The Hard Work of Inclusion with Andy Woodfield & Dr. Heather Melville OBE

Welcome to Connected Leadership Bytes. This week Andy Lopata looks back into the archive for a conversation from October 2020. This episode features Andy Woodfield and Dr. Heather Melville OBE and explores the practical, unfiltered realities of building truly diverse and inclusive teams. Andy Woodfield shares the story behind his mission to build one of PwC's most diverse leadership teams in just six months. He reveals it wasn't just for optics; it was driven by the core belief that you need diverse voices to spot both risks and hidden opportunities. The discussion moves past the buzzwords to confront the hard part: inclusion. Andy Woodfield shares his stark learning that "diversity leads to chaos" unless leaders actively work to harness it—it’s not a natural evolution. Dr. Melville provides powerful insights from her stellar career, explaining how she successfully overcame pushback by tying Diversity & Inclusion directly to the business case and client acquisition. Why you should listen 1. Why does Andy Woodfield warn that diversity, on its own, naturally leads to chaos, not inclusion? 2. What are the "micro-frictions" that systemically resist change, even when a leader has a clear vision? 3. How did Dr. Melville successfully reframe D&I work at RBS from an internal "nice-to-have" into a powerful client acquisition strategy? 4. Why does true diversity require leaders to be "prepared to be fired" for doing the right thing? Actionable Insights Stop Delegating Discovery: Dr. Melville points out that leaders who just delegate D&I to HR or use the same headhunters will get the same results. To find diverse talent, leaders must do the research and networking themselves and look in different places. Protect the Uniqueness: When onboarding a new senior hire (especially one from a diverse background), actively and repeatedly remind them why they were hired. As Andy Woodfield notes, their desire to "fit in" is high. Your job is to reinforce that their unique perspective is the value, not something to be minimised. Find the Business Case: To overcome pushback, tie D&I directly to business outcomes. Dr. Melville successfully argued that unsupported female employees were leaving to become entrepreneurs—and then taking their business to competitor banks. D&I wasn't just an internal metric; it was a client retention and acquisition strategy. SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE Connect with Andy Lopata:⁠ Website⁠ |⁠ Instagram⁠ |⁠ LinkedIn⁠ |⁠ X/Twitter⁠ |⁠ YouTube⁠ Connect with Heather Melville:⁠ Website⁠ |⁠LinkedIn⁠ | Connect with Andy Woodfield:⁠ Website⁠ ⁠The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring⁠ ⁠Episode 142 Featuring Andy Woodfield and Heather Melville⁠