From Tech CEO to Stay-at-Home Dad: Powering Practical Allyship

Guest: Lee Chambers — award-winning business psychologist, author of Momentum, and founder of Male Allies UK. He’s worked with brands like UBS, IKEA and Oracle, and is recognised for making allyship practical, well-being strategic and inclusion something people feel, not just hear.

Episode Summary

Lee Chambers’ story bends every stereotype. He grew up in Bolton, the first in his extended family to attend university, dropped out during a mental health wobble, returned to graduate, and saw his graduate banking role collapse in the 2008 crisis — prompting him to build a fast-growing e-commerce company from a spare room. He later lost the ability to walk and learned to walk again, which reset his valuaes and ultimately led him to step away from the CEO seat to become a stay-at-home dad — a leadership masterclass in disguise. Listening to women at a local toddler group opened his eyes to everyday inequities at work and sparked his mission: help men build the skills of allyship and redesign systems so everyone belongs and performs. He now equips leaders and teams to move beyond slogans to evidence-based, everyday behaviours that compound into culture change.

What You’ll Learn

• What “allyship” really means: working effectively across difference, not grand gestures.
• Why inclusion fails without foundations — and how to build them.
• Tactics any leader can use to make meetings fairer (and more productive).
• How resilience, neurodiversity and identity can shape courageous leadership.
• The surprising leadership lessons of being a stay-at-home parent.
• Why men often hesitate to engage — and what helps them step in.
• How allyship improves retention, applications and survey scores.
• A first step any SME owner can take this week.

Practical Plays You Can Use Tomorrow

• Add a no-interruptions rule in meetings and nominate a rotating chair to enforce it.
• Ask three colleagues: “What’s it really like working here?” Listen, capture themes, act on one item.
• Audit one process (promotions, project allocation, networking invites) for hidden barriers; change one rule.
• Bring frontline voices (depots, logistics, ops) into inclusion design — not just head office.

Memorable Lines

• “Discomfort is where the growth is.”
• “Inclusion isn’t a plug-in; it’s foundations tied to real outcomes.”
• “Allyship isn’t a stunt; it’s micro-moments that add up.”
• “Your comfort zone is a padded jail cell.”

Guest Picks

• Book: Invisible Women — Caroline Criado Perez.
• Music: “Harvest for the World” — The Isley Brothers.
• Tool/Framework: The Boston Matrix (applied with modern nuance).

Connect with Lee Chambers

• LinkedIn: Lee Chambers
• Website: Lee Chambers
• Book: Momentum — leadership and change lessons for uncertain times.

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