771: Fixing Fairness in the Workplace, with Lily Zheng

Coaching for Leaders

Dave Stachowiak

Management, Careers, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Lily Zheng, Fixing Fairness

Lily Zheng is a sought-after speaker, strategist, and organizational consultant who specializes in hands-on systemic change to turn positive intentions into positive outcomes for workplaces and everyone in them. A dedicated changemaker and advocate, Lily has had their work published in the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, and NPR. They are the author of Fixing Fairness: 4 Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash into Progress for All (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

When it comes to fairness in the workplace, our society is quick to zero in on what divides us. Yet, there is broad agreement across all demographics on many key principles. In this conversation, Lily and I explore how leaders can influence the system to better work for everyone.

Key Points

Many of us assume that fewer people support the value of diversity than actually do. When asked, 82% of people support pro-diversity statements.
The most popular/traditional approaches to fixing fairness in the workplace tend to be the least effective.
Our tendency is to focus on the behavior of individuals, when in fact organizational systems have the most significant impact on fairness.
When considering a fairness initiative or intervention, begin with the practice of understanding and storytelling, just like many change initiatives.
Resist the temptation to check boxes with “quick fixes” such as simply bringing in a speaker or hosting a one-time event. This rarely helps in any sustainable way and sometimes worsens existing dynamics.
If you have a seat at the leadership table, make the case for thoughtful design and involvement of stakeholders at all points in the process, just as many effective organizations do on any strategic change initiative.

Resources Mentioned

Fixing Fairness: 4 Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash into Progress for All by Lily Zheng (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When it comes to fairness in the workplace, our society is quick to zero in on all the things that divide us.
0:07.4	And yet there's broad agreement across almost every demographic on a lot of the key principles.
0:13.1	In this episode, how leaders can influence the system to better work for everyone.
0:18.9	This is Coaching for Leaders, Episode 771.
0:23.4	Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.
0:31.5	Greetings to you from Orange County, California.
0:34.8	This is Coaching for Leaders, and I'm your host, Dave Stahoviac. Leaders
0:39.8	are born. They're made. And this weekly show helps leaders thrive at key inflection points.
0:46.7	We have been through a whole bunch of inflection points in what's happening in the world in recent
0:51.9	years. And one of the things that has been on the mind of so
0:54.7	many leaders and organizations is how do we make the workplace more fair? There's been a lot of
1:00.2	attempts at doing that, been a lot of struggles. There's been a lot of politics and discussion and
1:06.6	disagreement on how. Today, a conversation on the next steps. How can we do a better job as leaders
1:14.0	of thinking strategically of approaching fairness in the workplace in a way that works for almost
1:19.5	everyone? I'm so pleased to welcome Lily Zhang to the show. Lily is a sought-after speaker,
1:24.6	strategist, and organizational consultant who specializes in hands-on systemic change
1:29.7	to turn positive intentions into positive outcomes for workplaces and everyone in them.
1:35.8	A dedicated changemaker and advocate, Lilly has had their work published in the Harvard Business
1:40.9	Review, New York Times, and NPR.
1:43.7	They are the author of fixing fairness
1:45.8	for tenants to transform diversity backlash into progress for all. Lily, what a pleasure
1:51.7	to have you on. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited for this conversation.
	...

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