When did “I’m a Red” become easier to say than “I’m autistic”?
Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted less than usual.
Not because I had nothing to say.
Because I’ve been listening.
Training.
Keynote speaking.
Networking.
Meeting HR consultants, business owners, health and safety professionals, business coaches and learning from some brilliant conversations.
One theme kept appearing.
Behaviour.
How do we understand it?
How do we change it?
How do we predict it?
We talked about Insights, DISC, Jigsaw Discovery and other personality profiling tools.
People happily say:
“I’m a Red.”
“That’s my Green coming out.”
Those labels feel safe.
But how often do we hear someone confidently say:
“I’m autistic.”
“I have ADHD.”
“I’m dyspraxic.”
The reality is that many people don’t. Research consistently shows that a large proportion of neurodivergent employees choose not to disclose at work because they fear discrimination, being overlooked for promotion or being judged differently.
That contradiction fascinates me.
We’re comfortable categorising personalities.
We’re far less comfortable talking about neurodiversity.
Another thing struck me.
Across all these conversations, I heard lots about behaviour.
Very little about strengths.
I rarely heard anyone ask:
“What is this person brilliant at?”
And perhaps the most honest comment I heard came from several experienced practitioners:
Many traditional personality profiling tools were never designed with neurodivergent minds in mind. Without understanding that context, the conclusions can be incomplete or misleading.
So maybe we’re asking the wrong question.
Instead of asking,
“Which box does this person fit into?”
What if we asked,
“What does this person need to thrive?”
“What strengths do they bring?”
“How do they experience the world?”
Imagine if we removed the labels for just a moment.
Not to ignore difference.
But to see the human being before the category.
Because the world isn’t made up of boxes.
It’s made up of people.
People with different brains.
Different cultures.
Different experiences.
Different ways of thinking.
And perhaps that’s exactly where better leadership begins.
I’m curious…
Do personality profiling tools help us understand people or do they sometimes stop us from truly seeing them?
#Leadership #Neurodiversity #Inclusion #HR #WorkplaceCulture #PeopleFirst #Behaviour #LearningAndDevelopment #ADHD #Autism #DiversityAndInclusion
