Even small acts of exclusion, like taking sides or avoiding one another, can ripple outward, but they are preventable. Years ago, I worked with a manager I admired. Whenever her employees didn’t get along, she’d seat them next to one another. Eventually, they learned how to work well together. This simple tactic prevented people from taking sides and reduced the likelihood of coworkers feeling excluded now and in the future. She understood that effective collaboration mattered to the entire company and its customers.
Today’s leaders face far more complex forms of exclusion, and the impact can be much greater than two people who don’t get along. When employees feel excluded, they become isolated, less able to do their jobs well, and more disengaged.
People knowingly and unknowingly create silos, factions, and cliques that gossip, limit productivity, and make it difficult to achieve quality results because not everyone is invited or included. These groups quietly undermine collaboration, slow down decisions, and create costly barriers.
The costs show up in delayed customer responses, rework caused by withheld information, turnover ripple effects, and even legal exposure when patterns of exclusion go unaddressed (e.g., harassment, discrimination).
When people don’t feel invited to contribute or are prevented from participating, collaboration breaks down, productivity drops, and your best talent quietly disengages.
Leaders unintentionally enable exclusion when they ignore subtle behaviors, reward “insider” groups, or allow cliques to dominate conversations or decisions. Leadership awareness requires noticing these patterns early and addressing them directly.
What Can You Do as a Leader?
Hold Weekly Team Meetings. Address: What’s been working? What do you need help with? Share updates on new issues or concerns. Acknowledge successes. These conversations help people feel included and strengthen teamwork.
Develop Facilitation Skills. Develop strong facilitation skills for on-site, hybrid, and remote meetings to ensure all voices are heard and no one feels sidelined.
Honor Each Person’s Ideas. Some ideas may evoke laughter or scrutiny, but leaders must recognize when reactions create alienation. Acknowledge all ideas and ensure everyone feels psychologically safe to contribute.
Provide Frequent Feedback. Offer insights to people who are causing logjams or difficulties for customers or coworkers. Clear feedback helps prevent behaviors that exclude others from participating fully.
Ask the Employee. When creating a project or event, invite people directly and let them decide yes or no. Too often, leaders assume someone doesn’t want to participate because they’ve declined in the past or because someone else is quietly excluding them.
Counsel Future Leaders About the Cost of Exclusion. Instead of communicating, people of all ages will exclude others as a power play, to show they’re upset, or simply because they don’t like someone. In effective teams and profitable companies, future leaders must work well with anyone, anytime, and anywhere to ensure no one is left out.
Become Aware of the Cost, Legalities, and Psychological Safety. Ignoring people being or feeling excluded is expensive. When good people leave, the time, money, and energy invested in them walk out the door … and they are often followed by other employees and customers.
Building Strong Team Results. Be intentional about team-building activities. Not everyone plays golf, wants to ride a horse, or can climb a wall. These activities naturally exclude people. Instead, focus on communication and getting to know one another as people. Tools like PXT Select® help teams understand strengths and communication styles, making inclusion easier and more natural. Note: PXT Select also improves job fit. Miscommunication and misinformation often come from people who are not fully engaged in their roles.
When leaders address exclusion early, they strengthen trust, improve results, and create workplaces where people want to stay and contribute.
©Jeannette Seibly 2026 All Rights Reserved
Jeannette Seibly is a Leadership Results Coach, Talent Advisor, and Business Author with 33 years of experience guiding leaders and executives to achieve exceptional results. She delivers practical coaching and innovative solutions for hiring, leadership development, and performance success. Successful leaders have coaches—connect with Jeannette to elevate your results and impact in 2026.
As a leader, ensuring everyone on your team feels included is essential to serving the company and its clients. Small groups can quietly undermine collaboration, slow down decisions, and create costly barriers. If you’re seeing signs of exclusion and are unsure how to address them, contact me for a confidential conversation so we can identify the blind spots and strengthen your team’s ability to work well together.
NOTE: A new presentation, Psychological Safety: The Leadership Advantage, is one you cannot ignore. Contact me for details on presenting this information to your business leaders, bosses, and managers.