Shane Windmeyer | The Business Case for Brave Leadership

How to Champion Inclusion When It’s No Longer Popular

By Shane Windmeyer

In 2025, leadership has become a test of character more than charisma.

We are living in a moment where standing up for people—especially those most marginalized—is no longer seen as “safe” business strategy. Across industries, I’m watching leaders who once championed equity and inclusion quietly step back, soften their language, or retreat altogether.

But here’s what I know after more than two decades of doing this work: you can’t build a sustainable business on fear. And you certainly can’t build trust without courage.

As someone who has helped CEOs, HR teams, and culture leaders navigate backlash, build inclusion, and stay grounded in their values, I want to offer something different than crisis-mode thinking. I want to offer a roadmap.

1. Recommit to the Long Game

Let’s get one thing straight: DEI is not dead. It’s evolving. And evolution requires discomfort.

Leaders often ask me, “Is it worth it to keep going when people are pushing back?” My answer: only if you plan to be in business five years from now.

Because the companies that will thrive in the future aren’t the ones that played it safe in 2025. They’re the ones that stayed consistent. The ones that adapted without abandoning their purpose.

Inclusion isn’t a marketing campaign. It’s a long-term investment in people—and people are your business.

2. Don’t Confuse Silence with Neutrality

You may think that pulling back on DEI messaging or pausing identity-based programming helps you avoid controversy.

But to the people who work for you—especially those who are LGBTQ+, Black, disabled, or from other marginalized groups—your silence is not neutral. It’s noticeable.

People remember who showed up when it was hard. And they remember who disappeared.

If you’re unsure how to speak up right now, that’s okay. Ask. Listen. Learn. But do not disappear.

3. Replace Performative DEI with Embedded Equity

Now is the time to move from showy efforts to structural ones.

Here’s what that looks like:

• Conducting compensation audits to close racial and gender pay gaps
• Redesigning performance review systems to remove bias
• Equipping every manager to lead inclusively—not just DEI staff
• Making your ERGs part of business planning, not just community building

When equity becomes part of your operations—not just HR’s responsibility—you stop fearing public backlash. Because your culture is real, not reactive.

4. Rework Language, Not Values

Some organizations in conservative states feel pressured to remove “DEI” from public language. I understand the legal risks, and I work with companies in that exact situation.

But let me be clear: you can adjust the language without compromising your values.

Call it leadership development. Call it inclusive growth. Call it employee well-being. But keep doing the work:

• Mentoring underrepresented employees
• Offering inclusive benefits
• Holding space for feedback and trust-building
• Centering belonging in leadership strategy

Don’t abandon your people to preserve your image. Find a way to adapt without erasing what matters.

5. Support Your DEI Leaders Like You Support Your Executives

I’ve lost count of how many brilliant DEI professionals I’ve seen burned out, laid off, or left unsupported in the past year.

If your organization claims to care about inclusion but underpays, under-resources, or isolates the people tasked with leading it—you’re not walking your talk.

In 2025, every equity leader needs:

• Budget autonomy
• Mental health support
• Executive sponsorship
• Protection from political scapegoating

Retention of talent is inclusion in action.

6. Transparency Builds Trust—Even in Uncertain Times

If your DEI strategy is shifting, say so. Your employees can handle complexity. What they can’t handle is spin.

Be honest:

• What’s changing?
• What pressures are you facing?
• What values are you not willing to compromise?

Then invite dialogue. Transparency, paired with humility, builds more trust than a thousand canned talking points.

7. Inclusion Makes You Crisis-Ready

Ironically, I’ve seen companies cut their DEI teams and then wonder why they struggle during crises—whether that’s layoffs, lawsuits, or global events.

But here’s the truth: DEI is crisis management.

When employees feel seen and heard every day, they are far more likely to stick with you during turbulence. Inclusive cultures don’t just feel better—they perform better. They retain better. They recover faster.

You can’t prepare for every external threat. But you can control the integrity of your internal culture.

8. Be the Leader You Said You Were

If your company made big equity promises in 2020, this is the moment of reckoning. Your employees haven’t forgotten. Your consumers haven’t either.

Did you mean it then? Do you still mean it now?

This is your opportunity to prove that your DEI work wasn’t performative. That it’s embedded, evolving, and essential. That you lead not because it’s easy—but because it’s right.

Final Thoughts: Belonging Is a Business Strategy

We are entering an era where quiet leadership will define legacies.

Inclusion won’t always get you headlines in 2025. But it will build you the team that stays. The customers who trust you. The resilience to weather change.

And in a world that profits from division, choosing to lead with belonging is an act of bold defiance—and powerful alignment.

So ask yourself:
Who are you protecting?
Who are you prioritizing?
And who are you becoming?

Lead from that place. The rest will follow.

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Shane Windmeyer is a nationally respected inclusion strategist, author, and advisor to business and education leaders across the U.S. He is based in North Carolina and works at the intersection of belonging, ethics, and sustainable leadership.