Session – 2

Inclusion:
The need to belong to groups is part of human nature. The following are some of the reasons
why humans need to be Included,
Need for affiliation: persons who are high in need for affiliation tend to join groups more
frequently.
Need for intimacy: persons who have a high need for intimacy prefer to join others. They
seek close relations and they do not fear of rejection.
Need for power: persons who are high in the need for power exhibit an elevated desire to
maintain and enhance their capacity to influence other people. They seek membership in
groups not to bond with others but because groups provide them with the means to reach their
more primary goal of influencing other people.
Inclusion can be of different types, it can be due to a person’s culture, education, age,
intelligence, gender, identity, sexual orientation, regional etc. For instance, Darwin’s theory
of natural selection, states why human beings seek inclusion.
When people see that sense of connection is missing, he or she cannot establish a relation
towards that group. For instance, I was part of one group for assignment I never sensed any
dynamics in that group even though I completed most of the assignment other’s were not
interested to do the final review because of other commitments. So inclusion is a two way
process. People need to invite, acknowledge and accept the person whole-heartedly in the
team then only we can say that the person is Included.
I would like to explain this with the recent Rajasthan Congress party crises, between Sachin
Pilot and C.M. Jyotiraje Scindia where Pilot sense that he and his supporters felt are excluded
from their party. Even Pilot and his supporters are highly aligned with congress vision and
policies if you are not included in the group then we can’t call that group as a team.
From the last year Transcendence event, I still remember the words spoke by Santosh babu
on Inclusion. “Diversity has no importance when there is no inclusion. Diversity is like
calling someone for the party, whereas inclusion is like calling them on the dance floor”.

References:
1. Donelson R, Forsyth, Group Dynamics, seventh edition, Chapter 3
2. Shore, L. M., Randel, A. E., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., Holcombe Ehrhart, K., &
Singh, G. (2011). Inclusion and diversity in workgroups: A review and model for
future research. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1262-1289.