March 4, 2024

How to Challenge Neurodiversity Stigma and Turn It Into a Superpower - Meghan Bonde is RightOffTrack | Anya Smith

In this episode, host Anya Smith explores the cutting edge of inclusive work environments with special guest Meghan Bonde. They discuss the concept of neurodiversity and its importance in today's workplace. Meghan shares practical steps that organiza...

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RightOffTrack Entrepreneurship Connection Purpose by Anya Smith

In this episode, host Anya Smith explores the cutting edge of inclusive work environments with special guest Meghan Bonde. They discuss the concept of neurodiversity and its importance in today's workplace. Meghan shares practical steps that organizations can take to account for neurodiversity, including the use of universal design and the Grow Interview Protocol.

They also discuss the creation of systems for reasonable and meaningful accommodations and overcoming fear in inclusive conversations. Meghan emphasizes the growing presence of neurodivergence in society and the importance of self-identification and embracing neurodivergent identities. She shares her journey from education to entrepreneurship and offers resources and services for creating inclusive workplaces.

The episode concludes with a discussion on common misconceptions about neurodivergent individuals, leaders who embody inclusivity, and the positive side of going off track.

 

Takeaways

  • Neurodiversity is essential for creating thriving and flourishing work environments.
  • Organizations can start by implementing practical steps such as universal design and the Grow Interview Protocol to account for neurodiversity.
  • Creating systems for reasonable and meaningful accommodations is crucial for supporting neurodivergent individuals.
  • Overcoming fear and building trust in inclusive conversations is important for fostering an inclusive workplace culture.
  • Self-identification and embracing neurodivergent identities can lead to empowerment and self-advocacy.
  • Inclusive learning and development systems can transform organizations and support the growth and success of all employees.
  • Creating neurodiversity affinity groups and empowering children are important steps towards inclusivity.
  • Embracing individual strengths and advocating for needs is key to creating an inclusive work environment.
  • There are resources and services available to support organizations in creating inclusive workplaces.
  • Common misconceptions about neurodivergent individuals can hinder inclusivity in the workplace.
  • Leaders who embody inclusivity in the workplace can inspire and drive positive change.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:14 Introduction to Neurodiversity and its Importance in the Workplace

04:14 Practical Steps for Organizations to Account for Neurodiversity

07:19 Applying Universal Design and the Grow Interview Protocol

10:50 Creating Systems for Reasonable and Meaningful Accommodations

13:00 Overcoming Fear and Building Trust in Inclusive Conversations

16:46 The Growing Presence of Neurodivergence in Society

19:36 Self-Identification and Embracing Neurodivergent Identities

22:52 The Journey from Education to Entrepreneurship

24:31 Creating a Structure for Success as an Entrepreneur

27:29 Transforming Organizations through Inclusive Learning and Development

30:58 The Power of Belief Change and Normalizing Neurodiversity

33:49 Creating Neurodiversity Affinity Groups and Empowering Children

36:17 Embracing Individual Strengths and Advocating for Needs

39:50 Resources and Services for Inclusive Workplaces

40:58 Common Misconceptions about Neurodivergent Individuals

42:09 Leaders Who Embody Inclusivity in the Workplace

43:19 Wrap Up

 

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🤝 Connect with Meghan:

🔗 LINKEDIN | https://www.linkedin.com/company/tngifted/ 

🌐 WEBSITE | https://www.teamneurodivergent.com  

 

I treasure your feedback and comments! Let's connect on social (:

Transcript

I'm getting feedback from people that I used to think
neurodiversity was a bad thing or a burden
or something that we shouldn't talk about
now I think that it's something to celebrate
and to embrace and that it's actually a good thing
and when we change those underlying beliefs
and ways of being
the behaviors change as a result
and it can sort of infiltrate
all of the different systems
hey friends
welcome to write off track
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right off track
enjoy this episode
going off track is taking a chance in yourself
following your poles of curiosity
it's making your own decisions
the most wonderful adventure
hey friends
I'm your host Anya Smith
get ready to be inspired by today's episode
we're exploring
the cutting edge of inclusive work environments
imagine a workplace tailored for every kind of mind
where diversity isn't just welcome
it's the key to success
our special guest today
is at the forefront of this innovative approach
transforming how organizations attract
and nurture top talent
from giving a powerful Tedx talk
to her dynamic background in speech language pathology
she's a force of creativity and insight
stay tuned for an eye opening conversation
filled with practical wisdom
and fresh perspective on leadership
joining us today is a wonderful naked bond
let's dive in
thank you so much for having me
it is such a pleasure
it's a such an important topic for us to discuss
and for everybody listening
can you start off
us off by explaining the concept of neurodiversity
and why is it important today's workplace
so I love to explain neurodiversity
in a similar context to biodiversity
in that all of the different minds are essential
to be really flourishing and thriving in an environment
and it's the same idea when we have ecosystems
and there's a wide variety of plants and animals
that's when they're thriving and flourishing
so it's really just this natural variation that happens
it's a good thing
that we have lots of different types of brains with
different ways that they think and feel
and perceive and behave
and it's so important for organizations to really see
and celebrate neurodiversity
it really helps them to accelerate innovation
and have healthy teams that
are viewing things from so many different lenses
and viewpoints
and they really
can capitalize on top talent when they're
seeing differences in
the strengths and the needs of people
and when they don't
they really risk losing
amazing employees that could help their
organization achieve its mission
absolutely and can you give us a little bit
more perspective of what are some top challenges
they see employers facing in this area
so it's really common
to just have a lack of awareness and understanding
many adults who may identify as neurodivergent
which would be not neurotypical
they may identify as autistic ADHD
gifted choice
exceptional
dyslexic there's
it's a huge umbrella
term for a lot of different identities
and many adults don't even know
that they are neurodivergent
and many are identified late
and so it's really important to be using
the strategies to create inclusive environments
that are really designed to the edges
for all the different types of brains
whether an organization knows
a person is neurodivergent or not
absolutely and for those organizations
cause you mentioned
there's a wide range of
neuroplasticity and divergence
what can organization start doing
in terms of practical steps to account for this
so there's an approach that I love to describe
using a story
and it's called universal design
and one way to illustrate universal design
is that the military had planes
that didn't fit all the different sizes of pilots
and they kept asking for a solution to this problem
how can we have
a wider variety of pilots be able to fly our planes
and they were told
it can't be done
it can't be done
and Lo and behold
how it was discovered
was adjustable seats that we have in our cars today
to be able to move forward and back and
have different sized people be able to fly a plane
and what we can do is we can make adjustable workplaces
and adjustable learning environments for people
because learning and development is really
an essential part of a growing organization
if people aren't learning and growing
then they're gonna be disengaged
and what we did when I was an educational leader
in terms of universal design
for learning in the classroom
is really think about how is the environment adjustable
for the different types of learners
whether it's standing desks or wobble stools or
uh uh working independently versus group work
things like that
we also looked at technology tools
do some students
write best using speech to text
where they talk into their computer to write
versus do some students read best by
listening to a book versus reading a book or having it
the words highlighted
and so the same concepts
that we really implemented in schools for all learners
can also be applied to workplaces
and the best place to start
is through what I call a grow interview protocol
and it really has questions designed to uncover
what an employee's strengths and needs are
to then think about
how can we make the systems more adjustable
and that's really gonna help everybody
beautiful and can you dive us into this process
cause what I hear you saying
could also apply to all employees right
if we focus in on strings
regardless of
you know what employee knows
and doesn't realize about themselves
it could give them a chance to shine
so can you guide us through this framework and who
how can it help everybody
so there's three different main components to the
grow interview protocol
and so the first section is really
just asking and finding out more from the person
and it's really important to use the types of questions
that are gonna invite critical thinking
allow somebody to go
deep and complex
and really uncover
information that they may not be able to share
without being asked those types of questions
then and during that first step
it's really important for the person
doing the interviewing
to not try to do any problem solving or provide
any solutions
so that whole first step in the interview
is just listening
just curiosity
just empathy
and really being able to sit in the feedback
and the information
and navigate through the emotions might
that may come up for that leader
as they hear that person sharing
and be able to
just be with it
and and really hear them
then step 2
after the interviews complete
is the review process
really going through that qualitative data
and looking for themes and looking for strength
and what is going well
and being able to
be intentional
about continuing to do the things that are supportive
and building on that
and also identifying underlying unmet needs
and how the systems
and protocols in the company are
impacting that person
and then the final step
would be to plan
and really make a plan that's reasonable
and meaningful
and gets to the root cause of the issue
so that it's not
surface level
trying to throw some
different solutions out there
but that the plan is really developed collaboratively
so that the person
or the people who have given
the information through the grow interview
are part of that problem solving and planning process
where they're
sharing possible solutions
and working together
to find something that's mutually agreeable
because it really needs to be win win
so that the organization
can continue to
move forward with their mission
and the employees needs are met
and having this kind of
protocol and system in place
really helps everybody
when an organization
has goals in place
they may not be able to stay focused
on those and achieve them
but if they have systems in place
that really gather this kind of information
and figure out ways that are actionable to respond
it really builds it into the culture
through the routines and systems
and so it creates a place where
everybody sharing
what's going well for them
and what their needs are
and really normalizes that
such a beautiful example and again
if I incorrectly
every employee
could be part of this framework right
not just people who identify this way
but everyone could be part of it
absolutely absolutely
and so sometimes it's important to start
with neurodivergent people
as the first people who are really giving the input
because when we design to the edges
for people who may have more asynchronous development
and by that
I mean their strengths are really strong strengths
and there can be big gaps
in what they're really good at with
what things they need supports with
and so those can be really
impactful people to start with
because we're really expanding
our environments to be inclusive to the edges
and that's gonna really bring in um
supports that help everybody
and I can imagine this could also be
a sensitive topic right
do you have any advice for companies who may be fearful
like am I gonna say the wrong thing
am I gonna impose on somebody's personal
you know you know
um these are
maybe they don't feel comfortable sharing
how do we do this in a way that appropriate
that's empowering
and then as you mention
Creed a system
so it's not just like a
oh this would be nice
and we have this conversation and then nothing happens
yeah because if you do the information gathering
and then don't respond
that can lose trust
and so you wanna be really prepared to
be able to take some action steps from that information
but that's really
common and normal to feel fear around talking about
talking about topics that revolve around diversity
equity and inclusion
and there's been situations where people are canceled
or they are
treated in a way that they're just horrible
for making this mistake
and it's really important to
model that I'm open to learning
I'm open to trying something new and being a listener
and I might make mistakes and that's okay
because we can create a culture at our organization
where mistakes happen and we can repair
and that's healthy and that's normal to happen
absolutely in it
what about the systems
do you have any device
but practically
how to create systems
so once the feedback is gathered with systems
cause people have such reasonable
so that reasonable foundations
are made in their maintained
yeah absolutely
so once the information is gathered
it's really about having the systems
to review the feedback
and then the collaborative problem solving process
and so when those are in place
and there's protocols to really
invite solutions and look at trends of data
then you can come up with what we have
this menu of accommodations or menus
of adjustments that we can make
and many organizations already have
a lot of accommodations and supports available
and it just isn't structures structured in a way that
really lays it out for people to show what is available
and then as things come up
those can be added and tweaked and adjusted
so that people
who may not know exactly what are
the options that are available for me
what supports are even possible
I've never been asked this before
there's a system in place to refer to well
people in the past have done this
this is what we offer
so in I'm imagining our listeners
they could be no
leaders founders
entrepreneurs
maybe some of them are in a corporate setting
what advice would you give them more
like how would you
share the upside of investing in this kind of process
so there can be huge gains from
having that healthy culture
that's really inclusive of a wide variety of minds
you're really accessing
unique strengths from different people and bringing in
a wide range of diverse thinkers who can
innovate and collaborate
you're engaging people so that they're
really functioning at their potential
and when you have disengaged employees
or there's high turnover
there are huge costs to that
both in time and money for rehiring retraining
reestablishing culture
you've lost knowledge and all that on the job
training you've done
and so oftentimes people don't realize
some of the simple
things that can be done to really uncover
why an employee is disengaged
or why people are quitting
and that they're dealing with
the repercussions of high turnover
and is it accurate to say that there's
more presence of neurodivergents in society
so a lot of the estimates are around 15 to 20%
of people would fall under that
umbrella term of neurodivergent
which includes so many different identities
and the definition of neurodivergent is really
thinks and perceives and feels and possibly
behaves different than what's considered typical or
common in a culture
and so as a culture shifts and changes
then who is considered neurodivergent
may shift with that
absolutely and I think as we become
as cultures become
sorry about
somebody who wasn't corporate culture
I saw just how important this
this inclusive environment was
it is especially I think
now that there's such a high competition for talent
having a culture that thinks about
the strengths of its employees and make sure that
you know as best as possible
they support those strengths is very alluring
because there's a lot of people have a lot of options
they can go to other places
there's more remote options
so being seen as a company who not only in their words
but in actions creates a system for that
um is very um
enticing I think from all sides of the process
and I'm here's for some interesting
this make it like
I don't know
maybe I could be falling into that category
I have a sense I'm slightly different
but I've never been tested
I've never been formally identified that way
what advice would you give to them
so first of all
you don't have to be
formally identified to identify as neurodivergent
it's really common for adults to not have
gotten identified just because the
educational systems are
more likely to identify students now
and the tests are biased for adults
it's easier to identify kids
adults have Learned ways to mask and hide their traits
and compensate
and so it doesn't always show up
even if you do go get evaluated
and evaluations aren't accessible to everyone
it can be hard to get it
and does take a lot of time and money
so the reality is
if you think you may be wired differently
and neurodivergent
then do some research and do some learning
there are so many
leaders and groups out there for people to
take quizzes and learn about the traits and
find their tribe
and even if you don't know exactly
what identity you might fall under
you can just identify as neurodivergent
I feel like I'm
I'm different than
than what's typical
and I think and perceive differently
and that's okay
if that's something that you need
and it's important to acknowledge
because neurodivergent people are marginalized
they're a population whose
needs haven't always been met
and they haven't always been celebrated
for their differences
and once you
kind of find your tribe and feel that empowerment
to see your differences as strengths
rather than a deficit
and something that needs to be fixed or changed
it's so empowering and so helpful
and you can be a role model
for others to really be your authentic self
and ask for what you need
and that's really
a leader who
is doing the that kind of work to
to celebrate their strengths and ask for what they need
I love that you know
what reminds me of is that when I was in corporate
I definitely
had the sense that I need to change myself to
be successful or to grow
and what I realized
is stepping out of that space is that really
focusing on what brings me to life
like showing my authentic self
is really making me a better leader
making me actually more successful
and I thought they was gonna be the opposite
I was devaluing some of the things that are
uniquely mine
I want to tone myself down
and what not
and now I realize those are really my strengths
no matter where I go
sometimes when we dare to fully be
ourselves and embrace our strengths and embrace
the things that are different about us
we truly we feel different
for a like we start to feel different
we show up differently
and to your point
we give other people permission to be themselves
and so if you leave with nothing else
realize that
you have unique strengths
you do things differently
and that's great
like the world doesn't need
one kind of person doing things the same way
you are unique
strings are gonna help the world in its unique way
so embrace that potential
and if you're thinking
how the heck did you get into the space
so I always wanted to be a teacher
I started a
school in my basement when I was 10 years old
and would love to brainstorm
and plan all the activities for the kids
arts and cooking
and outside time
all those things
my best friend and I did it together
and then I decided to become a speech
language pathologist
and work in the schools
once I graduated
with my psychology degree
and I was interested in education
but just doing it in a different way
and I really realized that
what needed to happen was
the systems in the schools needed to change
the students that I was working with
were absolutely amazing
they had amazing strengths
they Learned differently
they weren't always successful in
the classroom with the current systems
and I really focused my services on supporting
making the environments adjustable
so that they could
really learn and grow
um and be themselves
I became a leader
and did a lot of trainings for educators
and leaders
and parents
and LED a lot of systems change
around climate
and culture
and inclusion
at both the school and district level
and I really
realized that that was the way that
we needed to create these inclusive environments
so every student could thrive
and just became a learning expert
then my kids got identified
neurodivergent
and I realized that the traits that
got them identified
really were similar to how I am
and so I decided to get identified
and get an evaluation for myself
and I realized
at the school that I was working at
that my needs weren't being met
and that I wasn't being my full self at work
and I decided that I needed to make a change to
really be able to
thrive and have the energy
and have the impact that I wanted to have
and so that's what LED me to
shift to entrepreneurship
and I just am so passionate
about bringing my expertise
in inclusive learning and development
to all organizations
not just schools
because it's really the same principles
in any learning environment
and I think it's so
important to cross pollinate the ideas
around special education
and gifted education
and learning in general
for all students
and bring that to work
there's a cliff that happens after high
school or college
for neurodivergent students
that their needs are
not met in the workplace
when they have these types of different supports
and adjustable
environments
and schools
and we need to
transition them
into workplaces that
help them really thrive
oh they're beautiful
I'm so grateful
to hear that story
of you know
it evolving
and you had this curiosity
and then this purpose
and it evolved
and it really
snowballed into you
seeing yourself in it
and identifying that way
I'm curious
you identified yourself
you self identify yourself through this process
can you share for us
what was the biggest challenge
you had to overcome
to create a structure for your
own success as an entrepreneur
so one of the biggest areas of learning
for me has been around money
I was in an environment in public education
where we were being paid
significantly less than similarly
educated professionals
I had a bachelor's degree
a master's degree in speech language pathology
and an educational specialist degree
in educational leadership
and a principal license
and I was still making significantly less than
my partner who was working in corporate
and to shift to business
and just have this heart that I wanna give
and change the world and be accessible to everybody
it wasn't a sustainable business model for me
and so I had to understand what were the
underlying beliefs that I had about receiving money
and what value I'm bringing to companies to be able to
grow and provide a premium service to corporations
in terms of an image that you self identified as neuro
um never turn
a little later on in life
did that process make you change the way you do work
was that realization helping you
do things differently so you can be more successful
yes so I give myself a lot more rest time
and longer sections of deep work
where I can
think in complex ways and brainstorm
and have certain days where I have meetings
and I am interacting with others
I really am able to build in time and nature
and be able to go for a walk and get some fresh air
I set up supports for myself in terms of what I need
for learning
so I have coaches and group learning
where I have professional learning communities
of people who are in a similar place
and need the similar types of learning
add a similar pace that I do in a similar way
where I'm a verbal processor
and so I need all of those needs for myself
that I had asked for some of those things when
I was working for
in public education
and they weren't all available to me
I love that
I love the process of self discovery
and that you identified what works for you
and then you sort it out
and here you are now
leading in the space and helping others
and to as much you know
detail as you can share
can you share this
maybe a transformation that happened
with an organization or purpose that you worked with
where through your guidance
they saw us change
so even just in the workshops that I do
to give the foundational
principles about neurodiversity
I'm getting feedback from people that I used to think
neurodiversity was a bad thing or a burden or
something that we shouldn't talk about
now I think that it's something to celebrate and
to embrace and that it's actually a good thing
and when we change those underlying beliefs
and ways of being
the behaviours
change as a result
and it can sort of infiltrate
all of the different systems
so it's really exciting for me
even though we focus on putting together actionable
strategies and next steps of the
those behaviours that you can actually see um
getting the feedback from people about
their belief changes and just how they
they approach the topic
beautiful and thinking about it from two sides
and you can start whichever side you prefer
so say there's an employer
and they obviously maybe have
not asked these questions of their employees
they're not asking
how can they start having those conversations
in a way that feels open and respective
and then on the other side
if you are an employee
and you identify that this is something that
allied to your life
how can you start having those
conversations with people around you in your workplace
so I always think start with a strength based approach
and so asking about what is going well
when are the times when you feel just lit up
which parts of the project have you felt energized by
what are you most proud of
that's not scary
to ask somebody those types of questions
to really get to know them at the detail level
of what is going well
and be able to take that information and
think about how can we replicate these opportunities
for this person
and then the same thing for the employee
to share those with somebody
when I got a chance to
work on this project this way
that helped me so much
that energized me so much
I loved it when we did this in a meeting
that was so helpful to me
I loved getting think time after a question
before we ran around and shared our responses
I loved having uh
get to know you relationship building opportunity
at the beginning of the meeting
or it really helped me to have notes written down to
be able to review
what the action steps were and
and visually see them
so noticing what's going well
is always gonna build relationship
build trust
to then be able to have those
conversations when a need is not being met
or to be ready to receive the feedback of
how can we improve
what are some next steps that would
support you to thrive even more
I love that
and I could also see
there being a way to start the conversation and
even anonymous way saying hey
we want to maybe have
a brand information or education with your say hey
this is you know
this is what we value
if you want to
have this conversation without identifying anybody
even in mind
like reach out to each other
P or your manager
here's just
an opening of the company
inviting people
to self select to be part of this
it does have to be something that feels like hey
do you identify
you big much
hey this is important to us
is we value this um
if you ever want to you know
share this with your managers or repeat
here's how to do that
so create that space for people to
come in and participate
as and when they are ready
absolutely and I'm seeing a lot of
companies starting to do more affinity groups
more different populations of people
where they can
connect with other people who identify in a similar way
and having a neurodiversity affinity group is a great
way to have people self select
as wanting to
talk about something
and being able to have
be able to share feedback
sort of as a group
so it's a little more anonymous
than an individual person
absolutely and
can you share with us also
what kind of resources
can people find
like so this is
in a really interesting topic
and I can imagine
can feel overwhelming
do you have any recommendations for people
I get on the employer
and maybe the individual side
where to find resources around this
so one really
exciting resource
that we have
in Colorado is called
the Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce
and it's an organization
dedicated to just
celebrating their diversity in the workplace
and there's
big businesses that are really
excited about this work
that are joining and supporting
the movement
and momentum of
celebrating neurodiversity in the workplace
so that's a great place to look
and then there's
a lot of organizations
and consultants that are doing
inclusion work
even if you wanted to focus on
the hiring process
there's websites
and organizations who are
attracting neurodivergent employees
and helping match them
based on what
employers need
and then offer
offering different types of training
to make sure that
company is ready
for someone
who may look different
that may not have
been hired through a traditional
hiring approach
um to be able to
really leverage their strengths
so that's a great way to
attract people
and just reaching out to
the different
myriad of consultants
who are doing the work
I love that
I love to see
this growing
effort happening
the normalization
of different skills has
different ways
people think
and that we
can come together
instead of stigmatizing something
we see the opportunity
we challenge
ourselves to see
the growth potential
and that makes everything better
and I also wonder
we're both moms
and you mentioned that
your children also got identified
and that kind of
LED this evolution
how was your
parenting changed
or what kind of
advice would
you give to other parents
who have found their children
are identified on this
so I use the
same approach
as the grow
interview protocol
with my kids
all the time
it's just built into me
and I'm constantly
asking them questions
and being a listener
and really digging deep to
empathize with their experience
and what's going on
and then reviewing
the information
before I jump to solutions
and thinking about
what are the
underlying strengths
what are the
underlying needs
what's underneath this
and now I'm gonna invite you
to collaboratively
problem solve with me
so that you
can learn the
problem solving process of
advocating for
your own needs
understanding that I have needs
and our family has needs
and we need to come to
mutually agreeable solutions
to the challenges that come up
and I really
see them becoming self
advocates and
seeing that their differences are not
something that's a
problem or broken about them
but that we
celebrate their differences
and we see that
you might be more highly sensitive in this area
or you need
extra rest you need
last time doing this
or support with this
and that's okay
and taking that
approach it can be
as a parent
in a company
in a relationship
any anywhere
I I love that
you're training
that you can
see that being applicable to every aspect of
your life you know
professionally
personally it also reminds me
on this journey as
entrepreneur
you have to
get really honest with yourself
cause there's nobody else to
blame or say oh
they're causing me to this
this business
and I realise
I had the cycle of always doing
doing doing
and then I had a
realization that I don't
perform best
shocking you
after decades
finally was like hey
I need to slow down
like the s word
slow down um
it's just important
so to your poor
like identify what my
strings are
and that what I was doing
like that I was
giving myself about
like this badge of
honor for how much
stress I could sustain that
like if I could feel that
shake and squeezing in my body
cause it's like
how much further
can I push myself
um and then
there's like
that wasn't working
for me like
this is a it's
it's not about
seeing how much of a martyr you can be
about sustaining stress
it's about like
that's probably a sign
you should look a different way
um and so if
you're looking
so no matter where you are
just listen to yourself
how do you work
how can you
advocate for
your strengths
and as this is supposed to
seeing if somebody's doing it
and seems like
everybody can
if you see other
people working a lot
and handling stress
that doesn't mean that
it's actually
beneficial to them
that doesn't mean that this grind
that we so quote
like glamorize
is healthy for anybody
so and they're probably also internally
not excited about this process
so find how
you perform
best realise
does this actually
energize you
or does deplete you
and where can
you self uh
self sustaining stuff
how do you recover
from that in a unique way
and advocate
for those things
because working to grind
all your life is not
the solution
it's not gonna lead
you to good places
so if you're there
and you like
you feel so proud of that
I would question
like is that
really serving
you yeah and
and I would say
that's one of my
top parenting
strategies as well
is modeling
what do I want them to do
and see me do
I'm gonna ask my needs
I'm gonna rest
I'm gonna do
what lights me up
and energizes me
so I love that
absolutely because
as much as we
can tell them like
don't do this
or do this ultimately
not just circus
people around us
are gonna see what
actions we take
much more than what we say
and so it's
very important that again
we're showing up as
as examples to
our children um
of what a healthy
work life you know
priority balance
can look like
and we're showing
people around us you know
so many people
I know probably
people that
you work with
that you don't know
or watching
and they were
trying to like hey
I am so impressed or hey
I Learned this
because you don't know
who's watching
but they're following
your example
and priority
and give me
permission to go a
different way
so I love that and again
we talked about so much
I love this
can you dive a little
bit more about your work
what resources
services do
you offer how could
people work
with you yeah
so I offer a
couple of different
resources the first
thing is my
private podcast miniseries
and that's at Grow
Top Talent com and uh
it walks people
through how to do
the grow interview protocol
so that they
can do it either
with an employee
or they can just go through it
on themselves
and reflect
on their own
uh questions
and think about
how they could
apply it as a
parent in many
areas of their life
and then I also offer
services where I review
learning and
development systems
and we really look at
how is the learning adjustable
and inclusive
we look for strength
at an organization
and learning happens
in training programs
in weekly meetings
in coaching system
any of those types of learning and development systems
we can review and take a deep dive to really notice
what is going well and some next steps to
really ensure everybody's thriving at work
and come up with a plan together
that you can either choose to implement on your own
when you're done going over it with me
or you can partner with me to
implement it together and get support
that sounds amazing
thank you so much for sharing
and here at Right Off Track
we offer 3 up and 5 questions
so whenever you're ready
let me know
let's do it
let's do it
I love it okay
uh first one
what's the most
common misconception about neurodivergent excuse me
what's the most
common misconception about neurodivergent individuals
in a professional setting
that they are full of areas of deficit
that the person is going to be
a significant challenge to support that it's gonna take
so many resources be a liability on the company that
I would only hire a neurodivergent person because it's
the good or right thing to do
rather than it actually helps my company
and nobody would have known that I was neurodivergent
I was a high achieving
uh leader that was well respected in the organization
and so uh people just don't realize that it really is
top talent that is gonna bring a lot of strengths
and important things to help your organization
oh thank you
such such important clarification okay
2 can you name a leader whom bodies
inclusivity in the workplace
I love Renee Brown's approach where she
really walks the walk and doesn't just talk the talk
because she talks about
how with her employees at her organization
they have systems in place
to give everybody think time in a meeting
and drop something down on a sticky note
and put it in the middle of the table
and be able to
rumble over differences
and that is inclusion and
and talking about listening to people
and validating their emotions
that's an inclusive leader ah
beautiful okay
last but not least
in the positive sense
going off track is
creating a path that hasn't been created before
to go on an adventure
and make something really new and special
thank you and this was a blast
thank you so much
I knew this is gonna be a very important topic
I appreciate you empowering all of our listeners
wherever their
their journey
sharing some ways that we can all be more inclusive
where we can have strategies
that not only listen to everybody
but also then create something that gives them the
the space to succeed and perform other best
whatever their individual needs are
uh Megan it was such a pleasure
thank you so much for coming right off track of us
and do you have any final words before I let
everybody go
neurodiversity is as critical
for our communities as biodiversity
beautiful and there you have it
thank you to all assistants for checking in
thank you so much for learning with us
share of us your feedback
what stood out to you
if you have a friend who might be
benefiting from this message
share it with them as well
and as always
I'm so grateful for your support
grateful for your comments
and let's take over the world together
right off track
until next time
take care Megan thank you

Meghan BondeProfile Photo

Meghan Bonde

Organizational Neurodiversity Specialist/Tedx Speaker/Dancer/Mom

Meghan Bonde, founder of Team Neurodivergent, is a trailblazer in co-creating systems to ensure exceptional employees thrive at mission driven organizations. She has developed a unique approach to attracting and developing high potential leaders. Meghan’s current focus is developing training and onboarding “for all kinds of minds.” A systems thinker who deeply understands Universal Design for Learning, Meghan designs learning opportunities and systems that adjust to meet the needs and leverage the strengths of each leader to optimize the performance of a team. She uncovers underlying needs and identifies barriers in the system rather than viewing the cause of a challenge as a personal deficit. This allows for creative problem-solving and systemic improvement. She is also a transformational speaker and is proud of her recent Tedx talk.

Meghan holds a Master's in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota. She is a Speech Language Pathologist who specializes in supporting Gifted and Twice Exceptional learners. Her Educational Specialist degree (Ed. S) is in educational leadership,from the University of Northern Colorado. While studying abroad in Vina del Mar, Chile, Meghan lived with a family and went to the local university to improve her Spanish and learn about Chilean culture. She loves to dance, especially to pop and hip hop music. She is part of a dance group called FAMJAM and I recently appeared in her first m…