Zahoor Ahmad, Head of Social Mobility, Inclusion and Belonging at Coop on How to elevate the narrative around D&I to drive change

Diverse & Inclusive Leaders & CEO Activist Podcast by DIAL Global

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Zahoor Ahmad, Head of Social Mobility, Inclusion and Belonging at Coop and Executive Director at Alchemy Performance.
"Through emotional intelligence you can create a level of psychological safety and then people are accepting of ideas because they are non-threatening. However, if people enter their fight or flight mode when you approach them, you're not going to get much out of them."
You'll hear about:
- Zahoor's evolution through D&I including why he peaked at the age of 11, his Pakistani background, his experience of racism in public schools at a young age, how he's used his degree in psychology starting from social services to race equality to fire services, his career break where he wrote a novel and then continuing on to Royal Mail, the finance sector and finally to the Coop.
- The differences he found within organisations at his various roles and what it means to be a forward-thinking D&I professional in today's world.
- The big failures of diversity initiatives across Zahoor's experience, particularly bearing in mind the cyclical nature of events leading to diversity fatigue.
- How to elevate the narrative around D&I to use D&I to make things happen where it counts
- Why is it important to step up and put our head above the parapet when it comes to critical issues of our time
- The importance of the art of storytelling and persuasion

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