As an evidence-based organisation, we don’t just focus on what leaders do: we care deeply about how they do it. That includes looking at the psychological foundations that underpin inclusive behaviour. One such foundation is self-awareness.
A 2025 article by Dane and colleagues in the Journal of Management explores how people experience “work-related epiphanies”: those lightning-bolt moments that change how we see ourselves and how these moments shape career purpose.
So why does this matter for inclusive leadership?
Because most leaders overestimate how inclusive they are and when perception doesn’t match reality, improvement stalls. If we want to close that gap, self-awareness is key. This research shows us that gaining a clearer, more realistic sense of self doesn’t always require major life changes. It can begin with allowing our minds to wander.
The authors examined three leadership development settings, including coaching workshops, to understand what drives these epiphanies. They found that a particular type of mind wandering which they call problem-solving daydreaming, was linked to stronger work-related epiphanies. These are not idle distractions, but imaginative reflections that return again and again to unresolved tensions. The stronger the daydreaming, the stronger the epiphany. And with stronger epiphanies came greater clarity, tension resolution, and ultimately a deeper sense of career purpose.
Crucially, the impact of this daydreaming was amplified when people had what psychologists call deprivation sensitivity. This is a curiosity-driven compulsion to resolve what’s unclear or uncomfortable. In other words, those who couldn’t let go of their questions and were willing to confront ambiguity were most likely to transform their self-understanding.
For inclusive leadership, these findings offer practical insight. Leaders don’t just need new knowledge or skills. They need time and space to reflect, to mentally return to moments of dissonance, and to reframe their assumptions. When leaders are supported to engage in purposeful reflection, especially in psychologically safe spaces like coaching, they become more likely to shift long-held beliefs about themselves and others.
So how can we create the conditions for these kinds of transformational reflections?
Here are three evidence-informed recommendations:
- Normalise reflection, not just action: Build in time for quiet thinking or walking meetings. Encourage leaders to notice unresolved tensions rather than immediately solve them.
- Prompt the right kind of daydreaming: Use reflective prompts that connect people to their values, discomforts, or patterns of behaviour, especially those tied to inclusion and exclusion.
- Support curiosity over defensiveness: Leaders with a genuine desire to resolve inner tensions are more likely to grow. Help them welcome discomfort as a sign of deeper learning ahead.
You can read the original article here.
