Episode 125

full
Published on:

30th Apr 2026

Fixing the Leaky Pipeline: A Practical Guide for Leaders on Race Equity

A lot of organisations still explain the lack of racial diversity in leadership as a pipeline problem. It sounds neat, but it doesn’t hold up.

In this episode, I unpack why progress on race equity so often stalls the further up an organisation you move, even when there’s effort, investment, and a genuine desire to improve.

I look at what the data actually shows, why the pipeline story keeps sticking around, and what’s really happening to ethnically diverse talent once it enters the workplace. From affinity bias to who gets backed, seen, and described as having potential, this is about the systems that quietly shape progression.

If you’re serious about moving from good intentions to real change, this will give you something much more useful than another vague conversation about representation.

Highlights:

(03:33) Why the “pipeline problem” story keeps coming up

(10:30) What the data says about talent and leadership

(15:30) How professional racism hides in plain sight

(17:03) Why affinity bias keeps shaping progression

(20:30) What trickle-down equity looks like in practice

(23:53) The harder question leaders need to ask themselves

Connect with us here:

Website: https://aurorawellnessgroup.co.uk/

Ngozi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngozi-weller-aurora/

Obehi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obehi-alofoje-psychologist-aurora/

Aurora Company Profile 2025

Book a Call here: https://aurorawellnessgroup.co.uk/#book-meeting

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About the Podcast

The Wellbeing Rebellion
Welcome to The Wellbeing Rebellion, an award-winning podcast.

We’re Ngozi Weller and Obehi Alofoje, Directors at Aurora — a leadership and organisational effectiveness consultancy.

This podcast explores how the way organisations are led shapes performance, trust, wellbeing and culture over time.

The challenge with many approaches to wellbeing and culture is that they place responsibility on individuals to cope, rather than examining the leadership decisions, behaviours and systems that create the conditions people are working within.

This is where the conversation needs to shift.

On The Wellbeing Rebellion, we explore leadership behaviour, organisational systems and decision-making under pressure through honest conversations with senior leaders and advisors navigating real organisational complexity.

Some episodes are just us. Others bring in leaders and experts reflecting candidly on what works, what doesn’t, and what leadership requires in practice.

If you’re responsible for people, culture or organisational performance — and want to think more critically about how leadership shapes outcomes — this podcast is for you.

About your hosts

Obehi Alofoje

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Obehi is a psychologist and culture change consultant who helps senior HR and business leaders reduce employee burnout, absenteeism & talent attrition through mental wellbeing strategy, training & coaching.

Ngozi Weller

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Ngozi Weller is a culture change consultant and an ICF accredited coach who helps build resilience into your business by creating psychologically safe workplaces that enable employees to thrive.