Creating Places People Can Belong: A Reflection Guide for Leaders Helping Others Belong
For Leaders Committed to Trust, Inclusion and Psychological Safety
Introduction
Leaders shape the conditions of belonging.
Your presence, your decisions, your communication, and your curiosity all influence whether people feel seen, valued, and safe enough to contribute authentically.
This guide helps leaders reflect on how they create — or unintentionally limit — belonging for others.
Understanding Your Role in Belonging
1. When people step into your team, space, or community, what do they encounter first?
2. What kind of environment do you intend to create?
3. What kind of environment might people actually experience?
4. What do you think belonging requires from you as a leader?
Seeing Through Others Eyes
1. If a new person joined your team tomorrow, what might be confusing or intimidating?
2. What unspoken norms exist that newcomers have to figure out on their own?
3. What information, context, or history do people need to feel oriented and confident?
4. Who currently feels most included — and who might feel more on the outside looking in?
Listening as a Leadership Practice
1. How often do you create space for others to share their experiences?
2. What helps people feel heard in your presence?
3. What might get in the way of you truly listening?
4. Who do you need to listen to more intentionally right now?
Building Trust and Psychological Safety
1. What behaviors help build trust on your team?
2. What behaviors erode trust — even unintentionally?
3. What signals do people look for from you to know they’re safe to be honest or take risks?
4. Where do you need to strengthen follow-through or transparency?
Welcoming, Integrating and Supporting Others
1. How do you help new people feel included and oriented?
2. Where could you be more proactive about connection and onboarding?
3. What early “roots” can you help people plant (relationships, clarity, access, visibility)?
4. How do you model curiosity about people’s stories, needs, and strengths?
Sustaining Belonging Over Time
Belonging isn’t a one-time welcome; it’s an ongoing experience.
1. What practices maintain a sense of community on your team?
2. What routines, rituals, or structures reinforce connection?
3. How do you check in on morale, inclusion, or well-being?
4. What is one system or habit you want to strengthen this month to support belonging?
In Closing….
Leaders are gardeners of belonging.
Your choices create the soil in which trust and connection grow.
By showing up with consistency, humility, and care, you help others root, rise, and contribute fully — not just to the work, but to the community that makes the work possible.
