The concept of allyship has gained monumental significance in recent times, especially in conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Leaders have a crucial role to play in creating and sustaining an inclusive work culture, and allyship is an essential aspect of this.

Allyship involves working alongside individuals and communities who face systemic disadvantages and discrimination to eliminate barriers and promote equal opportunities. It requires leaders to practice empathy, sensitivity, and respect while developing a strong understanding of social issues and unconscious biases. Allyship is a powerful and positive mechanism for change.

Here are nine ways that you as a leader can improve your allyship skills and foster a more inclusive and supportive work environment.

1. Broaden your understanding

The first step towards becoming a better ally is educating yourself about the social issues that impact marginalised communities. This includes understanding the history of oppression, structural inequalities, and intersectionality.

Leaders need to create a psychologically safe, respectful environment where diverse opinions can be shared and respected.

Leaders shouldn’t rely on those belonging to marginalised groups to share their stories repeatedly for their learning, this is like asking someone to reopen a healed wound just so you can understand their pain, instead, they can engage in self-education by reading books, attending workshops, and listening to podcasts or watching videos. By doing this, they can gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of people different from themselves and the challenges they face.

2. Listen and learn from your team

As a leader, it is important to listen actively to your team members’ experiences to understand their unique perspectives. Leaders can turn this into an opportunity to learn, explore, and identify their own biases. The challenge is not to listen for what you want to hear but to remember that alternative truths can exist simultaneously. Part of the process of actively listening is to notice the silences and silent people, those silent resistors, the people who feel hard done by, and engage with them as allies, champions and mentors also.

3. Create safe spaces

Allyship requires individuals to have safe spaces where they can speak comfortably about their identities, opinions, and insecurities. These spaces can be used to provide feedback, suggestions, and complaints on how the organisation can become more inclusive. Leaders need to create a psychologically safe, respectful environment where diverse opinions can be shared and respected, and no adverse consequences are experienced as a result of that sharing. Leaders can create these safe spaces in the workplace by establishing clear boundaries, setting positive norms, and promoting open communication.

4. Be accountable

Leaders must be accountable for their actions and words. They must avoid tokenism, which is making superficial changes to make the organisation appear inclusive without addressing systemic issues. It is important to have measurable goals that leaders can achieve towards being better allies, and they need to ensure they are actively taking steps to achieve these goals.

Leaders must recognise their biases and take proactive steps to overcome them.

Accountability looks like publicly and sincerely apologising when you get it wrong and talking about the steps you are going to take to put things right. Accountability looks like acknowledging that there is a problem in your team, department, organisation, or society and you owning your part in that problem and the solution.

5. Use your privilege to advocate for others

Privilege or advantage due to race, gender, age or other characteristic is what helps people succeed in an unjust society. To have privilege, you don’t have to have had a privileged life, but you do need to recognise that in some or all situations you will have an advantage by virtue of who you are. Leaders who hold privileged identities – such as being a white, male, or cisgender person – have a responsibility to use their privilege to advocate for others. They can leverage their positions of power to break down systemic barriers that prevent marginalised groups from succeeding. The good news is that you can use this privilege positively, to support those from marginalised groups and challenge the barriers that keep them marginalised.

6. Address unconscious bias

There are biases in society and as workplaces are a microcosm of society, biases will exist in your place of work. Biases can look like affinity bias, leaders recruiting in their own image; prove it again bias, asking colleagues from marginalised groups to prove themselves over and above what you would ask of their counterparts and tightrope bias, where only a very narrow set of behaviours are accepted from colleagues from marginalised groups, so if they step outside these behaviours they are likely to receive more negative consequences. Unconscious bias is a natural human phenomenon, but it can have negative consequences for marginalised individuals. Leaders must recognise their biases and take proactive steps to overcome them.

To prioritise inclusivity, leaders should aim to create policies that are inclusive and straightforward, without barriers that might exclude specific groups.

7. Amplify marginalised voices

One of the most important things a leader can do for their marginalised colleagues is to amplify their voices. This can include giving them opportunities to speak at events, nominating them for awards or promotions, and creating spaces for their input in decision-making. They must appreciate the value that diverse perspectives bring to the organisation.

8. Speak up and advocate

Leaders must also speak up when they see injustice in their workplaces. This can include calling out colleagues when they show bias, reporting harassment or discrimination, and advocating for more equitable policies. They must stand up and be an ally in the face of adversity.

9. Challenge policies and processes

To prioritise inclusivity, leaders should aim to create policies that are inclusive and straightforward, without barriers that might exclude specific groups. This includes making sure that company policies and procedures don’t discriminate against people of different backgrounds, races, genders, or abilities. Start by looking at your policies and procedures for hiring, managing and promotions. Leaders should also strive to promote equity, fairness and equal opportunity within their organisation.

Remember that it is not enough to say that you are an ally; allyship is all about taking action and role-modelling the change that you wish to see in your organisation.

If you enjoyed this, read: LGBTQ+ History Month: How to boost allyship through education and training.