Lessons in Humanistic Leadership Humanistic Leadership Project  ·  Vol. 4
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Volume 4  ·  Theme: Inclusivity
Lessons in Humanistic Leadership
Every Voice
Belongs in the Room.
Inclusivity isn't about checking a box or making a poster. It's about building spaces — in businesses, classrooms, and hallways — where every single person can show up fully and contribute something real.
In This Issue
01
What Is Inclusivity?
02
A Leadership Portrait
03
HL in your World
04 & 05
Action Challenge + Wellbeing
Edited by Sunay  ·  Founder  ·  Humanistic Leadership Project HL Project
Lessons in Humanistic Leadership Page 2 of 4
Section 01  ·  Theme

What Is Inclusivity — Really?

It's not a diversity poster. It's not a corporate slogan. It's the practice of making sure every person actually matters — and feels it.

Let's start with the difference between two words that get mixed up constantly: diversity and inclusivity. Diversity is about who's in the room. Inclusivity is about what happens once they're there. You can have a classroom full of students from 20 different backgrounds — but if only the same three people ever speak, that's diversity without inclusivity. Inclusivity means every person's voice, perspective, and presence is genuinely valued — not just tolerated.

In 2024, McKinsey research found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity are 36% more likely to outperform their peers financially. Why? Because when people feel included, they share their best ideas. They take risks. They stay. When they don't feel included, they go quiet — and their best thinking goes with them. Inclusivity isn't just the right thing to do. It's also the smart thing to do.

For a high schooler, this isn't abstract. Think about the group project where one person never gets to present. The club where new members feel invisible. The lunch table where there's always an unspoken rule about who sits where. Every one of those moments is an inclusivity moment — and every one of them is a chance to lead.

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

— Lilla Watson, Indigenous Australian Artist & Activist
Section 02  ·  A Leadership Portrait, Created to Bring HL Qualities to Life

Meet Tariq El-Amin

Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at a Fortune 500 tech company — and a leader who learned about exclusion the hard way, from the inside.
TE
Tariq El-Amin
Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer  ·  Global Technology Company
Tariq grew up as one of the only Muslim students in his mid-western high school. He knows exactly what it feels like to be the person in the room who laughs a half-second late because they missed a cultural reference everyone else understood. He studied computer science, joined a major tech firm, and for years watched brilliant colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds quietly disappear — not fired, but never promoted, never heard, never staying long enough to matter. He decided to do something about it. Today, Tariq oversees inclusion strategy across 34 countries and is known for one principle above all: "You can't include people from the outside. You have to build rooms they helped design."
34
Countries in
Tariq's inclusion work
36%
More likely to outperform
with diverse leadership
#1
Reason talent leaves:
feeling unheard
Humanistic Leadership Project  ·  Edited by Sunay Theme: Inclusivity
Lessons in Humanistic Leadership Page 3 of 4
Inclusivity

What Inclusivity Is — and Isn't — at Work

"The biggest mistake companies make, is confusing presence with participation. Getting someone in the door is the beginning — not the achievement. Inclusivity is what happens after that."

✓  Inclusivity IS
  • ✓ Actively inviting quieter voices into the conversation
  • ✓ Designing processes so everyone can contribute, not just the loudest
  • ✓ Noticing who's missing from the table — and asking why
  • ✓ Making it safe to disagree, be different, and take up space
✗  Inclusivity is NOT
  • ✗ A diversity statement nobody reads
  • ✗ Treating someone differently because of their background
  • ✗ Forcing everyone to be the same or agree on everything
  • ✗ Performing inclusion while ignoring people's actual experience
A Real Moment — Tariq's Turning Point
Three years into his career, Tariq was in a strategy meeting where a junior colleague — the only woman on the team — raised an idea. The room moved on without acknowledging it. Twenty minutes later, a senior executive said the same thing. Applause. Tariq watched her face. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. After the meeting, Tariq pulled her aside: "I heard your idea. It was the right call. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen again." That conversation changed both their careers. He started tracking who spoke, who got credit, and who went silent. That data became the foundation of his first inclusion initiative.

Youth translation: Inclusivity doesn't require a title. It starts with noticing who got talked over in your last group discussion — and doing something about it.

Section 03  ·  To Your Classroom

Sound Familiar?

Inclusion dynamics play out in your world every single day. Here's how they show up.

1
The Idea That Gets Ignored — Until Someone Else Says It
Business World
A marketing team is brainstorming. The newest member — fresh out of college, first generation, speaks with an accent — suggests a campaign angle. Silence. Ten minutes later the director rephrases it and gets excited nods. The original speaker never brings up an idea again.
Your World
In a group project meeting, one person suggests something and it gets glossed over. Five minutes later someone else says basically the same thing and suddenly everyone loves it. The first person notices. They participate less for the rest of the semester. You noticed it happen too. Did you say anything?
When have you seen someone's idea get skipped over? What made you stay quiet — or speak up?
2
The "Culture Fit" Trap
Business World
A hiring manager rejects a highly qualified candidate saying they "just don't fit the culture." Translation: they don't look, sound, or behave like the current team. Companies that rely on "culture fit" as a hiring filter systematically exclude the exact people who would make them stronger.
Your World
Your friend group has an unspoken "vibe." New people who don't match it — different style, different music taste, different sense of humor — never quite get a real shot. They're invited once, feel the subtle awkwardness, and don't come back. Nobody was mean. Nobody had to be.
Does your friend group have an invisible filter? Who might be getting screened out by it without anyone realizing?
3
When Silence Becomes Exclusion
Business World
A remote employee joins a meeting where 8 colleagues are in-person. No one makes sure they can hear. No one looks at the camera when speaking. No one includes them in the casual sidebar conversations. They are technically present and completely excluded. By the third meeting they've stopped trying to contribute.
Your World
Someone new joins your lunch group. The conversation runs on inside jokes and shared history they have no access to. No one explains. No one asks them a real question. Everyone is nice enough — but nobody makes space. They eat quietly and find somewhere else to sit the next day.
Think of a time you were the outsider in a room. What was the one thing someone could have done to change that?
Section 04  ·  Youth Action Challenge
Your Inclusivity Challenge This Week 🌍
Inclusion is built one moment at a time. Here are four concrete actions for this week — no title or permission required.
  • 1
    In your next group discussion or class, notice who hasn't spoken yet. Create an opening: "Hey, I'd actually love to hear what [name] thinks about this." One sentence can shift everything.
  • 2
    When someone shares an idea and gets skipped over, name it out loud: "Wait — I want to go back to what [name] said. I think that's worth talking about."
  • 3
    Identify one person on the edges of your social world this week — not someone you dislike, just someone who hasn't been pulled in. Take one deliberate action to include them. Ask a real question. Save them a seat. Acknowledge them in a group setting.
  • ★
    Bonus reflection: Write down one group, team, or space in your life where you hold some influence. Who might feel excluded there right now? What's one thing you could change in the next 7 days?
Humanistic Leadership Project  ·  Edited by Sunay Theme: Inclusivity
Lessons in Humanistic Leadership Page 4 of 4
Section 05  ·  Mental & Inner Wellbeing
Belonging Is a Basic Human Need — and Inclusivity Is How We Meet It
Feeling excluded doesn't just hurt. Science shows it activates the same part of the brain as physical pain. Practicing inclusion isn't just good leadership — it's one of the most powerful things you can do for your own and others' mental health.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow placed belonging at the third level of human needs — right after safety. Before self-esteem. Before purpose. Before almost everything else. When people feel excluded, their brains go into a mild threat response: cortisol rises, attention narrows, and creative thinking shuts down. This is why exclusion in a classroom or a team meeting doesn't just feel bad — it literally makes people less capable of doing good work.

The flip side is just as powerful. When people feel genuinely included — when they know their voice matters and their presence is wanted — psychological safety increases. That's the term researchers use for environments where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be honest. It's the single biggest predictor of high-performing teams. And it's built one inclusive act at a time.

🧠
Exclusion Hurts — Literally
Neuroscience research shows that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. Being left out isn't "just feelings" — it's a real neurological experience. Understanding this makes you more likely to take inclusion seriously, and more compassionate when others are struggling with it.
🛡️
Belonging = Resilience
Students who feel a strong sense of belonging at school report lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher academic motivation, and better ability to handle setbacks. Inclusion isn't a "nice to have" — it's protective mental health infrastructure. Being the person who creates belonging for others also creates it for yourself.
🗣️
Inclusion Makes You Brave
When you practice inclusion actively — inviting quieter voices, naming unfair dynamics, making space for people who look or think differently than you — you build a kind of social courage that transfers to other areas of your life. People who practice inclusion tend to be less afraid of conflict, more comfortable with difference, and more confident overall.
🌀
Watch for "Micro-Exclusions"
Most exclusion doesn't come from cruelty — it comes from habit and inattention. A sideways glance, an inside joke, a group chat someone isn't in, a seat someone wasn't offered. These micro-exclusions add up. Becoming aware of them in your own behavior — without shame, just with honesty — is one of the most important mental and social health practices you can develop.
Wellbeing Practice  ·  Try This Week
At the end of each day this week, spend 2 minutes on this three-part check-in:

1. Who did I include today? Name one person you made feel seen or heard — even briefly.

2. Who did I miss? Was there someone you could have included but didn't? No self-judgment — just notice.

3. Where did I feel included? What made you feel like you belonged somewhere today? What was it that someone did — and can you do that for someone else tomorrow?
From Leaders to You
"Inclusion isn't something you do once and check off. It's a daily practice of paying attention — noticing who's in the room, who's quiet, who's missing, and who's carrying a weight nobody's acknowledged. The most powerful thing you can do as a young leader is decide that it's your job to notice. Even if no one asked you to. Especially if no one asked you to."
"
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate — and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.
— Nelson Mandela
Coming Up in Vol. 5
Next issue: Integrity — Integrity isn't what you do when you're being watched, graded, or praised. It's what you do in the ordinary, unobserved moments — and those moments, more than any other, define the leader you're become. Don't miss it.
Leadership starts from within. Keep making space. — Sunay · Founder · HL Project Vol. 4 · Inclusivity