by Leesa Hill, Partner, Team Effectiveness & Head of DEIB
Here’s the truth: The ground beneath today’s teams isn’t steady. Rapid market shifts, rising burnout, leadership gaps, and growing pressure to do more with less have created a perfect storm. Layer on the urgency to lead across difference and navigate constant change, and it’s no wonder many teams are struggling to keep up. Yet, expectations haven’t changed … deliver results, keep engagement high, and do it all with fewer resources and more complexity.
So, what separates the teams that merely survive from those that thrive? Health. Inclusion. Resilience.
Why Inclusion and Resilience Belong Together
Let’s start with resilience. Resilient teams don’t just survive disruption, they adapt, recover, and come back stronger. They know how to reset after a setback, learn from failure, and stay connected to purpose even when the pressure is high.
But here’s the kicker: resilience without inclusion is brittle. When only a few voices dominate, innovation stalls. When psychological safety is missing, people go quiet. When team members don’t feel valued or connected, stress fractures turn into breaking points.
Inclusive leadership is the glue that holds this together. When leaders build trust, integrate diverse perspectives, and stay adaptive, teams don’t just get through tough times, they thrive because of them.
What We’re Learning from Our “Leading Inclusive & Resilient Teams” Program
Here at LEAD3R, we’re in the middle of piloting a new program called Leading Inclusive & Resilient Teams, a two-workshop series that’s bolstered by peer coaching between each session. The insights have been powerful. The leaders in the program are realizing inclusion isn’t a “nice to have” – it’s a performance driver.
In one session, a leader shared her struggle to reach the next level after being tasked with identifying department-wide challenges and proposing solutions. The challenge? She didn’t feel she had access to the information she needed because she wasn’t yet part of the leadership team. Through peer coaching, the group surfaced creative, practical strategies—like building informal networks, leveraging frontline insights, and positioning questions to open dialogue with senior leaders. This conversation was a powerful example of resilience—finding ways to adapt and move forward despite constraints—and inclusion, as peers offered diverse perspectives and support rather than quick fixes. These are the moments that help leaders turn uncertainty into opportunity.
Your Challenge as a Leader
Here’s a question to take with you:
What’s one thing you could do this week to make your team both more inclusive and more resilient?
It could be as simple as inviting input from a quieter voice in the room or creating a small ritual that helps your team stay connected when things get tough.
Because here’s the reality: teams don’t break all at once, they crack a little at a time. The leaders who know how to strengthen those bonds, especially when things feel uncertain, are the ones who will lead their organizations into the future.
Reach out to me if you are interested in future Leading Inclusive & Resilient Teams sessions and how your teams can benefit.
We believe that healthy teams are the foundation of organizational success – and that health is built, not assumed. That’s why we designed the Healthy Team Summit to be more than an event. It’s a full-sensory, hands-on experience for teams to reconnect, reset, and reimagine how they work together.
Held this October in Boston, the Healthy Team Summit brings together bold thinkers, practitioners, and executive teams for a day of immersive learning, powerful storytelling, and energizing collaboration. You won’t just sit and listen, you’ll participate, reflect, and walk away with real tools and shared language that you and your team can use immediately.
And at the heart of the summit are the very themes explored in this blog: inclusion and resilience. Every experience – from the Teams Playground to the Human Library to the breakout conversations – has been intentionally designed to help teams strengthen psychological safety, deepen trust, and build habits that sustain high performance through change. You’ll learn how to navigate conflict productively, tap into diverse perspectives, and replenish energy in ways that protect your people and your results.
For those looking to dive even deeper, we’re offering a powerful add-on: the Team Leader Accelerator, a one-day intensive event held the day before the summit. This is specifically designed for the people who lead teams – those who sit at the intersection of business pressure and human complexity. In the Accelerator, participants will gain practical strategies for leading through uncertainty, creating inclusive team cultures, and transforming stress into sustainable momentum. Whether you’re a frontline manager or a seasoned executive, this is your chance to sharpen your leadership toolkit alongside peers who are facing similar challenges.
Together, the Healthy Team Summit and the Team Leader Accelerator offer a rare opportunity: to step away from the noise, invest in your team’s future, and return to work with clarity, connection, and renewed capability.
If you’re ready to help your team become more resilient because it’s more inclusive, not in spite of it, this is your invitation.
More information:
Or email us directly at events@LEAD3R.com if you want to explore how we can bring this work to your organization.
