The Commandant’s Inclusive Leadership, Excellence, and Diversity (ILEAD) Council is the Coast Guard’s holistic approach to impacting leadership and diversity. The ILEAD Council is charged with making recommendations to enhance leadership development practices, support a diverse and inclusive workforce, and raise awareness concerning leadership and diversity issues with senior leaders of the Coast Guard. The Council works in conjunction with Leadership and Diversity Councils (LDACs) to elicit best practices and issues from throughout the Coast Guard at all levels.
An LDAC is a local group approach to impacting leadership and diversity. District commanders and commanding officers of sectors, air stations, cutters, and units with 50 or more personnel are required to establish an LDAC. LDACs are responsible for assessing the workplace climate and culture in their respective areas, developing annual action plans for how they will positively impact diversity and leadership in their area, addressing leadership and diversity issues that can be resolved at the unit level, and forwarding issues that cannot be handled at the unit level to the next higher LDAC.
The ILEAD/LDAC network spans from headquarters to the deck plate level, empowering members to:
- Take an active role in promoting inclusion and diversity within the Coast Guard;
- Suggest best practices to positively impact organizational climate; and
- Engage with their local community to establish beneficial partnerships.
To balance field and headquarters concerns and ensure proper logistical support during the ILEAD meetings, DCO/PACAREA and DCMS/LANTAREA will each co-chair the ILEAD Council for two years. Council members are responsible for keeping their "finger on the pulse" of the climate of the Coast Guard environment in their geographic areas. The Council reviews the best practices, issues, and input from the LDACs to provide recommendations to the Commandant. Upon returning to their units in the field, members help convey the Commandant’s feedback, provide updates on policies, and highlight opportunities to the workforce to contribute to the matters that impact their work environment.
For additional information on the ILEAD Council, refer to the Leadership and Diversity Councils Commandant Instruction: COMDTINST 5350.9A.