Every leader I studied was motivated.

They were doing real, meaningful work — building communities where people from different racial and cultural backgrounds were genuinely connecting, not just coexisting. They cared deeply about it. They were committed to it for the long haul.

And not one of them had received any formal intercultural training.

Not a workshop. Not a coaching program. Not a structured framework for developing their cultural competency. They were figuring it out largely on their own — through trial and error, through relationships, through hard conversations that didn’t always go well the first time.

When I sat with that finding, it stopped me.

Because these were the success stories. These were leaders who were making diversity work despite the gap — not because it had been filled.

Which raises an uncomfortable question for every organization investing in diversity and belonging: how many of your leaders are in the same position? Motivated, well-intentioned, genuinely wanting to do this work well — but under-resourced, undertrained, and quietly figuring it out alone?

My research suggests the answer is: more than you think.

The gap in most organizations isn’t desire. Leaders want to lead inclusively. They want to build teams where everyone belongs. Most of them just don’t have the tools, the language, or the developmental support to do it with confidence.

And so they default to what they know. Which is usually whatever the majority culture around them has always done.

Motivation without development doesn’t close the gap. It just makes the gap more frustrating to sit in.

Your leaders are ready. The question is whether your organization is investing in them accordingly.