Daring To Imagine Neurodivergent Leadership in the Workplace

It’s time for an expanded idea of what leadership is

Jae L
6 min readMay 21, 2024
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

A few months ago, completely out of the blue, I received an email asking me to present at a women’s leadership conference.

I might have thought it was a scam only it was grammatical and seemed to hit the right tone. The explanation I landed on was mistaken identity. They had obviously confused me with someone else.

It turned out that they had read one of my articles about being a neurodivergent person in the workplace and wanted to include my perspective. Okay, fair enough but am I really the best person for the job?

They reassured me that even high-profile presenters had exhibited signs of imposter syndrome. I was quite touched by their unwavering faith in me, but I required some convincing.

Although I agreed to do it, the process of convincing myself continues. A few weeks out from the conference, I’m seriously turning my mind to what I will say.

One question has been percolating in my brain since that email landed in my inbox: can I consider myself a leader?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what actually makes a leader. One thing that is clear to me is that manager and leader are not the same…

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Jae L

Queer, neurodivergent and in the business of asking questions and stirring things up. Conspire with me. diverge999@gmail.com; https://justinefield.substack.com