A couple of weeks out from IWD, I thought this would be about one thing. It turns out it’s about something much bigger.
I’ve been thinking about International Women’s Day.
You know the drill. Panels, programs, purple graphics, inspirational quotes, and a flurry of focus for 24 hours (or maybe a week). Some of it is brilliant. Some of it is performative. Most of it is well intentioned.
And this year, I’m delivering an IWD session for Beach Energy Ltd.
But here’s what’s interesting. The more I shaped the talk, the clearer it became that it is not really “about gender” at all. Gender equity matters deeply, yes. And it’s often the doorway. But the conversation it opens is bigger.
Because what leaders are really grappling with right now is this:
How do we build cultures where people contribute fully, think boldly, and feel safe enough to challenge, create, and lead?
That’s not a gender question. That’s a culture question. And in the age of AI, it’s a performance question too.
Inclusion is not a side dish. It’s the spark.
It sparks ideas. It sparks innovation. It sparks impact.
Main Insights of the Week – Inclusion sparks ideas, innovation and impact
Here are three shifts I keep seeing make the difference between “we care about inclusion” and “we actually get the benefit of it.”
Each includes a simple thing you can try next week.
1) Move from diversity to contribution
Most organisations already have diversity in the room. Different thinking styles. Different experiences. Different cultural lenses. Different ways of solving problems.
The gap is not diversity. The gap is contribution.
Who gets the airtime. Who gets interrupted. Who gets labelled “too much.” Who gets praised for being “clear” when what we really mean is “comfortable.” Who learns to edit themselves to survive.
If you want better decisions, you need more than representation. You need participation that is real.
Try this in your next meeting: Ask: “Whose perspective have we not heard yet that could change this decision?” Then pause. Long enough that it feels slightly awkward. That’s usually when the truth arrives.
2) Reduce the masking tax
This is the part many leaders miss.
Masking is expensive.
When people are constantly adjusting their tone, filtering their ideas, managing other people’s comfort, or trying to “sound right”… they spend energy on performance instead of contribution.
The cost shows up as exhaustion, silence, and eventually disengagement.
And the irony is brutal: the people who often carry the most insight are the ones doing the most internal editing.
Inclusion is not just about inviting people in. It’s about making it safe for them to show up as they are.
Try this in your next meeting: Say out loud: “I want the unfinished version of your thinking.” Then model it by sharing your own rough thought first. Give others permission without forcing them to perform.
3) Build psychological safety for truth, not comfort
Psychological safety is not about keeping everything nice.
It’s about making it safe to say the thing early. The uncomfortable thing. The “I’m not sure this is working” thing. The “we might be missing something” thing.
If people only speak when they’re certain, you will be late to the truth every time.
Inclusion creates a culture where truth travels faster. And that is where innovation lives.
Try this in your next meeting: Before you close, ask: “What feels off or risky that we haven’t said out loud yet?” Treat what you hear as data, not drama.
📆 What’s Been Happening
Behind the scenes, I’ve been refining my IWD session for Beach Energy, and I’m genuinely excited about where it has landed.
It started as an International Women’s Day talk. It has evolved into something that feels more urgent and more useful:
A conversation about unmasking potential, unlocking brilliance, and creating cultures where difference becomes strength.
IWD puts it on the agenda. Leaders make it a daily practice.
And that’s the work I’m most committed to.
🧭 Cultural Reflection
Inclusion is not a compliance exercise. It’s culture design.
And culture design becomes even more important in the age of AI, because the pace is faster, the pressure is higher, and people will self-censor sooner if the environment feels unsafe.
What leaders reward gets repeated. What leaders ignore gets buried. What leaders tolerate becomes the standard.
If your culture rewards only the loudest, the quickest, or the most “polished,” you will lose the very insights you need to adapt. Not because people don’t have ideas. But because they learn it’s safer to keep them to themselves.
Inclusion is how we stop training people to disappear.
📡 On My Radar
A few inclusion behaviours that consistently spark better thinking:
- Curiosity: “Help me understand how you see it.”
- Empathy: “What might the human impact be that we’re missing?”
- Generosity: “Let’s make room for the not-yet-perfect idea.”
I’m also building a couple of practical add-ons to help leaders embed this beyond a keynote moment. Things like a simple pulse check and a reflection toolkit teams can use in meetings.
Not as more “training.” More as small habits that create better rooms.
✨ New keynote/workshop offering (evolving from IWD): Unleashing Potential
The Beach Energy IWD session has sparked something bigger, and it’s now evolving into a keynote + workshop offering:
Unleashing Potential: Inclusion as the Catalyst for Innovation and Impact
It’s for organisations who are noticing things like:
- “speak up” gaps in engagement surveys
- quiet disengagement from high-potential people
- inclusion fatigue or pushback
- leaders who want practical behaviours, not theory
- great talent that simply isn’t surfacing yet
If you’re in People & Culture / L&D, it helps translate inclusion from policy to daily behaviour. If you’re on a leadership team, it helps surface better thinking, reduce idea suppression, and improve decision quality (without making it a “DEI talk”).
💬 Final Thought
International Women’s Day matters. And it can be a powerful doorway.
But the bigger point is this:
Inclusion is not about gender. It’s about how we make space for human brilliance. And when we do, we spark ideas, innovation, and impact.
If you’re planning an event, leadership offsite, or internal capability moment this year and want a session that connects inclusion to real innovation and performance, send me a message. I’m happy to share the one-pager and explore what’s useful for your team.
This article is part of the Navigating Transformation newsletter series.
Originally published on LinkedIn on 26th February 2026.
Republished here as part of Gry Stene’s thought leadership archive.