This week, during the EU PVSEC 2025, women in Solar+ Europe (Wisu), in collaboration with PVSEC, organized the workshop “Leading with Inclusion: Exploring the Six Tuits of Including Leadership”, a dynamic forum for dialogue and co-creation. Based on Deloitte’s framework, six market leaders and experts led participants through the characteristics of dedication, courage, knowledge of bias, curiosity, cultural intelligence and cooperation. What emerged was a collective recognition that including leadership cannot be reduced to one quality, but must be consciously fed by the interplay of all six properties.
In an industry where innovation depends on diverse thinking, this Wisu Signature workshop encouraged participants to think about how inclusion -properties apply in practice and how they shape daily leadership decisions. Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of Solarpower Europe, has opened the discussion, has tackled the knowledge of bias and reminds participants that bias is something that everyone is wearing: “We must all be aware of it and find ways to identify those prejudices. But identifying them can only be reduced the first step; integration of the work of bias on the workplace.” “”
Real-life experiences shared during the session revealed how even when Bias is recognized, resistance often follows. “For example, you can hire someone from a less prestigious university and suddenly prejudices arise within the organization,” she explained. Changing communication styles, training and self -reflection all help, but in the end it has to overcome perseverance. “Speak when you feel bias in decisions or division of tasks, check your own assumptions and involves others. That is how diversity is really integrated into decision -making.”
That call for courage was reflected by Solar Energy Specialist Wim Since, who emphasized the need for leaders to create environments where people feel safe to express themselves. “Courage must be encouraged. Leaders should not personally take feedback in the wrong sense, but use it to improve their approach and processes of the team,” he said. Courage, he emphasized, supports everything else: “You can’t get a preference if you don’t have the courage to do this.”
Curiosity emerged as another powerful tool. For Delfina Muñoz, senior researcher at CEA, curiosity means more than empathy or tolerance, it is about actively trying to understand others. “Active listening, giving space and discovering the details create opportunities to connect,” she said. When leaders cultivate curiosity, they open the door to transformation: “When we are curious, we get out of the box, empowerment everyone and we build stronger teams and societies.”
Cultural intelligence, as emphasized by Arno Smets from Delft University of Technology, often reveals itself in everyday interactions. “Something so simple as punctuality can create irritation, some cultures show as acceptable, while others consider it disrespectful. Or consider Dutch directness, which can feel bone for many, while criticism in other cultures is so subtle that you may not even recognize it,” he explained. These differences can create friction in teams or even lead to exclusion, but they can also become a force. “Having many cultures in a team makes it more efficient, because different approaches to solve problems come together,” said Arno. The most important practices, he concluded, listening, respect, understanding and open -mindedness, while barriers are arrogance, exclusion and nepotism.
In the meantime, the commitment is the property that ensures that inclusion does not fade when challenges arise. For Eszter Voroshazi, head of the PV modules & systems division at CEA, commitment is not negotiable, even in times of fatigue. “Some days it is difficult to stay dedicated, and that is okay; another colleague can wear the torch. But if you don’t do it, who else?” she said. For Eszter, strengthening networks is a way to convert fatigue into renewed energy: “To mix and support each other, we can convert vicious cycles into virtuous cycles.”
Finally, cooperation brought all the characteristics together. For Mélodie de l’Epine of the Becquerel Institute, inclusion only comes to life when people work side by side. “Cooperation means going beyond individual agendas to make solutions together where every voice matters,” she said. Her group also thought about the risks of ineffective cooperation: homogeneous solutions, favored results and the failure to use the various strengths within a team. But when cooperation is done well, the results are empowerment. “We came up with the idea of ’cross ideas’, input from everywhere in combination with fertile, diverse discussions that produce better results. Ensuring meetings have agendas, giving the participants the time to prepare and explicitly create room for each person to contribute all support.” When everyone expects cooperation, and everyone offers it, the entire team is stronger. “
In all six discussions, one message was clear: Including leadership cannot be applied selectively and approaching challenges with kindness is of crucial importance. Every characteristic strengthens the others, and together they create the conditions for innovation, resilience and impact. As Wim Since put it: “These six massive areas, equally important, are only logical when they come together.” For an industry that is responsible for reforming the way in which the world generates and uses energy, the conclusion cannot be denied. Including leadership is not just about honesty; It is the engine of progress.
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