Leading for Belonging

At its core, exclusion isn’t random. It’s produced, embedded in our culture and systems. 

The Othering & Belonging Institute names this clearly: systems sort people into groups—often invisibly—granting some greater access to power, resources, and opportunity while marginalizing others. This process, called othering, shows up everywhere—from policy to culture to everyday interactions.

And here’s the hard truth: We can participate in othering without realizing it.

Not because we intend harm.
But because we’ve inherited systems and norms that quietly or overtly reinforce it.

Othering thrives in what goes unnamed.

Leading for Belonging starts with seeing it, then building skill and acting toward belonging. 

This curious question can shift how we lead by seeing othering more clearly: Where might we be unintentionally creating an “in group” and an “out group”? Are we OK with that?

Everyone Belongs

Before I participated in the Targeted Universalism Community of Practice (CoP), I wondered if belonging was soft, squishy, and intangible...unless you know it, feel it, and have experienced it (or the lack of it).

I've since learned that belonging offers a critical goal, and the Othering and Belonging Institute offers a framework for learning and implementing.

The Othering and Belonging Institute defines Belonging as: 

...both a feeling and a practice—something we experience personally and something we create collectively. 

It happens in structures when all social groups are included in the critical institutions and communities that shape their lives, recognized and made visible within these spaces, empowered to have a real voice in shaping these spaces, and able to report a sense of connection and belonging.

It happens within relationships when there is openness to connection, recognition of each other's humanity, and a practice of reaching out to others, even those who may seem different.

At its heart, belonging can be seen as an ever-expanding circle, one that keeps growing to recognize the dignity and humanity of all people. Instead of encouraging zero-sum thinking, belonging invites us to embrace the perspectives and gifts of all groups. By doing so, we create a richer and more flourishing community—one where every voice matters and where everyone thrives together.

Belonging is more than being included. It includes recognition, agency, connection, and the ability to shape the systems that shape us. It’s both a feeling and a set of conditions we build together. 

The concepts of belonging and othering can be parallel to bridging and breaking. We bridge when we are curious, open, and connecting. Breaking is dehumanizing, separating us from eachother, harming our ability to see all people as precious and valuable.

This is where many organizations and leaders get stuck. We engage in systems that were never designed to work for everyone, especially those at the margins.

And then people are blamed for not being "successful" in a system not designed for them.

For example, why are people experiencing poverty looked down upon, when it's impossible to on minimum wage? Why is affordable housing so elusive while unhoused people, the majority of which are families with children, blamed for being lazy or weak?  

Belonging encourages something deeper: redesign the system.

Because if someone consistently struggles to access, contribute, or thrive—
that’s not an individual failure. It’s a red light that our leadership, organization, or program is othering people instead of creating spaces of belonging. 

How can you develop your ability to see and act toward belonging? 

john a. powell shared recently that "not everyone can bridge with every person, but the goal is to not break."

Where do you see yourself or your organization bridging with others, or struggling to bridge? 

What othering and belonging, bridging and breaking, challenges are you or your team grappling with?

Let us know, and we will include it in our Leading for Belonging series over the next few months.