Inclusive Leadership: What If It All Started With Our Blind Spots?- an article by Ivan Reusse, Managing Director of the Leadership Advisory Activity of Grant Alexander Switzerland, for Le Monde Économique
01.12.2025
In a challenging economic environment where every decision can heavily influence the trajectory of an SME, one idea is gradually gaining ground in the world of management: a leader’s quality is no longer measured solely by their vision or execution speed, but by their ability to make decisions with fewer blind spots. This is where inclusive leadership truly comes into play.
Contrary to clichés that link it to identity politics, inclusive leadership is not a militant approach. It is not about imposing cultural or societal views, nor about incorporating every opinion into every decision. It is, above all, about acknowledging a simple and well-documented fact: most of our decisions are shaped by unconscious biases, and these biases can lead us to errors in judgment—sometimes costly ones.
Research used in our training programs at Grant Alexander emphasizes that 95% of decisions are made unconsciously. Under pressure, with limited time and high stakes, our mental shortcuts take over. That’s human, but it becomes problematic when it comes to hiring, evaluating an employee, distributing workloads, or selecting a strategic project.
Inclusion: A Leadership Capability, Not a Slogan
Simplistic references often reduce inclusion to visible dimensions: multiculturalism, gender, generations. Yet true diversity goes far beyond what is visible. It includes visible, invisible, professional, and contextual diversity.
Properly understood, inclusive leadership does not require being nice—let alone accepting everything. It calls for a far more strategic ability: seeing what you cannot yet see.