Abstract
Inclusive leadership is becoming increasingly an integral to team motivation and performance, particularly in the context of humanitarian services. This study has aimed to explain the importance and role of inclusive leadership (IL) in enhancing team performance in the Australian humanitarian service scenario. The main issue highlighted by the study is the need for leaders to communicate with every team member, whereas inclusive leadership facilitates. However, cultural differences pose a challenge to inclusive leadership as leaders need to consider individual needs in decision-making. To address this, this study used qualitative research methods to gather data from respondents associated with humanitarian organisations such as Foundation A and Foundation B. Five individuals from each organisation participated in the study and provided their responses to interview questions. Thematic analysis (with the aid of NVivo software) was then used to analyse the data and draw conclusion. The findings indicate that inclusive leadership creates a positive work environment and effectively manages diverse team performance in the humanitarian service sector. However, the results also suggest specific negative impacts of inclusive leadership, such as conflicts of opinion and lack of communication among leaders due to the large number of ideas generated. These negative impacts need to be strategically addresses by leaders. The research addresses a significant gap in the literature on the role of inclusive leadership in team performance in the Australian humanitarian sector. It provides insights into how inclusive leadership can be effectively implemented, shed light on the challenges and barriers to inclusive leadership, and identifies strategies to overcome them. This research also contributes to the broader literature on employee empowerment and its impact on organisational performance. The discussion reveals that inclusive leadership practices support team building and diverse thinking and ensure that people are managed effectively and respected. This contributes to the overall growth of the organisation. However, there are drawbacks to inclusive leadership that can lead to emerging complexities in team performance management in the humanitarian sector. It is, therefore, essential for humanitarian organisations to focus on addressing these drawbacks and adopt measures that can help improve team performance and achieve overall growth.