Australian Bank Client Story

A leading Australian financial services organisation partnered with Serendis to build inclusive leadership capability across its General Manager and senior leadership population.

Delivered over multiple cohorts, the Inclusive Leadership Program created a shared leadership framework and common language for inclusion across the division. The program formed part of the organisation’s broader investment in leadership capability, helping leaders foster environments where diverse perspectives could contribute more effectively to team performance, decision-making, and organisational outcomes.

As the organisation continued to strengthen its focus on inclusion, employee feedback highlighted opportunities to further build leaders’ capability to create inclusive team environments.

Leaders were being asked to navigate increasingly complex challenges while enabling collaboration across diverse teams, perspectives, and experiences. Employee insights pointed to concerns around speaking up, challenging the status quo and historical or hierarchical norms in decision making, as well as a persistent underrepresentation of cultural diversity in some leadership teams across the organisation.

The organisation recognised that sustaining an inclusive culture would require more than organisational commitment alone. Leaders at all levels needed the capability to create environments where people felt able to contribute, challenge ideas, share different perspectives, and participate fully in decision-making.

Serendis partnered with the organisation to deliver a multi-cohort Inclusive & Adaptive Leadership Program for people leaders and senior leaders. Rather than positioning inclusion as a standalone diversity initiative, the program framed inclusion as a core leadership capability that directly influences team effectiveness, engagement, innovation, and decision quality.

The program focused on the everyday leadership moments that shape employee experience, including how leaders facilitate discussion, make decisions, respond to challenge, assess talent, provide feedback, and create psychological safety within teams.

Drawing on Serendis’ framework of the Nine Characteristics of Highly Inclusive Cultures, participants explored leadership capabilities including:
• Psychological safety and accountability
• Personal awareness and mental agility
• Cognitive humility and transparency
• Broadening perspective and inclusive decision-making
• Diverse stakeholder engagement

Learning was grounded in practical application through interactive workshops, real-world scenarios, facilitated discussion, reflection, and case-based learning.
Participants examined both cognitive and identity diversity and explored how inclusive leadership behaviours can unlock the value of diverse perspectives while strengthening team performance and decision quality.

This approach helped leaders translate inclusion from a concept of fairness to a practice that delivers performance by identifying practical actions and behaviours they could apply in their day-to-day leadership responsibilities.

Participant feedback demonstrated strong engagement, practical relevance, and confidence in applying the learning.

Leadership Impact

• On average, the quality and impact of the workshop was rated 6.6 out of 7
• 85% of participants felt the program was effective in helping them meet the demands of their role
• 82% rated the program highly for helping them feel equipped to address future challenges
• 82% rated the knowledge and skills gained as critical to their ongoing success

Participant Experience

Participants consistently cited these aspects of the program as highly effective in supporting their development:
• Practical, real-world learning and application
• Interactive discussions and peer learning
• Case studies and scenario-based exploration
• Exposure to diverse perspectives and viewpoints
• High-quality facilitation and engagement
• Clear connections between inclusive leadership and team performance

Workshop evaluations also highlighted strong facilitator credibility, participant engagement, and the practical relevance of the learning experience.

Organisational Contribution

The program provided leaders with a shared language and practical framework for understanding inclusive leadership.

By focusing on observable leadership behaviours and the moments that most influence employee experience, the program strengthened leaders’ capacity to:
• Foster psychological safety
• Encourage diverse perspectives and constructive challenge
• Recognise and mitigate bias in decision-making
• Improve collaboration and team effectiveness
• Create environments where inclusion becomes part of everyday leadership practice

Serendis partners with organisations to build the leadership capabilities that enable stronger teams, better decisions, and more adaptive cultures.