Module 2 of 6
Access in everyday leadership
Access is element 2 of the Equity in Action Model: examine who has access to information, opportunities, relationships, and resources. This module from Equity in Action Practice gives you four decision moments, a five-step practice, and one exercise to try this week.
Last updated: November 2026 · Published by CRW Diversity
How do managers check who has access on their team?
Managers check access by mapping four things for each person on the team: the information they receive, the opportunities they are offered, the relationships they can reach, and the resources they can use. Access is the second element of the Equity in Action Model because opportunity rarely flows evenly by default.
Why access matters
Access gaps are often invisible to the people who have access. The meeting after the meeting, the leader who knows your name, the early heads-up about a reorganization: these shape careers more than formal programs do. A manager controls more of this flow than most realize.
Where accessshows up in a manager's week
Information
Who hears about changes first, and who hears secondhand?
Opportunities
Are stretch roles announced to everyone or offered quietly?
Relationships
Who have you introduced to senior leaders this quarter?
Resources
Who gets budget, tools, training time, and your attention?
The five-step practice
Use your own recent decisions as the material. Most managers can complete these steps within one or two weeks of normal work.
- 1List every person who reports to you in a simple grid.
- 2Add four columns: information, opportunities, relationships, resources.
- 3Mark what each person received from you in the last 90 days.
- 4Circle the empty cells and look for a pattern by role, location, or schedule.
- 5Choose one empty cell to fill this month and put it on your calendar.
Reflection questions
- Who on my team would be surprised by news that others already know?
- Which opportunities did I offer without announcing them?
- Whose network have I actively expanded this year?
Try this week
Send the same context-setting note about an upcoming change to your whole team at once, instead of sharing it in passing with a few people.
For senior executives
For executives, access is a systems question: how are high-visibility assignments, sponsorship, and development budgets distributed across the organization, and who decides?
Read the executive guideOther modules
- 01AwarenessUnderstand how assumptions, experiences, and organizational patterns influence decisions.
- 02AccessExamine who has access to information, opportunities, relationships, and resources.
- 03AdvocacyUse your influence to ensure talent, ideas, and perspectives aren’t overlooked.
- 04ActionTurn awareness and good intentions into deliberate leadership decisions.
- 05AccountabilityLook beyond intentions and pay attention to outcomes.
- 06EmpowermentCreate the conditions for people to contribute, grow, and use their voices.
Common questions
See all questions in the Equity in Action FAQ- What is the Equity in Action Model?
- The Equity in Action Model is a practical framework from Celeste Warren of CRW Diversity that helps leaders examine how their decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape people’s experiences and opportunities. It has six elements: Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment. Each element turns a principle into a daily leadership habit.
- What is the difference between equity and equality at work?
- Equality usually means giving everyone the same thing. Equity means examining whether people actually have fair access to the information, opportunities, relationships, and resources they need to succeed. The Equity in Action Model focuses on equity because identical treatment inside an uneven system can still produce uneven outcomes.
- What is an example of equity in action?
- A simple example of equity in action is a manager who announces a stretch assignment to the whole team with clear criteria, instead of offering it quietly to the person they know best. The change is small, but it widens access to information and opportunity, two areas the Equity in Action Model asks leaders to examine.
- Does Equity in Action work for remote and hybrid teams?
- Yes. Remote and hybrid teams often make access gaps wider, because informal information and relationships tend to favor people who are physically nearby. The Access module’s grid of information, opportunities, relationships, and resources is especially useful for spotting who is missing out when the team is spread across locations or schedules.
- How can busy managers find time for equity work?
- Equity work fits inside decisions managers already make, so it rarely needs a separate block of time. A Gartner survey of 2,947 employees and managers, reported by Braintrust in 2026, found 47% of managers say more is expected of them than a year ago. That is why each module focuses on one small change to an existing decision.
Leading the system, not just the team?
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