Course description
This Neurodiversity Leadership Programme offers professionals an opportunity to unlock their potential as neuro-inclusive leaders and improve team performance by empowering neurodivergent team members to recognise & utilise their creativity, knowledge and diverse skills. It is estimated that 1 in 5 people within the workforce are neurodivergent. Without training, leading neurodivergent employees effectively can be challenging. Neurodivergent people may process information and solve problems in ways that neuro-majority people wouldn’t consider. When given the opportunity and understanding, their unique perspectives can contribute hugely to a business’s success.
The programme is designed to equip you with the knowledge, skills, and practical strategies needed to embrace and leverage the unique strengths of neurodivergent individuals. This transformative program is your key to unlocking new levels of leadership excellence with insightful models, comprehensive exploration and practical steps to apply neuro-inclusive leadership to benefit you, your diverse individuals, your team and your organisation.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
This programme has been designed for Directors, Managers and Senior Stakeholders who want to improve performance through cohesive and motivated teams, by inclusively maximising the potential of neurodivergent colleagues.
This course is for you if you want to:
- Discover techniques for building high-performing teams that embrace neurodiversity
- Foster collaboration, promote empathy, and leverage everybody’s strengths
- Develop understanding of neurodiversity and neurodivergence, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and more.
- Inspire others to tailor communication and management approaches that empower neurodivergent individuals to excel
- Learn tools and strategies to create an environment where all team members thrive.
This course can also be offered In-House.
*Please note that some of the materials and objectives may be subject to change depending on discussions, activities and needs of the cohort upon reflection of delegate responses to the pre-programme questionnaires.*
Outcome / Qualification etc.
Assessment
The CMI Level 7 - Award in Strategic Management and Leadership is designed for directors and senior managers who have the authority and personal inspiration to translate organisational strategy into effective performance.
This qualification requires senior and aspiring senior leaders to build on their skills in strategic management and leadership and to focus on the requirements of inter-organisational strategy. You will be required to take the theory, thought leadership and research discussed on the course, and implement it in your professional life by focusing on your own leadership development, and positively challenging organisational strategy.
You will be required to complete one 3,500 – 4,000-word written assignments that require taught theory to be applied to the organisational context:
Unit 702: Leading and Developing People to Optimise Performance
Support
As part of your course fee, you are given unlimited access to post-classroom tutorials. These are organised monthly and run by CMI-qualified tutors to help guide learners through the assignment writing phase.
Training Course Content
Session 1
Defining Neurodiversity
Key themes include
- Define neurodiversity and explain its significance in the workplace.
- Explore expressions of neurodivergence, i.e. autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia etc.
- Understand characteristics often associated with different neurotypes, and potential challenges experienced in workplace & societal contexts
- Highlight the strengths, talents, and unique perspectives that neurodivergent individuals can bring to a team.
Session 2
Defining Neuro-diverse Leadership
Key themes include
- Provide an overview of various neurodivergent profiles and how they may manifest in the workplace
- Explore the challenges and strengths associated with each profile.
- Understand how each individual’s diversity is unique
Session 3
Communication and Collaboration Strategies
Key themes include:
- ‘Double empathy’ and the importance of effective communication techniques to foster understanding and reduce misinterpretation from all parties
- The importance of clarity, explicitness, appropriate language modification and avoiding ambiguous language
- Strategies for accommodating different communication styles, such as visual aids, written instructions, or alternative communication methods
- Understanding regulation to support effective working and decision-making in your neurodivergent employees
Session 4
Creating an Inclusive Work Environment
Key themes include:
- Explore the concept of an inclusive workplace culture its benefits
- Identify potential barriers that neurodivergent individuals may face in the workplace and strategies to overcome them
- Evaluate strategies for creating an inclusive environment, including promoting diversity, adapting workspaces for different sensory processing profiles, understanding burnout and implementing reasonable accommodations
Session 5
Building Empathy and Sensitivity
Key themes include:
- Cultivate empathy and understanding among team members – 4 step model
- Experiential exercise – understanding exclusion from a new perspective
- Identify strategies to overcome: misconceptions, stereotypes, and biases surrounding disability and neurodivergence (including current controversy surrounding ADHD)
Session 6
Recognising and Leveraging Strengths
Key themes include:
- Highlighting the unique strengths and talents that neurodivergent individuals often possess
- Overcoming presentations that challenge and identifying the positive motivations and applications
- Explore how diverse perspectives can contribute to creative problem-solving and innovation
Session 7
Addressing Challenges and Providing Support
Key themes include:
- Identify common challenges that neurodivergent individuals may encounter at work
- Promote a proactive approach to addressing challenges, including open communication
- Evaluate strategies for providing appropriate support, such as mentoring and coaching
- How coaching is very different for Neurodivergent individuals
Session 8
Coaching and Mentoring Neurodivergent individuals
Key themes include:
- Harnessing the power of neurodivergent thinking
- Coaching by numbers – when an analytical approach works best, and how to do this
- Using psychometric tools to create better self-awareness
Session 9
Legal and Ethical Considerations
Key themes include:
- Understanding legal frameworks and regulations related to neurodiversity, such as disability discrimination laws.
- Addressing ethical considerations around privacy, disclosure, and confidentiality
- Ensuring compliance and promote a fair and inclusive work environment
Session 10
Creating an Organisational Strategy
Key themes include:
- Examine an approach to developing organisational strategy
- In peer groups, develop a real-world organisational strategy to create a Neurodiverse culture in your organisation.
Course delivery details
On completion of this programme, delegates will:
- Be able to define ‘neurodiversity’, recognise different expressions of neurodivergence, and consider diagnostic understandings & non-diagnostic (lived)
- Understand the characteristics and barriers experienced in the workplace by neurodivergent individuals and learn how to effectively lead, inspire and manage them
- Evaluate changes in leadership style at both a systemic and individual level to better support and empower neurodivergent colleagues
- Explore strategies to create a neuro-inclusive workplace culture to enhance retention and performance of neurodiverse individuals
Why choose In Professional Development
Delivered training to over 10,000 organisations
92% of delegates rate our courses as 5 star
Created over 2,500 CMI registrations
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In Professional Development
In Professional Development are a professional training provider offering a wide range of professional development courses, on an accredited or non-accredited basis. Our course portfolio ranges from 1 to 5-day courses. We work with a range of partners to ensure...