We tend to agree that inclusive leadership is a good thing, so why is it so notoriously hard to train people to do it?

Most organizations treat inclusive leadership like a technical skill. You sit through a 60-minute webinar, take a quiz, and suddenly you’re “certified.”

But inclusive leadership isn’t a technical skill. It’s a set of behaviours.

Here is why it’s so difficult to train:

1. It requires unlearning, not just learning: Inclusive leadership forces us to confront our own unconscious biases, which can feel uncomfortable and destabilizing – especially if it’s done in front of a group.
2. It’s about habits, not knowledge: You can memorize the definition of “microaggression” and still fail to interrupt one in a real-time meeting. Inclusion is a skill built through practice, not information.
3. It’s not about “right” answers: It’s not as simple as “If X happens, do Y.” Inclusive leadership is highly contextual and requires situational judgment.

Where one-off workshops have failed, the Inclusive Leadership Learning Snippets program is a great place to start again. It provides private and impactful practice in real-world scenarios and sparks important conversations.

By shifting the focus from public performance to safe, ongoing practice, we can help leaders build the inclusion muscle they need to change workplace culture for good.