The Dire Need for Structurally Competent Organizational Leadership

Abstract

Despite evidence that organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have benefitted a range of demographic groups, many influential public and private sector leaders have established that dismantling DEI is an urgent organizational priority. Consequently, DEI is quickly losing institutional support, leaving many labor force participants lacking the legal and organizational protections that foster equal access and opportunity in the labor market. In the absence of institutional safeguards, organizational science must provide more grassroots directives for how individual contributors can combat systemic workplace inequities. To that end, this chapter introduces the concept of structurally competent organizational leadership, defined as the trained capacity to understand and address the systemic and structural factors contributing to inequalities, disparities, and marginalization within and across institutions, organizations, and society. It outlines five core competencies adapted from the healthcare literature, emphasizing the need for leaders who (1) recognize the structures that shape organizational behavior, (2) develop an extra-organizational language of structure, (3) restate cultural presentations in structural terms, (4) observe and imagine structural interventions, and (5) practice structural humility. The insights provided offer a broad framework for how leaders can create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations even in the face of structural opposition.