fact to be used in service, not a personal accusation.3
RarelyAlways
When confronted about privilege or bias, I listen first and examine — rather than defend and explain.3
RarelyAlways

Racial Identity Formation Stages

From Chapter 1.3 of the DEIB book. Understanding your stage is critical to leadership — your capacity to hold space for others is bounded by where you are in your own development.

Stage 1: Naiveté

Racial curiosity akin to a young child. Brief and quickly socialized out. Most adults are not here.

Stage 2: Conformity

Internalization of dominant racial norms. Devaluation of one's own racial group (for people of color) or unquestioning acceptance of white normativity.

Stage 3: Dissonance

Encounters with information or experience that challenges conformist beliefs. Confusion, guilt, anger. The beginning of awakening.

Stage 4: Resistance & Immersion

Rejection of dominant norms. Immersion in one's own racial/cultural identity. Can include anger at the dominant group. A necessary passage.

Stage 5: Introspection

Questioning the rigidity of the resistance stage. Recognizing complexity within oneself and one's own group.

Stage 6: Integrative Awareness

A secure racial identity. Capacity to appreciate one's own group while collaborating across difference. Internal sense of worth not dependent on external validation.

Stage 7: Integrative Commitment

Sustained action toward social justice. Identity is a platform for systemic change — not just personal comfort.

From Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in the Workplace & Everyday Life by Sahar Muhsin Laufman (Bookboon, 2022) and the ECO Counter-Oppression Toolkit.