How Neuro-inclusion Transforms Management |

I will never forget the comments of one of the many managers we interviewed as part of our market research at Uptimize.

This manager openly knew—and initially cared—little about neurodiversity. Indeed, around 60 percent of our corporate learners are initially largely unfamiliar with the topic, and this manager fits that bracket. You could also sense his cynicism about the topic’s immediate relevance to him or his work.

However, things changed when we asked this manager about his goals for his team. His deepest hopes for what he wished to accomplish in his role. “Diversity of thought,” he said. “That’s it. I know that’s the answer. I want to make sure we have different perspectives and can harness them. I just don’t really know where to start….”

This manager, not uncommonly, had not yet “joined the dots” between his goal of a more effective, innovative team and the fact that that team, by definition, thinks differently. Was he doing everything possible to unlock this diversity of thought? Was he hiring in such a way as to add more diversity of thought to his team?

The likelihood back then, of course, is probably not.

As corporate awareness of and interest in neurodiversity skyrockets, however, this is quickly changing, and organizations (and their managers) are increasingly able to see and act on the strong connection between the importance of recognizing and embracing neurodiversity at work and their existing (critical, C-Suite level) priorities around talent, retention, and innovation.

Like the managers we interviewed, managers can be a notoriously difficult audience. I should know—I have been one—and understand and empathize with the pressure managers in high-performance cultures can be under to deliver results, to “keep the main thing the main thing,” and so on.

All of these, of course, can conspire against their enthusiasm for change, for corporate training, or for anything else that might initially appear an unwelcome distraction from their immediate priorities.

Nevertheless, one of the most rewarding aspects of our work at Uptimize has been seeing how managers have taken to the (often new to them) topic of neuroinclusion. More predictable, perhaps, though no less satisfying, is to see neurodivergent employees themselves express relief and gratitude that their organization is embracing the topic.

Sadly, as we know from our community focus groups, many may have never experienced an organization that cared about neurodiversity before. Indeed, we have heard such feedback from neurodivergent managers, one of whom confessed, “As a neurodivergent person, I was crying as I felt so connected to the video testimonials.”

Source: George Milton / Pexels

But we’ve also seen managers share feedback relating to practical matters of management: feedback such as “It was really good to learn about the different ways of communicating and working with people” (manager, tech company), “I’ve learned to listen and observe people’s behavior more effectively to ensure team members are happy with how we work” (manager, investment bank) and the pleasingly honest “I was a little skeptical about needing training on this topic, but it has made a real difference to me” (manager, global mining firm).

Such managers find and share that neuro-inclusion is vital to inclusive and effective leadership. Here’s why.

Managers have a crucial role to play in their organizations.

Data shows managers are responsible for 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement, and indeed, managers have a vital role in ensuring happy and productive teams. This is born out by the stories shared with Uptimize as part of our focus groups with the neurodivergent community, many of whom have bemoaned informed managers making things difficult for them or even being openly hostile (indeed, one employee, when trying to explain his preference for note taking on his phone as being a result of his neurodivergence, was snapped at by his manager who said “I don’t care what you have”).

Some neurodivergent professionals, more happily, describe having more inclusive, empathetic managers, often those who are neurodivergent themselves or who have the familiarity with the topic that comes from having a close neurodivergent family member.

But there’s certainly a sense that having a supportive manager is very much the luck of the draw. No surprise, then, perhaps, that dissatisfaction with managers is often cited as a key reason behind (any) employees’ decision to seek new pastures, with a consequent cost, of course, to their initial employer to replace them.

Managers can support employee and team well-being.

Neuroinclusive managers recognize not only the importance of fostering team well-being, but they also understand the active role they can play daily. For example, informal employee check-ins, including suitable vulnerability from the manager where appropriate (for example, saying something like “I’m not feeling amazing today personally, how are you doing?”) can help employees feel heard and considered.

Team well-being check-ins and forums, too, can harness the creative capacity of the group in seeking new ways of promoting well-being for all. Managers can also model (and ensure they live) their organization’s values and a sensible work-life balance, improving team cohesion and comfort.

Managers may be neurodivergent themselves and appreciate a more neuro-inclusive culture and greater support.

Ableist thinking, fuelled by negative stereotypes, can posit, wrongly, that neurodivergent people are unlikely to be a fit for leadership roles. Like many of their neurotypical peers, some may not be enthused by the prospect of more admin and conflict resolution. But, as I stress in my book A Hidden Force – Unlocking the Potential of Neurodiversity at Work, many neurodivergent people can and do make fine leaders, leveraging skills such as creative thinking and learning empathy and resilience.

Don’t assume managers must be neurotypical, and consider the importance to your leaders, too, of a culture in which everybody feels comfortable bringing their whole self to work and asking for additional support as needed.

Managers can transform ways of working for enhanced collaboration.

In many teams, sadly, uninformed managers give instructions how they like to provide them (not how the different brains in the team would like to receive them), and such teams feature rigid ways of working, set by the manager’s preferences and team norms. Such norms relating to communication, problem-solving, meetings, and so on often work for many, but not all.

Managers, infused with empathy and curiosity towards their team’s different thinking styles, can modify such ways of working to allow everybody to contribute more optimally.

Managers can hire more effectively.

Source: Fauxels / Pexels

Part of building true diversity of thought in your team is ensuring you hire from what I call the full range of human talent and not unintentionally exclude talented neurodivergent applicants. The latter is all too common, driven by rushed and rapport-based hiring in which candidates can find themselves at the mercy of unconscious biases, and the strongest applicants can be overlooked for those who better navigate complex candidate experiences.

Neuroinclusive hiring, of course, quickly starts to change this and has led multiple organizations to, in their own words, hire talent they would previously have either not attracted or overlooked.

Managers can unlock the innovative potential of their teams.

Back to actual diversity of thought and recognizing neurodiversity as a critical element. Most organizations today recognize the importance of innovation, something that still typically relies on human brains coming together (albeit perhaps supported by or catalyzed by technology).

Neuroinclusive organizations can allow the different thinkers in their team to flourish, to welcome and embrace varied thinking and ideas in an atmosphere of enhanced psychological safety, and have leveraged this, too. For example, in the case of a leading consulting firm, meet the unforeseen challenges of the COVID pandemic by putting together deliberately neurodiverse teams to attack and solve urgent problems with creative new solutions.

If you are a manager, you manage a neurodiverse team: no “normal” brain exists. Considering neuro-inclusion in everything you do will help you build the strongest version of that team and unleash its best performance.