Leaders and Cultural Agility

Cultural agility

Leaders: how good is your cultural awareness?

As leaders, understanding different cultures, particularly within your team is critical to create an inclusive environment where people thrive

Is English a second language for some?Do team members observe Ramadan or other religious practices? What cultural festivities are celebrated? Having recently moved to Australia, I am learning something new everyday. I even celebrated my first "Christmas in July"!My biggest learning so far has been regarding the Indigenous & Aboriginal culture, which I admittedly knew very little about.Aboriginals only represent around 3% of the Australian population, but over 30% in the Northern Territory.They are unfortunately a very excluded minority in society overallUnemployment rate of Indigenous people is 4X higher (19%)Indigenous Australians only represent 0.7% of executive positions

Leading with inclusion

There is a lot of work to do, but I love the conscious effort the country is making to be more inclusive and raise awareness about the Indigenous culture and heritage:Schools and kindies teach the little ones about the land where we are in, and celebrate aboriginal culture in different occasions.I recently met a company that starts every presentation with a simple phrase to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land.Little gestures go a long way and it doesn't have to be that hard.What is one small thing you can do as a leader to be more culturally agile and inclusive?