Thesis title: Fantastic and frustrating: The paradoxical experience of practicing inclusive leadership

Abstract

Over the years, inclusive leadership has received more attention as a leadership style that supports employee well-being and diversity. However, most research so far has focused on the effects of the leadership style on employees within the team, leaving the effects it has on the leaders themselves underexplored. Building on paradox theory, this research explores how tensions that can come up in inclusion paradoxes can affect the well-being of leaders, and argues that navigating these tensions can be expected to be emotionally and cognitively taxing for leaders. Through in-depth interviews with women and men in leadership positions, multiple influences on leaders’ well-being were found, as not only did leaders experience both the positive and negative influence of inclusion paradoxes on their well-being and identity as a leader, external factors and situational context have an influence on leader well-being as well. Furthermore, leaders displayed different coping strategies for dealing with the paradoxical tensions, such as self-awareness and seeking support from colleagues. This thesis contributes to inclusive leadership theory by emphasizing leader well-being, and provides practical recommendations for organisations to support leaders in dealing with paradoxical tensions in a sustainable way.