Three Priorities Leaders Can’t Ignore—Leadership & Inclusion Must-Dos for 2026

As you may know, every January we, at bci, reflect on the leadership and inclusion challenges and opportunities ahead. And as we look to 2026, we want to be realistic: the complexity is not easing up.

Leaders are navigating continued resistance to inclusion work, stretched teams, rising distress, and workplaces that feel more emotionally and politically charged than they did even a few years ago. Add economic uncertainty, rapid technological/AI-related change, and ongoing tension about a range of social issues, and it’s no wonder so many leaders feel like they’re carrying too much, with too few places to put it down.

Given this, in this blog, we want to do two things:

  • spotlight three leadership and inclusion must-dos for 2026, and
  • offer a practical path forward that prioritizes what will actually move the needle, even in a constrained environment.


Here are three insights that we recommend leaders focus on for 2026.

1) Be Extremely Focused On Your Inclusion Initiatives

To put it quite directly, if your organization is experiencing internal resistance, pushback, or legal apprehension, you likely cannot do everything you planned to do.

This is the year to pick one or two key inclusion areas and go deep.

If you’re asking, “Which inclusion areas are both impactful and less likely to be challenged?” —our first answer is data—specifically, collection, analysis, and storytelling. Data will help paint a picture about who is thriving, who is not, and where belonging is breaking down. And just as importantly, it will give you a credible foundation to shift from opinion-based debates to evidence-based decisions.

Our second recommendation is to focus on talent management practices where inclusion and retention live (or die) in everyday moments, especially with senior leaders and middle management (more on this latter group in a moment):

  • Sponsorship – for more, visit here
  • Work allocation – for more, visit here
  • Feedback delivery – for more, visit here


These are the levers that influence access to opportunity and career acceleration. In other words: if you want the highest impact for inclusion in this difficult moment, it directly ties to who has senior leaders advocating for them when it matters most, who gets stretch assignments, and who receives high quality, actionable feedback.

2) Support and Empower Middle Management

If there is one layer of the organization we’re most worried about right now, it’s middle management—the “sandwich layer” carrying accountability, without the highest authority.

At the best of times, middle managers have some of the highest stress and burnout in an organization. But in 2026, their reality is being amplified by changing portfolios, downsizing, tighter budgets, constant reorganization, reduced psychological safety, and a lack of belonging. Their workload expands, the pace accelerates, and the emotional labor multiplies—because they often absorb team anxiety, fear of layoffs, interpersonal conflict, and the day-to-day consequences of big decisions made at higher levels.

And here’s the part senior leaders often miss: the relationship people have with their direct manager has an outsized impact on engagement, retention, and culture. So when middle managers are unsupported, it doesn’t stay contained. It becomes an overall cultural issue.

What does real support for middle management look like?

It starts with clarity: clear role expectations, decision rights, and an honest conversation about scope. It also requires something bolder: being willing to stop or pause work. We cannot say we care about middle managers while refusing to change what is crushing them. That disconnect breeds cynicism and further disengagement.

Next, speak directly with middle managers. Use focus groups and targeted diagnostics to understand what’s actually happening: workload, change fatigue, authority gaps, emotional labor, and where they feel unsafe to speak honestly.

Finally, create peer support containers that are facilitated and psychologically safe—places where managers can name what’s hard, learn practical tools, and feel less alone. Not another talk about resilience. Not another “self-care lunch and learn.” Real, structural support and real skill-building.

3) Focus on 1:1 Experiences by Creating “3C Cultures”

In a world where many organizations are scaling back visible inclusion efforts and where large group conversations can feel constrained or risky, one-on-one experiences matter more than ever.

People are in distress. Many are lonely at work. Many are censoring themselves. And many are deciding whether they can stay—not based on the organization’s values on paper, but based on how safe and supported they feel with the humans around them.

This is why we’re urging leaders to build what we call 3C cultures:

  • Conversation – Conversation means building the capacity for leaders to have difficult discussions—about geopolitics, polarized beliefs, mental health, resistance to inclusion, and more—without rupture. Leaders must be taught concrete skills on how to hold these types of conversations.

  • Connection – Connection is about addressing the loneliness and belonging epidemic across workplaces. It’s about leaders learning how to build meaningful, inclusive relationships that are rooted in belonging—not performative check-ins, but real attunement, empathy, and presence. Again, leaders must be taught skills on how to make this happen.

  • Coaching – Coaching means one-on-one feedback and development that is clear, courageous, and human. And this is where Shift Leadership becomes a powerful accelerator, because this new paradigm for leading engages all three Cs: deep relationship building, hard conversations, and direct advocacy that changes someone’s career trajectory.


In difficult times in workplaces, these are the types of behaviors and approaches that we must anchor to. (If you’re interested in learning more about any of the C’s and how we can help you, please reach out to us.)

Finally, as we wind down our thoughts here, we want to emphasize the importance of this kernel of wisdom for 2026: 

Take care of yourself.

If 2026 is going to be as complex as we expect, you must take care of yourself… which means:


I hope this resonates (and if it does, see some of the self-care resources we’ve noted below). And we’d love to hear what you’re seeing inside your organization. Please send us a message through our Contact Us page, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Reach out to the bci team here to learn more about our range of cutting-edge programming on Shift Leadership and other talent management/leadership programming:

  • Worksheets:
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Dr. Komal Bhasin, MSW, MHSc, DSocSci

Komal is bci’s Senior DEI Consultant and Mental Health Expert-in-Residence and an accomplished DEI facilitator, coach, and strategist. Komal has over 20 years of experience in providing strategic and advisory guidance and program development across a range of sectors, with a particular concentration in mental health and racial inclusion. Komal is also the founder of Insayva Inc., a social enterprise focused on providing accessible DEI and health equity support to charities and non-profit organizations.

Komal has extensive experience in creating and delivering programming in a range of leadership and DEI areas, including mental health inclusion, psychological safety, empathy, relationship repair, allyship, and cultural competence. She is passionate about driving transformational change in workplaces and has worked closely with bci clients – corporations, professional service firms, health care providers, and educational institutions – to embed cultures of inclusion within their organizations.

Komal has provided one-on-one inclusion coaching to hundreds of senior leaders and brings a unique approach that is informed by her background as a therapist. She is able to expertly handle sensitive conversations and situations and works with leaders to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to advance racial/ethnocultural, gender, and mental health-related equity across teams and organizations. Komal also offers a performance coaching program designed specifically for BIPOC leaders. This program aims to help BIPOC leaders harness their place, position, and identity to thrive in the workplace and beyond. Komal is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

As bci’s Mental Health Expert-in-Residence, Komal offers tremendous expertise around workplace mental health. As a doctoral trained mental health clinician, certified health executive, and registered social worker, Komal has assisted organizations looking to advance employee mental health inclusion and well-being through offering programming on inclusive dialogue, anti-stigma, burnout prevention, psychological safety, resilience, and self-care. Komal is committed to advancing mental health and wellness across the life course; she currently serves on the board of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario and previously served on the boards of Children’s Mental Health Ontario and the YMCA of Greater Toronto.

When Komal is not working, you’ll find her painting, cooking, or snuggling with her cats.

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