Recent political developments have significantly impacted DEI initiatives worldwide. In the United States, the rollback of federal DEI programs under the Trump administration has led major corporations like Meta, Walmart, Amazon, and so many others to scale back their diversity efforts. This trend reflects a broader conversation about DEI, with some viewing these initiatives as divisive or ineffective.
This discomfort is not a threat; it is an invitation. An invitation to reconcile, to reimagine, and to transcend. As governments in various parts of the world retract support for DEI programs, a vacuum has formed that allows space for new conversations. Without state-mandated guidelines, organizations and individuals are freer, and more responsible, to define inclusion on their own terms. This is where coaching becomes not just relevant but socially responsible. Coaching is a safe space to unpack and creatively solve those dilemmas.
In 2025, the definition and practice of inclusive leadership is evolving significantly and must transcend traditional concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in Western countries. Over the past decades, organizations have dedicated considerable effort to increase diversity, often focusing explicitly on underrepresented minorities or gender-based initiatives. While these programs were well-intentioned and impactful, they occasionally fostered unintended divisions, sparking comparison, competition among groups, and judgment instead of cultivating genuine unity and understanding. It was a necessary step and had to be challenged to truly be inclusive. I hoped for a smooth transition, but are we not making our biggest progress in times of brutal changes?
These lived experiences have provided a front-row seat to both the evolution and the blind spots in our global inclusion efforts.
As a professional executive coach who has walked alongside hundreds of leaders navigating these shifting tides, I have witnessed firsthand how the DEI approach empowered and was essential in raising awareness. But since 2018, I started to observe how it often failed to unlock the depth of transformation needed for sustainable inclusion. Most of the work was dedicated to the so-called “minorities” and missed co-creating organizational cultures for all. Any talent or management program should be infused with inclusion in mind. Men and women, whatever their background, have equal rights and responsibilities to be educated (organizations have biased training), coached, and challenged on this topic. Inclusion should be the premise of leadership, not an optional trait. How often do I hear biases about men not being challenged, cultivating the belief that they are the enemy of inclusion? In other organizations, biases based on educational background are still in place. Organizations and leaders can do much better than that, and professional coaches have the tools and processes to develop self-awareness, develop new sets of behaviors, and shift mindsets. For coaches who are also supervisors, inviting top executives into reflexivity to observe themselves and their systemic impacts to explore new ways of being as a leader is welcome.
Being mixed-race and a woman, I was often asked to live at the intersection of multiple identities, which were limiting me, and those labels limited my clients as well. I choose to live as a complex, unique human being. When I label myself as a woman, I unconsciously upload some of the programming along with this identity. When I was asked to choose a race and ethnicity for my passport, it was a heartbreaking choice I could not make, and the public officer chose for me based on the fact I was lighter than her. It was devastating to be broken into pieces instead of being taken as a whole unique individual.
When my clients carry those uninvited labels, they doubt themselves, desire to protect or fight instead of simply being. Once I ask the question “What would you do/be if those labels didn’t exist?”, clients light up and start to fully embrace and use their unique power.
Today, we face a paradox. Initiatives designed to create inclusion sometimes reinforce segregation by emphasizing differences more than shared humanity and uniqueness.
The positive aspect of the absence of government-mandated DEI programs is that the responsibility for fostering inclusive cultures increasingly falls on individuals and leaders within organizations. This shift empowers employees at all levels to become change agents, advocating for equity and inclusion through their actions and decisions. The unexpected benefit I have witnessed is that women who once experienced impostor syndrome are now powerful. Not backed up anymore by federal laws, they realize how valuable they are and embrace their success fully. Some clients with a diverse background shared that they now feel strangely liberated from the belief they needed to be protected by external forces because it made them feel “fragile” or “less than.” These were new insights that led me to choose to write this article because we are at a crossroads. We can either fight back or choose a more ecological and inclusive path.
As a coach, I have come to see inclusive leadership not as a checklist, but as a mindset and set of competencies rooted in human development. Inclusive leaders of the future will not only challenge unconscious biases but will hold space for dialogue, curiosity, and compassion. They will recognize the value of diverse experiences, but most importantly, of uniqueness, a trait that cannot be compared, that won’t lead to competition nor any sort of ranking.
Rather than focusing exclusively on group representation, I invite coaches and leaders to an approach anchored in universal leadership competencies. These include emotional and cultural intelligence, adaptability, reflective capacity, and an unwavering commitment to ethical leadership. When these skills are cultivated intentionally, they foster spaces where all individuals, regardless of background, can contribute, thrive, and feel genuinely seen.
This paradigm shift moves us away from traditional, product-centric business models toward people-centered cultures. Organizations looking to thrive invest time and effort in human potential and put it at the core of strategy and performance. They know that growth, innovation, and resilience are born from engaged people who feel they belong.
Thomas Edison’s story reminds us of what is possible when uniqueness is nurtured rather than suppressed. Imagine how many brilliant minds we silence by labeling and limiting them to be part of a category of human beings.
Executive and leadership coaching, but also coaching supervision, are uniquely positioned to facilitate this shift. Coaching and supervision invite leaders into deep reflexivity, challenging their default settings and inviting intentional alignment between values, behaviors, societal, and organizational cultures. Coaching also nurtures psychological safety: the fertile ground on which inclusive behaviors grow.
Through the coaching lens, inclusive leadership is not about fixing people to fit systems. It is about evolving systems so everyone has space to grow. It is about supporting leaders to recognize and elevate strengths, offer generative feedback, and cultivate cultures of mutual respect. When inclusion is treated as a personal and collective development journey, rather than a static target, transformation becomes possible.
Coaching also supports leaders in navigating the ambiguity and resistance that often accompanies change. Shifting away from DEI as compliance toward inclusion as culture requires inner work, something coaching excels at guiding. It builds leaders’ capacity to stay present, compassionate, and purposeful amid discomfort.
This coaching-driven transformation is supported by practices like stakeholder engagement, developmental feedback, values alignment, and systems thinking. In coaching conversations, I often ask leaders: Who is not at your table? Whose voice is not being heard? What parts of yourself are you leaving out of the room? These questions create bridges between personal insight and systemic awareness.
When organizations adopt inclusive leadership models centered on universal competencies, they not only enhance engagement and creativity, but they also future-proof their leadership pipelines. Talent today seeks meaning, belonging, and impact. Inclusive leaders attract and retain top performers not just by what they say, but by how they lead, listen, and include.
In summary, the political and social climate of 2025 challenges us to step beyond performative diversity initiatives. It invites us to elevate inclusion to a human imperative supported by coaching, grounded in universal competencies, and driven by the belief that every person matters. We are all equal pieces of the puzzle with unique forms and colors. Leaders who accept this invitation won’t just comply with trends; they will shape the future.
As professional coaches and as leaders, we are called to hold this vision with clarity, courage, and care. The future of inclusion won’t be written by policy. It will be shaped by conversations, by commitments, and by our capacity to see and develop the greatness in one another.
Let us be the bridge. Let us be the invitation. Let us be the legacy-makers of a more inclusive world.
Reflexivity questions:
How as a professional coach or as a leader do you imagine fostering belonging in your practice ?
Who do I want to be to embody inclusion?
Which labels are limiting you to direct your energy towards who you truly are
If uniqueness was the only filter, how would you approach others ?
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