Find answers to our most frequently asked questions

By way of background, the 360-Inclusive Leadership Compass (360 ILC) is a multi-rater instrument designed to measure and strengthen inclusive leadership effectiveness.  Inclusive leadership is primarily concerned with a leader’s impact, as opposed to intent. The multi-rater aspect of the 360 ILC provides the leader with multiple, diverse perspectives on how inclusive others experience them to be, with the anonymity of reporting helping facilitate more honest feedback than the leader may have otherwise received.

The 360 ILC is based on the Inclusive Leadership Compass framework, which defines the four practices of inclusive leadership spanning the dimensions of Self, Others, Team and Organization.  That is, inclusive leaders:  Embrace difference (Self); Empower diverse talent (Others); Enable diverse thinking teams (Team); and Embed diversity and inclusion across the organization (Organization).

Mapped to these four practices are 16 competencies (i.e., Focus Areas) which combine to influence inclusive leadership effectiveness.  For more information on each of these four practices and Focus Areas, please refer to our paper “Navigating Inclusion as a Leader:  Introducing the Inclusive Leadership Compass.”       

The development of the Inclusive Leadership Compass (‘ILC’) was based on both an extensive review of the academic literature on inclusion and inclusive leadership, as well as our experience as practitioners in the field for over a decade, including our time at Deloitte.  This research highlighted the multi-faceted nature of inclusion itself, which is reflected in the four dimensions of the ILC framework. 

From here, we generated 95-items (or questions) mapped to the 16 Focus Areas. These items form the basis of the 360 ILC survey instrument.  This was done through a literature review based on the nature of the specific competency, and through the review of existing scales.  The items were also informed by direct observation from working with leaders, and their direct reports as D&I experts over many years.  Generally accepted principles regarding item development were applied in drafting the items (e.g., questions worded simply and unambiguously; double-barrelled questions avoided).  Two open-ended questions were also included focusing on inclusive leadership strengths and development opportunity areas. 

In considering the response scale, we determined that a five-point extent scale would be most appropriate, with raters asked to identify the extent to which a leader demonstrates a stated behavior.  This was selected to help minimize the risk of false positive inherent in other scales, helping to generate more accurate feedback and facilitating greater differentiation of leadership effectiveness. 

The 360 ILC has been reviewed and utilized by experts in the field of D&I, and inclusive leadership more specifically, all of whom have deemed the framework and items appropriate.  In addition, feedback from leaders and raters who have used the 360 ILC has confirmed that the items are relevant and that they resonate at a practical level.     

As at October 2021, the 360 ILC has been administered to close to 3,500 leaders and raters across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, generating a data set of over 330,000 item scores. 

The relationship between inclusive leadership effectiveness, as measured by the 360 ILC, and an independently rated measure of inclusiveness has a strong correlation of close to 50% – that is, the more a leader demonstrates the behaviors identified in the framework, the more their direct reports feel that they are treated fairly and respectfully, that their uniqueness is valued and they belong, and that they feel safe to speak up and have opportunities to grow at work.  This finding is important given the fundamental criterion as to whether inclusion exists is at the individual level (i.e., people’s experience of inclusion).  It is also consistent with previous research by Travis et al., as reported by Catalyst in 2019. 

Furthermore, principal component analysis shows a clear alignment between communalities of the items and Focus Areas and the underlying theoretically predicted dimensions.

Please contact us directly to discuss costs.  We offer flexible reporting and debrief options, including volume discounts and the option of our Self-Managed Debrief, allowing the 360 ILC to be economically administered at scale.

The 360 ILC has been created for the purpose of feedback and development – not ‘assessment’.  Our intent is to provide a safe and confidential way for leaders to understand and build their inclusive capability.

Our flexible debrief options and internal accreditation program allows the 360 ILC to be scaled across your organization.  For example:

• Your senior and other influential leaders: We recommend the 360 ILC coupled with a 1:1 debrief.  This debrief may be conducted by one of our own 360 ILC coaches, or we can accredit coaches within your organization to do these. 
• Other leaders and people managers: We recommend the 360 ILC coupled with our self-managed debrief option. In this format, leaders are guided through the review of their report and development of an action plan with the assistance of our comprehensive support resources.  Where required, additional support is offered to specific leaders and people managers participating in this option (e.g., for those who have been rated as less effective).   

For organizations seeking to cascade inclusive capability development more broadly, we have also developed an Individual Self-Assessment that allows individuals who are not leaders or managers of people to reflect on their own mindsets and behaviors and identify actions to engage with others more inclusively.

Yes, the 360 ILC can be integrated into other development interventions, to further enhance the leader learning journey.  For example:

• Front ending the 360 ILC experience with our (abridged) Foundations workshop: Our (abridged) Foundations workshop can be delivered to leaders prior to their participation in the 360 ILC process and is designed to create a shared understanding of key concepts relating to DE&I and inclusive leadership, inspire participants to lead more inclusively and to set the scene for participation in the 360 ILC process itself. 
• Back ending the 360 ILC experience with our inclusive leadership learning modules: Following the 360 ILC process, leaders can continue their development journey over a 3-, 6- or 12-month period by participating in one or more of our learning modules targeting specific aspects of inclusive leadership (e.g., creating a psychologically safe team).  To promote strategically led professional learning, we recommend the contents of the sessions be informed by the results of the 360 ILC.  A train-the-trainer delivery module is available for large leadership populations.

Alternatively, we can speak to you about how the 360 ILC can be integrated with existing inclusive leadership programs within your organization. 

The 360 ILC is administered on the Qualtrics platform.  Qualtrics is trusted by more than 10,000 organizations globally and provides the comfort of security and 24-hour a day customer support.  

We can provide interested organizations with a demo of the 360 ILC process. Please contact us directly to discuss. 

Yes, conducting the 360 ILC periodically is a great way to measure the impact of leadership interventions and capability development.

Our ‘Inclusive Leadership Foundations Workshop’ introduces leaders to fundamental concepts relating to inclusive leadership, including the Inclusive Leadership Compass (ILC) framework, as well as some everyday behaviors they can adopt to foster inclusion. Practical and interactive, this 2-hour workshop incorporates a self-assessment, which is based on an abridged version of our comprehensive 360 ILC tool, to help participants begin the process of self-reflection into their inclusive leadership shadow. As part of this, participants are provided with practical strategies to address any (perceived) development areas identified.

 Please contact us directly to discuss.