Bridging Cultures and Building Connection

Amanda Van Der Heiden explores the dynamics of organising chaos by translating complexity into people-centred momentum, sharing profound insights on cultivating belonging, navigating change, and empowering diverse teams through authentic leadership.

In this episode of The Inclusion Bites Podcast, Joanne Lockwood welcomes Amanda Van Der Heiden to explore what it means to organise chaos and spark belonging. Drawing from both personal and professional experiences, Joanne and Amanda discuss the complexities of fostering inclusion across cultures, industries, and individual perspectives. Amanda unpacks how a sense of belonging encompasses more than just inclusion or diversity policies; it is a lived feeling rooted in being truly seen and valued. The conversation moves through challenges of polarity in today’s world, the subtle art of balancing authenticity and respect, and the importance of understanding others’ communication styles to bridge divides. Joanne brings a rich context in the DEI space to highlight how businesses often overlook the “magic” of belonging, even as they engage with diversity and equity initiatives.

Amanda Van Der Heiden brings over twenty years’ experience as a chaos coordinator and relationship builder, having led global L&D rollouts across companies and continents. Her unique perspective is shaped by a childhood spent navigating two starkly different worlds—Kentucky and New York—with Dutch roots and her own visible difference, piebalism. This experience has endowed Amanda with an innate ability to connect across divides and to build momentum from complexity. A lifelong advocate for people-first solutions, Amanda’s superpower lies in translating complexity into people-centred action that empowers teams and promotes genuine connection. She believes in nurturing cultures where people don’t simply fit in but thrive authentically, sharing actionable frameworks for leaders keen to create spaces of true belonging.

Throughout their discussion, Joanne and Amanda delve into practical techniques for fostering inclusion, from reframing internal dialogue to tailoring learning experiences with autonomy and intent. They challenge listeners to reflect on why they do what they do and to question the organisational habits that shape culture. The episode emphasises the need for transparency, active listening, and continuous self-reflection to unite diverse groups, especially in times of change.

The key takeaway from this episode is the transformative power of consciously organising workplace chaos and nurturing a culture of authentic belonging. By embracing curiosity, embracing difference, and placing people first, leaders and teams can break through the noise and generate meaningful impact. This episode equips listeners with insights to ignite the spark of inclusion and embed belonging into daily action, encouraging them to subscribe and share their own stories as part of the wider Inclusion Bites community.

Viral Topic: The Surprising Similarity in People’s Thoughts: “it’s very rare for someone to say something truly unique and different. And when they do, I’m like, ooh, your brain works different. You’re interesting because usually it’s like one of five things that people say.”

Viral Topic: The Power of Bringing People Together

The Importance of Lifelong Learning: “You have to continue to learn and adapt because of the pace of everything moving.”

Viral Topic – The Art of True Communication: “So if you still be you and still give the message, but do it in a way where they can actually hear you and actually understand what you’re trying to gain, then you start to have common ground and understanding. So you’re truly being yourself, but you’re doing it in a way that the other person can receive the information and that’s, it’s a hard line to walk.”

Viral Topic: Rethinking Success at Work: “There’s no such thing as an organisation, it’s a collection of people. So if you, if you want your organisation to do well, you want your people to do well. If your people are doing well, your organisation will do well.”

Viral Topic: Remote Work Exposes Leadership Gaps: “The difference is the best leaders, the best communicators, pre Covid knew they have to do it. There’s an effort that goes into it, there’s strategy that goes into making sure people are heard and you’re setting things up and there’s success in that.”

Viral Topic: Leveraging Strengths over Fixing Weaknesses

Diversity Drives Success: “You need all, all the different types and roles in order for it to succeed. Because again, study after study has shown and the results are proof. In the pudding, right, is that the organisations that have more diverse thinking. You talked about groupthink earlier, but if you have more diverse, if you are, you need to be at least as diverse as your client base from an organisation perspective. So the more diverse thoughts and viewpoints and backgrounds and training that you have, the better the end product or end result is going to be. And the companies that do that, that incorporate that have seen time and time again that improve their profit margins, improve their sales because you have more different ideas saying like hey this might work for this type of person but it’s not going to work for that. So how do we make sure to think through that and think of different perspectives?”

Viral Topic: Rethinking Office Culture

Viral Topic: The Power of Asking ‘Why’ in Leadership

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