It is clear, by now, that inclusive leadership is not just a desirable strategy for an organisation but an essential part of its positive identity.

Still, according to our third annual study analysing and celebrating those driving sustained change, 84 percent of leaders are not being recognised and compensated for their work, despite 71 percent stating there is a formal DEI strategy and delivery in place in their business.

In my role as CEO of Obelisk Support, I am fortunate enough to speak to many leaders across the sector who actively engage with their teams, promote transparency and hold themselves accountable for DEI outcomes. However, this best practice is not yet sector wide. The Diversity, Inclusion & Law Report 2024: Legal leaders making meaningful change, revealed how a ‘lack of recognition and value’ held for non-billable work while juggling stressful workloads and ‘lack of buy-in from senior leaders’ were identified as two of the main barriers that restricted DEI progression within the last 12 months.

With this clear deficit in appreciation, it is therefore unsurprising that just under half (46 percent) of leaders could only identify one to three people within their legal team who contribute to DEI initiatives if it didn’t fall under their remit. Sadly, less than a quarter (24 percent) felt ‘very empowered’ in delivering a DEI agenda.

Inclusive leaders do not merely need to set the agenda but also foster an environment where every employee feels a sense of ownership and participation in the DEI journey. If work is going unnoticed and undervalued, it will be an uphill battle to foster an environment where significant progress, that is sustainable, can be maintained and readily adopted by all.

To execute a sustainable strategy that will last the course, organisations also need to put their money where their mouth is. Executive backing alone is not enough.

Over half of the leaders we surveyed believe their company’s financial investment in DEI will not change over the next 12 months, highlighting a potential blockade to progression.

Without sufficient resources and senior backing, we run the risk of stagnating the progress that has been made in the past decade where we rightly celebrated the steady increase of female and minority ethnic lawyers securing successful careers across the legal sector.

When leaders champion DEI efforts, it sends a powerful signal throughout the organisation, encouraging wider engagement and support, something that is demonstrated by the 12 individuals featured in the report as raising the industry standard when it comes to effectively guiding their organisation to change.

Banke Odunaike, global head of legal for CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions Business, believes that being ‘an inclusive leader also requires you to be a visionary for you to be able to see beyond the immediate’ and ‘being empathetic to different perspectives.’

Leaders who understand that inclusive cultures are built on trust, open dialogue and the ability to listen and act upon diverse perspectives understand that DEI can no longer just be a box-ticking exercise. It is a non-negotiable for creating a brighter, more representative future for the legal sector.

As James Morgan, MD and co-general counsel for EMEA at MUFG said to me, ‘Frankly, maintaining a traditional model and not adapting to change, not being inclusive, not hearing wider opinions and staying within the box of being a technical lawyer will inevitably lead to the death of the profession. We really need to think about what it is we are here to do, and being inclusive is the best way of achieving commercial goals. So, why not do it?’

Diversity, Inclusion & Law Report 2024: Legal leaders making meaningful change surveyed 133 legal leaders and is Obelisk’s third annual report celebrating the legal leaders driving sustained change.

The full report can be downloaded here, alongside the second report, published in 2023.

Dana Denis-Smith is CEO of Obelisk Support, an alternative legal service provider of more than 1,300 lawyers in London.