Conduct a climate study.  Your goal here should be to assess how well your organization is performing compared to the competition as well as the entire industry.  Also, to explore the last time, if applicable, a new idea was implemented and celebrated by someone other than a senior officer.  Other issues to explore: How often do you encourage input from all members of a meeting?  When was the last time you took the time to thank your staff for a job well done?

Allow employees to ‘shine.’ Given the opportunity to shine in a friendly, inviting and supportive environment, individuals will take the bait and go out of their way to present good ideas. Keep in mind that this level of risk-taking frightens most managers because they are fearful that the staff will not perform at the level of expectation for senior management--consequently, making them “look bad". Regardless, it is critical that leaders strive to foster cultures that encourage risk taking.  Plans that go awry are not to be considered inherently bad, but rather good lessons for learning.  These “lessons learned” could be integrated into new and enhanced ways of running businesses and organizations.

Create circles of inclusion and affinity.  Have lunch with a colleague you don’t know or who may be from a different part of the world.  Move out of your own “comfort zone” and challenge yourself to include somebody in your meeting you know very little about.  Challenge your managers to do the same and encourage them to step out of their comfort zones, as well.  Lead the Inclusion effort!