Inclusion isn’t a policy - it’s how you make people feel

Session Speaker: Paul Anderson-Walsh, Enolla Consulting
Theme: Leadership, Management & Teams
Date:  Autumn Trimester  - September 2025

“Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a feeling.” That was the moment the room fell quiet.

Paul Andersen-Walsh didn’t come to tell us how to fix inclusion. He came to remind us what it actually is and what it isn’t, because:

• You can hire diversely.
• You can comply legally.
• You can value difference.
• And still, people may not feel included.

This is because inclusion isn’t something you do to people; it’s something they experience.

The pivot: from fitting in to fitting together

One of Paul’s sharpest distinctions was between fitting in and fitting together.

Fitting in feels like:

• Masking parts of yourself
• Doing the adjusting
• Feeling tolerated

Fitting together feels like:

• Being authentic
• Being seen
• Having permission to contribute
  

Most organisations reward fitting in, whereas the healthy ones design for fitting together. And that’s where leaders matter, because leaders don’t just set targets. They set the tone even when they don’t realise they are doing it.

Inclusion isn’t soft. It’s the multiplier of performance.

Paul also shared Enolla’s performance equation:

Performance = (Knowledge + Skill + Judgement) × (Attitude)ᵀ

Based on standard assessments and Personal Development Plans, we over-focus on the first 3 - what knowledge and skills does someone have, and do they use their judgment well, and we focus on improving the individual, but the breakthrough insight was this...

The way a leader treats you comes from what the leader believes about you. This treatment either unlocks or limits your performance.

An individual can be brilliant at the first three, have a fantastic attitude, but the real multiplier of their performance stems from how they are treated. Treatment is the exponential multiplier of performance.  Paul further unpacked this as the Pygmalion effect, a psychological phenomenon in which higher expectations lead to improved performance and lower expectations lead to poorer performance, because expectations shape outcomes. Which means, when you look at inclusion in that light, it isn’t HR language; it’s leadership practice.

Treating humans as resources, or resourcing humans?

Paul also challenged a familiar phrase: that of “Human Resources.” He flipped it to read Resourcing Humans. And this is more than just wordplay; it’s a different starting point.

• Instead of asking: “How do we get the most from people?”
• We should be asking: “How do we supply people with the conditions to perform at their best?”

The first assumes extraction, whilst the second assumes potential and unlocking potential has far more impact than just extracting labour, often just in the form of hours. 

Leadership isn’t a role. It’s a signal.

Paul shared his three Cs, which he sees as a cycle rather than a ladder:

• Confidence- It matters, and I matter in it
• Competence- The skills to practise inclusion
• Confidant- Becoming trusted, safe, present
  
  

His belief is that leaders aren’t managers of process and resource; they are the broadcasters of belief. Their broadcast signal is created by how they listen, include, challenge, and expect, and it is this that shapes how people show up, take risks, and contribute.

He reminded us of the Maya Angelou quote, and  amended slightly to reflect the topic reads as:

People won’t remember all the outcomes; people won't remember your policies; they will just remember how you made them feel.

So, what does this look like where you lead?

• When someone walks into your business, do they feel they need to adjust, or can they show up as they are?
• Do your teams fit in, or fit together?
• What do your beliefs (not policies) signal to others about their potential?

And if inclusion is a feeling, when was the last time you asked, not assumed, how someone feels?