Building the Skills for Future-Fit Workplaces
If you spend time talking with leaders at any level right now, a common theme emerges: workplaces feel more complex than ever. Teams are distributed, roles are evolving, and the expectations of employees, customers, and regulators are shifting at pace.
At the heart of these changes lies something consistent and deeply human: the need to belong. Inclusion is no longer an initiative, a program, or a slide in the induction deck. It is the daily practice of leadership, and it is inseparable from workplace culture — the norms, behaviours, and unspoken expectations that shape how people experience their work. Increasingly, inclusion is also a legal standard.
Recent changes to the Respect at Work legislation place a positive duty on employers and leaders to create workplaces that are safe, inclusive, and free from harassment. This duty asks us not just to respond when harm occurs, but to actively design environments that prevent it. Culture is built every day through leaders’ decisions, interactions, and behaviours — shaping whether people feel valued, safe, and respected.
Inclusion is a Practice, Not a Poster
Lieutenant General Natasha Fox AO, CSC, captures the essence of inclusive leadership:
“I value diversity of thought – it delivers capabilities, it saves lives. Alone, we do not have all of the solutions and we cannot solve wicked problems in an echo chamber; diversity of thought matters. Include people and listen.”
— Lieutenant General Natasha Fox AO, CSC, Australian War Memorial, 29 August 2025 (source)
Inclusive workplaces don’t emerge from bold statements or a well-written set of values. They grow from a leader’s capacity to:
Listen with curiosity rather than assumption
Invite perspectives that are different from their own
Create clarity when work becomes ambiguous
Notice who is quiet, who is excluded, and who is carrying unseen load
Respond early and thoughtfully when harm or discomfort appears
These are subtle human and cultural leadership skills. They can be learned, strengthened, and modelled consistently — which is how an inclusive culture takes root.
Why This Matters Now
Workplaces today draw on more diversity than ever before: different cultural identities, neurodiversity, age groups, lived experiences, work patterns, and needs. Flexible work arrangements have opened doors for many who were previously excluded from traditional workplace rhythms. Done well, hybrid and flexible models enable inclusion, but only when leaders are intentional about connection, clarity, and trust.
Culture plays a central role here. The recent Fair Work Commission decision involving Westpac Banking Corporation reinforced this, showing that mutual clarity and shared norms are critical for fairness and inclusion. Inclusion isn’t “anything goes”; it’s about designing work and culture in ways that are equitable, transparent, and considerate of the people who do it.
Executive & Team Coaching: Turning Intention into Impact
Understanding what inclusive leadership looks like is one thing. Embedding it into everyday leadership practice and culture is another. This is where executive and team coaching become essential.
As highlighted in the Champions of Change Coalition resource, Focused on Everyday Respect, leaders shape respectful, inclusive workplaces through everyday actions and decisions.
Through coaching, leaders can:
Explore and refine their inclusive leadership mindset
Develop the human skills of listening, inviting difference, and creating clarity
Strengthen their capacity for noticing exclusion and responding early
Embed inclusive behaviours into team norms, systems, and decision-making
When leaders and teams engage in coaching focused on these capabilities, they don’t just “talk inclusion” — they live it, and the culture shifts accordingly.
The Invitation to Leaders
This moment calls leaders to shift from managing tasks to stewarding culture. Ask yourself:
Who gets to speak here?
Whose needs are considered in our decisions?
Where might exclusion be quietly happening?
What assumptions do I regularly make that might not be shared by others?
Inclusive culture is built through everyday leadership actions — not grand gestures.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
We support organisations in embedding inclusive culture and building practical capability in:
Curiosity and listening
Psychological safety
Culturally aware communication
Inclusive decision-making
When leaders have these skills and consistently model inclusive behaviours, culture shifts, workplaces feel different, people bring more of themselves, collaboration becomes richer, and performance becomes sustainable.
Explore our practitioner support for leaders and teams to start embedding inclusive culture in your organisation.