Stories

Beyond the buzzword. What does Neurodiversity mean for business?

Neurodiversity = Neurology + Diversity The Australian sociologist, Judy Singer, coined the term Neurodiversity in the late ’90s. Singer described an inherent range in how the human mind functions regarding the functional processing of information, emotions and thoughts (Honeybourne 2020, p. 13). The term “neurodiversity” refers to the various mental models that persist in a population as...

The 101 of how not to manage Autistic employees

Leadership, you need to know this. If you don’t believe you have hidden neurodiverse employees on staff, the chances are that you do. Neurodiversity and tapping into this resource is a hot topic. According to research, neurodiversity in the general population is between 30% to 40%. With the amount of literature online about autism and neurodiversity specifically...

Autism and job interviews. What’s going wrong?

Autism and Job Interviews Huge numbers of autistic adults who are willing and able to work are unemployed. They have skills and talents which would be valuable to employers, and they want to work. What is going wrong? The answer is complex, and many factors are almost certainly involved, but one major problem for many...

Neurodivergent Leadership Part 3: Real Life Case Study – Scott Howe

“How autism and learned behaviours can be a strong combination in leadership” 4-minute read Meet Scott Howe, an impressive business leader with a background in the military. Scott is also autistic. Scott’s route into his first career was accidental. Growing up in England, he applied to join the Royal Marines Commandos, never believing he’d be...

Elon Musk recently shared that he is autistic. He was not the first billionaire to disclose as neurodivergent. There are others as discussed in a previous article, but most have ADHD or dyslexia rather than being autistic. There are few autistic business leaders who are household names. This has serious implications for autistic leadership.  Charlotte...

Elon Musk’s autistic disclosure earlier this month has left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I am a self-confessed space nut, having studied Physics for my undergrad degree. Yet the way his announcement was made was not ideal.   In the fargone days of international travel, I spoke at a tech conference in Cocoa Beach,...