4: Elevating Neurodivergent Leaders AND Cultivating Neuroinclusive Leadership

Calls for organizations to invest in equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplaces are growing. Despite this, many diversity and inclusion efforts have yet to fully explore ways to best support employees who identify as neurodivergent. To create truly inclusive cultures, organizations should invest in evidence based practices to support the diverse needs of their employees. The purpose of this chapter is to explore leadership development opportunities for the purpose of investigating what effective, culturally responsive leadership development looks like for neurodiverse employees and how organizations can foster greater workplace inclusivity for the neurodivergent professional community. Leadership development is a particularly promising approach to consider in supporting neurodiverse employees, as evidence suggests that leadership development may be a lever to narrow opportunity gaps across gender, class, and racial or ethnic identities. This chapter is organized into four main sections. First is a review of the research specifically focused on leadership development and neurodiversity, as well as strengths and opportunities for neurodiverse workers. This review also draws on insights from leadership development research focused on how to support employees of other underestimated social identities. Second, we present several promising approaches for organizations to consider as they invest in leadership development for neurodivergent employees, focusing on contextual factors that might support or hinder leadership development outcomes for these individuals. Third, we discuss ways in which organizations can strengthen their existing leadership development efforts to support and leverage the unique strengths of neurodivergent employees. Finally, we examine the potential pitfalls if leadership development programs are not inclusive of neurodiversity.