Pluralism: 9 Elements Required For Ethical Leadership

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Pluralism is required in our leadership thinking as a positive force that informs how we treat people and make decisions. It’s the expansive mindset that is the key to important ethical leadership responsibilities such as respect, inclusion, and cultural awareness.

“If you know whether a man is a decided monist or a decided pluralist, you perhaps know more about the rest of his opinions than if you give him any other name ending in IST. To believe in the one or in the many, that is the classification with the maximum number of consequences.” ― Will James

Merriam-Webster defines pluralism as “a state of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain and develop their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization.”

Pluralism, by its nature, is many things:

Inclusive
- Including everyone without losing the uniqueness of traditions or people
Listening
- Listening with care and attention and honoring a diverse group of voices
Accepting
- Being comfortable with different backgrounds, styles, traditions, approaches and ways of thinking
Collaborative
- Seeing the importance of diversity of thought in creating powerful solutions together
Unafraid
- Talking about our shared challenges, and seeing those conversations as a step toward solutions
United
- Working with individuals to build trust and educate each other on cultural traditions
Evolving
- Changing our minds and behavior willingly because we will never know everything about everything and expectations change over time
Whole
- Including everyone of every background, regardless of their life story
Learning
- Staying open to learning because we will make mistakes as we work together and learn about each other at the same time

A leader who embraces pluralism will not be afraid to go into the spaces where diverse groups of people meet, get to know each other, and work together.

“I thought about the meaning of pluralism in a world where the forces that seek to divide us are strong. I came to one conclusion: We have to save each other. It’s the only way to save ourselves.” — Eboo Patel

Ethical leaders know that we are stronger and better together, and they do everything possible to leverage that strength to solve our shared problems.