Unilever Sri Lanka is conducting the Youth Forum for the second consecutive year. This year it will be led by SPARKS, Unilever Student Ambassadors as their quarterly initiative under the theme of “Diversity and Inclusion” and is scheduled to be held on 20th November 2015 at Hotel Cinnamon Grand. Youth Forum identifies and recognizes young talented future leaders across the nation who has the passion to want more, do more and contribute more to becoming positive change agents. This is an exclusive opportunity for undergraduates from different universities to develop real world skills whilst building relationships with industry professionals and like-minded.

Why is it so special?

The Youth Forum will set the stage to reveal the real issues and to highlight the importance of “Diversity and Inclusion” and to help create a culture that values differences and inclusion. The forum is expected to inculcate the values of an inclusive leader within the future generations of our nation.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Mr. Dinesh Biddappa, Executive Director HR for Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Vice President Human Resources for Unilever South Asia. The event will also feature a panel discussion which would consist of an eminent group of personalities. Mrs. Shehara Jayawardana, Mr. Ishan Jalill, Justice (Mrs.) Kumudini Wickramasinghe will be the panelists for the day and the discussion will be moderated by Ms. Sharanya Sekaram. Each panelist will share their experiences on different aspects of diversity and inclusion and will deliver the message of inclusive leadership to the audience.  

Who is an Inclusive Leader?

No idea as to who an inclusive leader is? It's probably you and you didn't even know it!

First question with regard to this concept is what does it really mean? What is inclusion and leadership and how do we define it? When asked a couple of people as to who an inclusive leader is, vague ideas were put forward, but in order to clear the doubt as to who an inclusive leader really is, let's get the concept right.  

An inclusive leader, as portrayed by Unilever is an individual who clearly possess the traits of simple, respectful and flexible. When these elements are put together a true inclusive leader is indefinitely born. 

We do come across leaders who are both empathetic and sympathetic. Such simple leaders would understand the different social backgrounds that individuals come from and regardless of that treat them fairly and respectfully. These types of leaders are bound to obtain the fullest potential of his/her colleagues converting their differences into strengths and in turn intensifying the concept togetherness through diversity. 

It is also baseless if a leader only acknowledges a person's differences but does not facilitate him/her to be open and acknowledge his/her ideas and thoughts. This is where the trait of flexibility comes into play, where a leader supports and encourages his employees regardless of whatever the differences along with fairness and trust.

No five fingers are the same and if it were, we wouldn't be able to do most of the tasks we do with ease. Similarly no two individuals are the same, nor are they completely different. Firstly, we all have the common grounds of being human and the rest of the differences fall into place in making us unique in our own way. An inclusive leader picks up on these and makes it a point to utilize it for the betterment of all. 

Putting all of the above all into perspective, do you believe that you’ve met someone matching up to this description? If not do you believe that you possess the said traits?

Be the new face of leadership, be an inclusive leader! You could be the change everyone else talks about.