Neurodiverse leadership in 2022 = knowledge diversity

The benefits of neurodiverse leadership in your boardroom in 2022

When thinking about the rationale for neurodiverse leadership I recently read an excellent article in Harvard Business Review reflecting on what good leadership needs to look like in 2022 and the need to reinvent our leadership teams. In the article, they talk about the paradox of leadership and the need for leaders to have 6 different areas of strength which are often actually at odds with each other. ( I have added my descriptors to this).

They say they need to be a:

·     Strategic executor- big ideas person

·     Tech-savvy humanist- understands tech but remembers people are using it

·     High integrity politician- can navigate the politics of the team and sustain the values of the company

·     Humble hero – makes decisions when they must be made

· Globally minded localist – has an outward vision but retains a local feel

·     Traditional innovator- looks to past successes but encourages innovation and growth

Some of these 'talents' also sound like ones associated with neurodivergent traits as well. But an important point is made regarding collaboration:

 “Companies have to switch from competing with rivals to cooperating with partners in networks and ecosystems to create value in ways that no single organization can manage alone.”

This made me think about what they were really saying. No one can be all these things. In the C-Suite each person comes with different roles and responsibilities. As leaders, we are allowed to be specialists. We usually also have support at this stage and can pass on to others the tasks we are not so good at doing.

Today, more than ever leadership teams need not follow a set formula in their make-up. They also certainly need to be able to change and adapt to meet the needs and demands of the organization and the world around them.

New roles have emerged in the C-Suite of today including Chief design officer, Chief diversity officer, and Chief sustainability officer. Roles that did not even exist a few years ago.

Rewriting the playbook again and again....

Perhaps it is time to rewrite the playbook for leadership and splice roles in different ways and understand it is more about the outputs required than cutting to the same cloth again and again.

If we really want to grow, attract and retain neurodiverse leaders at all levels, we need to change our expectations and our hiring processes. As Simon Fanshawe says in his excellent book 'The Power of Difference" we need to think about diversity in that it: "is not the clashing of two opposing sides".

If creating diverse teams and leaders is seen as something we have to do to make the optics look right this only leads to resentment on all parts. Don't we want to be at the table because of our skills and not because I have ADHD or because of gender or sexuality. However diverse teams can bring different thinking.

Only when we see the true value of diversity as an essential part of being innovative and better working for all do we get true buy-in.

We are all neurodiverse. We are different. But sometimes we favor a room full of people who look, think, and sound more like us and have the 'corporate speak'. It may seem easier, and less effortful and so we avoid change.

We keep recruiting a lot of blue triangles (see below) that fit with our fixed expectations of what leaders should be instead of recognizing the different shapes that could add value to how we operate. Our view of the attributes of leaders means we can filter out people without us even thinking about it. I was told this week by someone about a person in their organization: "they won't go far with the way they speak. I can' understand them half the time! They speak so quietly"Biases remain.

Change needs to happen. It can. We have seen during Covid-19 the flip to WFH happened virtually overnight.

Neurodiverse leaders can be at the table but it means not being tokenistic in our actions.

Neurodiverse leaders listening to all voices

Listening to all members of our teams and ensuring that each person has an opportunity to communicate is important. Otherwise, they have no chance of progressing. The quiet ones in the room can be the ones with great ideas but can be dominated by the louder voices. We need to respect that some people need time to process what has been said and need time to answer. A rapid-fire meeting works wonderfully for some but can be intimidating and close some people down. I know that being 'put on the spot' usually doesn't bring out the best in me. I need time to reflect. It can feel gladiatorial in some ways that if you don't survive competing in this combative style you can't be a leader. In a previous blog, I spoke of compassionate leadership.

Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking wrote: “Society favors a man of actions versus a man of contemplation.” This means we need to create places for our teams at all levels to be able to voice their views (in the way that works best for them) without fear of repercussion. That means considering accessible ways to do so.

As  Ernest Hemingway said.“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen”. Skillful listening means also skillful observation. It takes practice to notice everyone in the room.

Knowledge diversity

Amy Edmonson wrote a great book about "Teaming to innovate".Teaming and re-teaming may need to be an actively engaged process that is regularly reviewed in a fast-moving, and uncertain world. She talks in an article about:

"Cross-boundary teaming, within and across organizations, is an increasingly popular strategy for innovation. In a growing number of cases, teams span organizational boundaries, not just functional ones, to pursue innovation".

Edmondson goes onto say:

"Most people take the norms and values within their own professions, organizations, or industries for granted, sharing largely unquestioned assumptions that can thwart communication across boundaries "

Breaking the communication barriers down

Teams working effectively seek to understand what each contributor means. This is even more important as we become even more specialized in our roles.

We may use jargon, acronyms, and terms that can exclude each other from conversations. I have seen this firsthand working across education, health, and justice settings where we can assume the words being spoken have been understood( and clearly have not!). We even have the same words meaning different things. In the field of neurodiversity, different terms are used like specific learning difficulties, SEN, developmental disorders, learning disabilities, neurodifference, neurodisability. They all overlap to some extent but mean very different things to different people. ( See another newsletter for more about this).

This means we need to:

• Check our assumptions and if they are true and valid.
• Seek a common language.
• Take the time to translate the words and their meanings to each other.
• Provide a glossary of terms to assist.

Lack of diverse leadership

Currently across the globe, there remains a lack of diverse leadership at top levels. Do we have to ask why this is this? One article in the Times highlighted the lack of diversity in terms of gender and ethnicity. Power and status can also cause divisions. ( We have certainly seen this with gender pay gaps!)

Barriers to achieving diverse organizations can result in not considering and respecting there are differing opinions, beliefs, values, attitudes as well as our content expertise, background experiences, network ties, and industry experience. The pathway to the top is not even one with steps of all the same size.

We sometimes say that if the only leaders you see are the ones who look, dress, and speak in a certain way then it makes it hard to progress up the ladder if there are not the role models to show it’s possible. I partly agree with this.  I think it’s important that we know the organization is a safe space to have a voice. If our earlier experiences have been challenging when we have spoken up it may make us fearful of repercussions again. You need to be tough and resilient to withstand verbal bashing especially if it has happened more than once and especially if you are climbing a corporate ladder.

Who gets stuck in the middle?

What talent gets stuck in middle management. Are they the ones who are more empathic and not hard-hitting enough? Could we be missing an asset to the leadership team? I have shown with colleagues that we see higher rates of empathy for example in people with Developmental Coordination Disorder ( also known as Dyspraxia). Who has told you they have DCD in your leadership teams.

One article by Kasey Champion interestingly challenges the framing of: ‘you cannot be what you cannot see”. One point made in this article was that representation matters and it makes it easier for those that come next if we make space for them now. But importantly challenges tokenistic actions. I have seen this where one person becomes the ‘poster-boy/person’ for neurodiversity. You see the story and the organization says to themselves and others they embrace diversity.. but in reality, carries on with the rest of the organization conforming to past patterns of behavior and remaining an exclusive setting.

Let us remain cynical and critical of what we are doing

Hiring and promoting talent should be about recognizing the actual ability of the person to do the job. However, we still see inequity in doing so. I have often seen people get jobs because someone close to them 'knows the system' or they do. They have learned about Applicant Tracking Systems for example and how to use them to their advantage. A parent/friendship group knows someone in the business who gives them work experience or tells them about a job and that gets them through the door. For someone neurodivergent, the lack of a mentor or ally can lead to less opportunity to be successful, despite having the skills for the job because they can't permeate the traditional recruitment routes. We need to ensure there are opportunities to showcase talents in different ways.

Growing leaders

When considering how we grow our future leaders, we need to create a system that has doors are open for all to enter and not only those who can crack the code. This includes both people with and without formal diagnoses of conditions associated with neurodivergent traits and also for those who don’t want to be labeled or choose not to want to share this information. Don't assume everyone knows they are neurodivergent and tell you what they need for support. Organizations need to move to design universally and not try to retrofit each time.

Measure your progress... but plan and consider what you measure

Bill Gates said: " I have been struck again and again by how important measurement is to improving the human condition."

Think about what you are measuring and if it has any real meaning. If you focus this year too much on metrics without meaning (e.g., how many people are disabled/have dyslexia for example) in order to showcase these numbers you may think your job is done. If people don't want to tell you there may be a good reason for this. But they may not know or want to define themselves using a medical model. Our processes (which are usually well-meaning) may not actually be opening the door to new talents, new ideas, new ways of thinking.

Perhaps check the following:

• If you operate a special hiring program how many people move up your organizational ladder compared to your mainstream hires? What is the demographic of your hiring programmes? Do your special hiring approaches bias white middle-class males because they are the ones more likely to have gained a diagnosis and parents are more likely to know how to access these schemes?
• Do your special hiring programmes focus on one specific group of neurodivergent people despite co-occurrence with other conditions is very common.
• Does this mean you could be inadvertently promoting some specific potential leaders over others?
• How many people in your organization ask for support/adjustments and what are they?

I think that inclusive hiring for leaders of the future needs to be personalized to the individual and context and not about specific conditions.

It starts at the top

When it comes to neurodiversity, we start to hear from a few leaders telling their stories and describing their strengths. For example,  Vice Admiral Nick Hine, The Second Sea Lord, from the Royal Navy was only diagnosed with Autism in 2009. He highlights his leadership strengths as:

“I am extremely focused; I love solving problems and finding the most efficient way to do things. I am excellent at making rational decisions based on data. I don’t ‘trust my gut’ – I need evidence before I make any decision.”

I am interested in how he thinks he made it to the top. We also need more people at all levels in organizations telling us what they consider are their barriers to progress.

Good leaders of the future

 Goodall and Baker’s Theory of Expert Leadership provides a theoretical basis for the relationship between leaders who have outstanding expertise in the core business of their organization. The spiky neurodivergent profile if tapped into can certainly provide deep skills that are needed in the C-suite.

Are you a neurodivergent leader? What has been YOUR X factor(s)?

·     Did you have a mentor or ally that supported you along the way?

·     Do you work in a team with a shared purpose that embraces different views and ensures everyone has a ‘voice’ including the quieter ones?

·     Was/is family support an important factor?  

·     Has it been having adjustments/support put in place and in a timely manner?

·     Are you an entrepreneur and have you had varying successes ( and failures) and you learned from this?

·     What strengths do you think have helped you the most?

·     Are you a leap-frogger and have jumped up the leadership pathway and if so, how did that happen?

Do let me know as I want to gather this information.

The next step in 2022 is proactively working to learn more about how neurodiverse teams can fit together so that we can improve outcomes at all levels of all organizations.

"Do more than belong: participate.

Do more than care: help.

Do more than believe: practice." 

William Arthur Ward

• This requires us not to rush it but to build trust.
• It means learning how we solve problems together.
• It means feeling committed to other people’s successes and not just our own.
• We need to map and utilize the different spikes we have more effectively to ensure leadership is truly diverse.

The author

Professor Amanda Kirby is a medic, has a Ph.D. and has an international reputation in the field of neurodiversity, and has proven expertise that spans a 30+ year career. She is the CEO of Do-IT Solutions a tech-for-good company.

Do-IT has developed neurodiversity screening tools to measure the spiky profiles we are talking about. The company is committed to ensuring those with very spiky profiles Neurodiversability (R) can use them to be their best.

The tools are used in all-size organizations to help map team effectiveness. Do-IT provides training for organizations about neurodiversity in education and the workplace and can undertake a maturity gap analysis. We can map out and support you in 2022 with a program of activities at all levels of your business whatever your size.

Amanda is also a best-selling author of 10 books with the latest one with co-author Theo Smith Neurodiversity at Work, Drive, Innovation, performance and productivity in a neurodiverse workforce. She has a new book coming out in 2022.