An example of how listening and learning from those with diverse lived experiences can create more inclusive, future-ready pathways to leadership.
“If leadership conversations only include people who look and think the same, decisions narrow and blind spots grow. Seeing the world through a single lens doesn’t create stability, it creates stagnation. We lose insight, connection and credibility with the communities we serve. Valuing diverse lived experience and intentionally creating space to hear and act on those insights keeps organisations learning, connected and future-focused.” – Kristen Hilton, Convenor, Champions of Change Coalition
This initiative brought emerging women leaders with a range of lived experiences into CEO-level conversations, exploring what happens when diverse perspectives help shape thinking about leadership succession and development.
Why this mattered
Champions of Change Coalition recognises that efforts to advance women’s equality have not benefited all women equally. Our goal is to elevate and advance women and diverse talent so organisations can draw on the full breadth of talent in their communities. That requires increasing visibility and ensuring diverse perspectives inform decisions and are embedded in the co-design of solutions.
Putting inclusion into practice
This practical example shows how Champions of Change Coalition and Lendlease tested a simple but deliberate shift: inviting emerging women leaders with a range of lived experiences to participate in CEO-level discussions about succession and leadership development. The aim was to listen and learn in real time, creating opportunities for participation, visibility and exchange that could shape how inclusive leadership pipelines are built in practice. For participants, it provided rare exposure to senior leaders and tangible development experiences. For Lendlease senior leaders, it surfaced valuable insights to strengthen talent processes and communication. Small structural changes can meaningfully shift who gets seen, heard and supported to lead.
“When talent from diverse backgrounds help design solutions, we see the opportunities and barriers more clearly. Leaders have a responsibility to open pathways so diverse talent can thrive, lead, and strengthen our organisations.” – Dale Connor, COO and CEO, Construction, Lendlease
Overview
As part of the Coalition’s Building diverse and inclusive CEO Pipelines project, Lendlease, led by Dale Connor (CEO of Construction and COO) and Melissa Tsang (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager), partnered with peers across the sector to explore more inclusive approaches to building CEO pipelines.
A key focus was creating meaningful exposure and development opportunities for emerging women leaders, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. By actively involving them in high level discussions, emerging leaders were able to contribute their perspectives while Lendlease senior leaders gained new insights and visibility into diverse talent across the property sector.
Through this initiative, Lendlease sought to better understand what has worked—and what hasn’t—across the sector. This exploration highlighted the opportunity to:
- Include diverse voices in interviews and industry reflections, offering a real-time sense check on current practices;
- Build the confidence and visibility of emerging leaders by involving them directly in conversations about leadership development and succession.
Approach
- Leadership commitment
Dale Connor partnered with other Champions of Change Members to lead a focused exploration of inclusive succession planning.
- Engaging emerging women leaders
Lendlease invited emerging women leaders to participate in the initiative, ensuring representation across:
- LBTQI+ identities
- First Nations communities
- Culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- People who identify as living with a disability
- People with caring responsibilities
- A range of ages and career stages (ranging from graduates to deputy fund managers).
- Structured preparation
Careful consideration was given to creating an environment of psychological safety for the emerging leaders throughout the process.
Before discussions, participants joined a briefing session with Dale Connor to:
- Understand the purpose and context of the initiative
- Learn about Lendlease’s talent review and succession planning processes
- Clarify their role in the interviews, with encouragement to participate actively and ask questions
- Involving the emerging leaders in the conversation
During the discussions with CEOs, Dale Connor created a space that reduced hierarchy and encouraged genuine exchange.Emerging leaders were invited to introduce themselves, ask questions, and contribute to the discussion. For many, it was their first opportunity to engage directly in a conversation with a CEO and between CEOs.
- Reflective debriefing
Following the interviews:
- Participants engaged in a debrief session with Dale Connor and each other to share reflections
- An anonymous survey was distributed to gather additional feedback
Outcomes
- Exposure and recognition: The participants valued the opportunity to be part of conversations with senior leaders. For many, it was the first time they had direct engagement with a CEO.
- Leadership development: The experience expanded participants’ understanding of succession planning and navigating leadership pathways.
- Organisational insight: Feedback from participants informed improvements to how talent processes are communicated and understood within Lendlease.
- Ongoing engagement: The women were invited to continue their involvement by joining a working group focused on sharing experiences and improving inclusive talent practices.
- Shared value: Both Dale Connor and the participants noted the importance of the experience, and reflected on the mutual benefit of visibility, connections and learning that would not have occurred otherwise.
Key Learnings
- Intersectionality matters and can be embedded: Meaningful inclusion requires thinking beyond gender and involving people with a range of lived experiences.
- Visibility matters: Creating structured yet open settings for engagement with senior leadership builds trust, confidence, and connection.
- Feedback loops drive progress: Structured debriefs and anonymous feedback generate rich insights that continuous improvement.
Conclusion
This initiative exemplifies how intentional, inclusive practices can centre diverse voices and lived experiences. With clear intent and senior leaders support, practical steps, like opening up conversations and involving a broader group in them, can create meaningful development and visibility opportunities that benefit individuals and organisations. Lendlease is applying these insights to strengthen its future leadership pipeline.
“Being part of CEO conversations on succession planning showed me what it takes to build a pathway to leadership and why emerging women need to be in the room. The absence of culturally diverse women in senior roles is clear, and change will take recognition, visibility, and a very specific and targeted approach to talent development and sponsorship.” – Emerging Leader, Lendlease