USING MINDFUL EXCLUSION TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Before the pandemic, technological strategy and issues of a holistic nature, such as organisational culture, talent management, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, broader social impact and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, struggled to make it onto the boardroom agenda in any meaningful way. Given the push for greater focus on a broader set of stakeholders and the growing momentum for companies to address ESG issues, it would appear strange that boards were not acting upon this knowledge.
So why were they not? Was it a case of wilful blindness, with some boards willing to run the reputational risk of being out of step with public sentiment? Or was there something more subtle at play that was blinding them to the risks? These are just some of the questions addressed in a recent research report on ‘Mindful Exclusion’, published by The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland and the Centre for Synchronous Leadership (CSL).
The concept of mindful exclusion is the brainchild of Justine Lutterodt, managing director of CSL and author of the report. Its premise is that exclusion is an inevitable aspect of decision making, since the choice to include one thing generally involves excluding another. Moreover, the problems we typically associate with exclusion are a result of the mindless way we tend to approach it. The challenge, then, is not to avoid exclusion but rather to exclude more mindfully.
CSL has been conducting research and sparking dialogue about mindful exclusion since 2015, when 100 senior executives, human resources (HR) leaders and employee network chairs gathered in central London to discuss under what conditions they would be happy to be excluded. The notion of ‘excluding better’ has proven equally relevant to all three of these audiences, serving as a bridge between organisational effectiveness and organisational culture.
Jul-Sep 2021 Issue
The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland