The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders

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Structural Inclusion: Confronting the Reference Man Norms That Leave Most of Us Out

MEET THE REFERENCE MAN. THIS PERSON, OR rather this concept, has influenced our lives in more ways than we realize. Inclusive leaders must confront the Reference Man’s legacy of creating default structures, processes, and norms designed for a very narrow range of humanity.

First introduced in 1975, the Reference Man concept was devised to simplify calculations of radiation exposure. It went on to be used in research models of nutrition, pharmacology, population, and toxicology. Intended to personify all of humanity, the Reference Man was in fact defined in very specific terms: male, twenty-five to thirty years old, 154 pounds, five feet six inches tall, ...