In today's diverse and ever-evolving business landscape, promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I) is not just a nice-to-have. It’s a crucial component of successful leadership. We often find inspiration from individuals who have made significant strides in this area, such as Dame Inga Beale, the former CEO of Lloyds. In this blog post, we will explore five valuable lessons from her journey, demonstrating how to become a successful D&I leader in any organisation.1. Collect DataMany companies track employee engagement data alone. And for most businesses that have a generally healthy culture, participation is often high.But that data doesn’t always show the nuances of what’s missing. “When I arrived at Lloyd, there was a box for for entering your sexuality and less than 10% of the employees completed it,” says Inga. “I arrive, start talking about this stuff within a year, over 90% of the people complete that field.” Inga noticed this discrepancy and knew they needed to find ways of starting to collect higher-quality data that was going to change the business for the better. But the key to collecting this type of quality of data is actually telling people what you will be using it for. When Inga started doing this, she started noticing changes. “People started to understand why we were collecting the data – because we said, we actually want to uncover if there are groups of people who aren't feeling as engaged others,” she explained. “We were able to slice and dice for engagement data, and actually show to everybody who was happy who was unhappy and all the rest of it.” Our most recent surveys done in partnership with YuGov found that employees would be more willing (72%), and more honest (67%), with feedback if they knew how the data was going to be used. Gathering accurate data is all about laying the foundations of your programme. It helps you understand where you are, and where you need to be. “You've got to do the groundwork to get that culture going,” says Inga. “Because surely you'll see the more engaged your people are, and more productive you are. And if you can then show various groups less engaged or more engaged, and and then trying to understand why – I think it's a really nice way to start.”2. Involve people from as many communities as possible It's extremely important to get people from underserved communities involved in decision-making levels of the business. All too often, D&I programmes fail to take this kind of holistic approach in their strategies. Even as a queer woman in a CEO position, Dame Inga Beale wasn’t able to hit every mark on her own. She owns up to having made a “big mistake” when creating an exhibit around the history of Lloyds as a company: “It was formed in 1688. It's got amazing history – it survived the Titanic. You know everything,” she explained. “I thought this was very interesting. So we put this graphic on the wall, and then we opened it. We had this big party, and then there was a black guy in the at Lloyds, and he was at the party, and he said, Inga – ‘do you know what you haven't mentioned the slave trade?’ and I thought, ‘Gosh right.’ Lloyd used to insure the slaughter. I mean a dreadful, dreadful thing of its past. Awful,” she expressed. “We'd glossed over it and ignored it instead of owning up to this misdemeanour. I didn't have a black person on that small group that did the final approval of the thing.” Inga acknowledges that adding these different voices on your team takes an extra step – but that those extra steps are vital. “If you want to get it right, and you want to really show that you want all types of people – you've got to make sure you're including them and getting their input.” 3. Start baseline conversations When you’re leading a D&I programme, it’s not always about building a massive strategy right away – sometimes the most effective way to initiate change is simply to initiate discussion. “However big your organisation is, try to allow the real conversations to happen in a safe way,” says Inga. “We don't want people who are homophobic arguing with the gay person about, you know, the ‘rights or wrongs' of it, or a racist conversation going on…but we do need to understand what people are feeling because we're not just machines.” In order to start making fundamental shifts in the company around D&I, you need to understand the various mindsets within the company. People need to be able to express their fears so you can better understand where their reservations are, and how to break down any preconceived ideas. The best way to start doing this is to start having honest conversations in safe spaces. That’s the only way doubts can be quelled and concerns can be squashed at a sustainable rate – and for real, fundamental improvement to start being made. 4. Garner influential allies to speak up on your behalfAllies and advocates are key in the journey towards building a more inclusive workplace. In Inga’s experience, she was told early on that she was talking “too much” about D&I. So she tried to fight that by engaging individuals to back her up, and garnered support from higher-ups. “I remember asking the guy [a higher up in Lloyd]. He was in his fifties. He definitely wasn't diverse, and I asked him, ‘I need you to sign a voice piece because I get criticised about it’. He took that role on. He's still doing it today He got so into it – which is why I think sort of allieship can be so important in any of these, whether it's talking about LGBT or age, or race, or anything.”Encourage the formation of employee resource groups and support networks that have influential voices. Senior allies need to actively be able to support and amplify the voices of underrepresented colleagues in order for a D&I programme to truly gain traction.5. Encourage authenticity and action from the top down As a D&I leader, encourage your team to bring their authentic selves to work – and show people doing it from the top down.When Dame Inga assumed the role of CEO at Lloyds, she recognised there was an urgent need for change within the organisation's culture. So she strategically embedded D&I as a business priority with measurable goals and metrics for senior leaders.“I insisted that we had targets for women in senior positions. And we set a target of 40% women,” Inga said. “I didn't want it to be just for the women. So I wanted to have this balance so you could have at least 40% women, at least 40% men in my senior roles. So that was what we did. And we were well on our way. I think we got to 37 1/2 females from something in the low in the high teens when I started.” As changes started to be made, and senior leaders were more open about the use of data and how it was going to be used in the company, they were able to get more information from their teammates. They got people to open up more about their racial backgrounds and their experiences on various levels.And with this: “We were then able to set targets for representation,” she expressed. “Focus on those senior levels. Because if you don't change the senior folk, it fundamentally will not make that big of a difference in the organisation.” The earlier your senior team can embrace and celebrate the diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences that each individual brings – the more comfortable each individual working at the company will feel to bring their full selves to work as well. 6. PersistanceOne of the most important lessons from Dame Inga's journey is the need for persistence in driving change. Addressing complex issues like diversity and inclusion requires time, effort, and unwavering commitment.Leading D&I, especially in a traditional industry means you’ll often face resistance or skepticism. But that’s why it’s even more crucial to stay strong in your dedication to fostering an inclusive culture.“It's about the persistence,” says Inga. “Particularly some CEOs will think it’s on the ‘job list’ [...] you know. ‘Get it done’ But it's not. It is so much about people and emotion and feelings. You cannot just treat it in that way, and that means you need absolute persistency. And you need to approach this from every single angle you can think of.” Recognise that change may be incremental, but consistent effort will yield positive results over time. Listen to feedback, learn from setbacks, and continuously adapt your strategies to create a more inclusive workplace.“It is not linear, and it is a journey. But, please, whatever you do, don't give up and keep that persistent approach.”