Leading Differently: The Neurodiverse Advantage / Davos 2025

Summary

This panel discussion at Davos focused on the importance of neurodiversity in leadership and the workplace. Participants shared personal experiences and insights on creating inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals. Key points included the prevalence of neurodiversity, with 10-20% of the population identifying as neurodivergent, and the potential competitive advantage for businesses that embrace cognitive differences.

Panelists emphasized the need for transparency, open communication, and creating psychologically safe spaces where employees can share their needs. They highlighted how neurodivergent individuals often bring unique strengths like creativity, problem-solving skills, and heightened sensitivity to workplace dynamics. Examples were given of successful neurodivergent leaders and employees thriving when given proper accommodations.

The discussion touched on generational differences, with younger workers being more open about neurodiversity and mental health. Panelists stressed the importance of seeing neurodiversity as a workplace solution rather than a problem. They also noted the large market opportunity in serving neurodivergent customers and patients.

Key recommendations included providing necessary tools and accommodations, focusing on strengths rather than limitations, and creating opportunities for neurodivergent individuals to advocate for themselves. Panelists called for businesses to take the lead in creating inclusive environments, regardless of regulations. The discussion concluded by emphasizing that neurodiversity is not new, and workplaces should adapt to support all employees in achieving results.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The prevalence and value of neurodiversity in the workplace

– Creating inclusive environments that allow neurodivergent individuals to thrive

– The importance of leadership and organizational culture in supporting neurodiversity

– Generational differences in openness about neurodiversity

– The business case for embracing neurodiversity and disability inclusion

Overall purpose/goal:

The purpose of this panel discussion was to highlight the advantages of neurodiversity in leadership and business, and to encourage organizations to create more inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals.

Tone:

The overall tone was positive, enthusiastic and forward-looking. Panelists spoke candidly about personal experiences and challenges, but focused on opportunities and solutions. There was a sense of excitement about the potential for neurodiversity to drive innovation and positive change in organizations. The tone became more urgent towards the end when discussing the need for continued progress despite potential regulatory setbacks.

Speakers

– Katy Talikowska: CEO of The Valuable 500

– Natalie Montecino: Executive Director of Climate Democracy Initiative

– Shanti Raghavan: Founder of Enable India

– Stanley M. Bergman: CEO and Chair of the Board of Henry Schein

– Iain Drennan: Executive Director of We Protect Global Alliance

Additional speakers:

– Audience member: Father of a daughter with autism

– Audience member: Woman in a wheelchair after spinal cord injury

Neurodiversity in Leadership: A Davos Panel Discussion

This panel discussion at Davos focused on the importance of neurodiversity in leadership and the workplace. Participants, including CEOs and executives from various organizations, shared personal experiences and insights on creating inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals.

Value of Neurodiversity in the Workplace

Panelists unanimously agreed on the significant value that neurodiversity brings to organizations. Katy Talikowska, CEO of The Valuable 500, emphasized that neurodiversity fosters creativity and problem-solving skills. Shanti Raghavan, Founder of Enable India, highlighted the unique strengths of neurodivergent individuals, citing the success of Enable India’s program in placing candidates in high-paying jobs. Stanley M. Bergman, CEO and Chair of the Board of Henry Schein, shared examples of successful neurodivergent employees, including a top salesperson with dyslexia and an autistic individual who excelled in logistics.

Creating Inclusive Environments

The discussion stressed the importance of creating inclusive work environments that allow neurodivergent individuals to thrive. Katy Talikowska emphasized the need for transparency, open communication, and psychologically safe spaces where employees can share their needs. Natalie Montecino, Executive Director of Climate Democracy Initiative, noted that being open about neurodiversity creates a more inclusive work environment. Shanti Raghavan suggested focusing on individual strengths and providing necessary accommodations, while Stanley M. Bergman highlighted the role of employee resource groups in providing support and fostering dialogue.

The Business Case for Neurodiversity

Panelists presented a strong business case for embracing neurodiversity and disability inclusion. Katy Talikowska pointed out the significant spending power of the disabled community. Stanley M. Bergman emphasized that inclusive practices create loyalty among both employees and customers, improving overall business performance. He also shared how Henry Schein’s Give Kids a Smile program, which provides free oral health care to underserved children, demonstrates the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Challenges and Strategies

The panel discussed various challenges and strategies for creating neuro-inclusive workplaces. Iain Drennan, Executive Director of We Protect Global Alliance, suggested rethinking workplace design to benefit neurodivergent employees. Shanti Raghavan challenged the framing of accommodations as special or unusual, advocating for normalizing workplace adjustments for all employees. Iain Drennan shared his personal experience with an autism diagnosis, explaining how it has influenced his leadership style and self-awareness.

AI as an Accommodation Tool

In response to an audience question, Natalie Montecino discussed the potential of AI as an accommodation tool for neurodivergent individuals. She highlighted how AI could assist with tasks like scheduling and organization, but also cautioned about potential biases in AI systems and the need for human oversight in their development and implementation.

Leadership and Organizational Culture

The importance of leadership and organizational culture in supporting neurodiversity was a recurring theme. Panelists agreed that leaders play a crucial role in fostering inclusive environments and setting the tone for acceptance and support of neurodivergent employees. They emphasized the need for ongoing education and awareness-building at all levels of an organization.

Accessibility in Retail Environments

Addressing an audience question about accessibility in stores, panelists discussed the importance of considering neurodiversity in customer-facing environments. They suggested strategies such as quiet hours, clear signage, and staff training to create more inclusive retail experiences.

Call to Action

The discussion concluded with a call to action for businesses to take the lead in creating inclusive environments, regardless of regulations. Each panelist offered key takeaways:

– Katy Talikowska urged businesses to prioritize disability inclusion at the leadership level.

– Shanti Raghavan emphasized the importance of focusing on strengths and providing necessary support.

– Stanley M. Bergman encouraged organizations to embrace neurodiversity as a competitive advantage.

– Iain Drennan stressed the need for ongoing education and awareness-building.

– Natalie Montecino called on leaders to commit to creating neuro-inclusive spaces, regardless of external pressures.

In conclusion, the panel emphasized that neurodiversity is not a new concept, but workplaces must adapt to support all employees in achieving results. The overall tone of the discussion was positive and forward-looking, highlighting the potential for neurodiversity to drive innovation and positive change in organizations.

Katy Talikowska: Hello and welcome to today’s panel and today we will be talking about leading differently the neurodiverse advantage. So I’m joined by four fabulous panelists today who I will introduce shortly but I am Katie Talakowska and I am the CEO of The Valuable 500, the world’s second largest global business partnership after UN Global Compact and we work with 500 companies to end disability exclusion in business. And I am a 50 year old white woman and I am wearing a black polo neck, a stripy brown skirt and I have shoulder-length brown hair. So as I said over the next 45 minutes we will be really honing in on the importance of neurodiverse leadership and the rich, engaging, creative, problem-solving benefits that a neurodiverse leader can bring to an organization. And I am joined today by two panelists in particular who are being very open and are going to share their own personal leadership journeys as two neurodivergent individuals and also two people representing two fantastic organizations, one from the corporate sector and one from the charity sector. So we have with us today Natalie Montesino who is the newly appointed Executive Director of Climate Democracy Initiative. Welcome Natalie. Also we have Ian Drennan who is the Executive Director of a fantastic organization We Protect Global Alliance and the inimitable force of nature who is Shanti Raghavan who is founder of Enable India and Stanley Bergman who is the CEO and Chair of the Board of Henry Schein. So welcome to all of you. So before we kick off and hear everybody’s individual perspective, a recent global study by Deloitte, lucky for me they’re one of our iconic partners at the Valuable 500, they ran a survey last year and they discovered that between 10 and 20 percent of the world’s population identify as being neurodiverse. And that includes conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Tourette’s syndrome. And I think it’s important to note that it’s only 10 to 20% who identify. We need to acknowledge that there’s a whole swathe of people who, for whatever reason, lack of understanding, lack of knowledge, stigma, fear of being held back or lack of diagnosis, perhaps do not realise that they are neurodivergent. And I think it’s fair to say that in our rapidly evolving business world, bringing in people who think differently, people who see the world differently, people who are perhaps life’s original problem solvers and innovators that will really bring that sort of cutting edge creative mindset, it’s undeniably a competitive advantage for corporations to bring in people with that cognitive difference. So, Natalie, as I said, newly appointed in your role. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your work and your personal story, please. Sure, absolutely. And first of all, thank you so much. It’s such a pleasure to be here with so many wonderful other panellists.

Natalie Montecino: Just to share a little bit more about myself, as Gideon mentioned, I’m the newly appointed executive director of a group called the Climate Democracy Initiative. We’re a small non-profit just nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. And we have a dual mission of supporting locally led climate solutions. And also rebuilding social trust in democratic institutions like journalism, like academia, like local governments. And we go about this in a couple of different ways. We support renewable energy siting projects. We do K-12 education and a whole host of other things. But in addition to being the ED of a small non-profit, I’m also a 24-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with ADHD. And it’s been interesting, right? I’m stepping into this new leadership role and I’m also receiving a diagnosis for the first time in my life. And having these two things kind of converge at the same point has been… interesting for me, right? It’s really allowing me to rethink the way that I look at leadership for myself and how I look at leadership for the team of people that I’m now managing. And I could share quite a lot about what the past two months have looked like for me as I stepped into this role, but I know we’re interested in hearing some of the youth perspectives and trends. Is that right? Yes, please. So to speak for Gen Z, which is a bit of a big task. Go for it Natalie, go for it. I’ll do my best, but I’ll first put out a little reminder that everybody’s experience is different. And I think I can speak for some of the panelists here when saying that there is still a lot of harmful stereotypes. There’s a lot of shame. There are a lot of barriers when it comes to neurodivergence. But on the whole, I’m happy to report that there’s some really positive trends for Gen Z folks when it comes to neurodiversity and being open to neurodiversity. The first one that I want to share with you all is that by and large, I think Gen Z is really aware of the connection that neurodiversity has to mental health, right? I think as a generation, we are looking way more closely at what it means for us to be healthy in our whole selves. What is it like to be mentally healthy, physically healthy? And we care about that. We’re paying attention to that. And neurodiversity is a huge element to that. When you are not receiving the accommodations that you need for your thinking patterns, it can have a negative impact on your mental health. The second thing that I want to share about some Gen Z trends that I’ve noticed, I think there is a growing expectation for personal transparency and for the transparency of leaders when it comes to your identity. A funny little story I’ll share. I’ve noticed that when I meet peers my age, within five minutes, we’ve shared our laundry list of conditions. We’ve talked about all of our childhood trauma. And it’s really funny that in the first moments of meeting somebody my age, that just seems to be the thing that happens. It’s just so much openness right off the bat. And I think that openness is also expected from our leaders. too, right? It’s not just your friends and peers, but it’s everybody that we interact with. We expect that transparency and that authenticity. And then the third thing that I’ll share about the youth perspective is I think there is a demand, a growing demand, by young people for more neuro-inclusive work environments, right? We are asking very bluntly for the things that we need and we’re expecting it. And I think that’s a really good thing to see and I’m happy to be part of a generation that’s demanding more for ourselves.

Katy Talikowska: Yeah, fantastic. Just one point to pick up on there. You were talking also about the transparency of leaders. I appreciate you are enviably young at 24, so I was going to say when you were growing up. But from your perspective, have you witnessed role models, neurodivergent role models? Or do you find that there is a dearth of role models, perhaps, in a professional environment?

Natalie Montecino: Can you share a little bit more about, like, wrong models? Yeah, yes, of course. So certainly from my perspective, I believe that

Katy Talikowska: leaders are in the driving seat of change. And I think that the culture of an organisation is absolutely critical. And certainly from our perspective at the Valuable 500, it’s absolutely right that corporations will have initiatives and strategies and policies. But if the culture and the environment is not right, then those strategies will never fulfil their potential. And in our experience, the unlock of a C-suite leader coming forward, and perhaps adopting that Gen C behaviour of sharing and bringing their whole self to work, that can be a critical unlock for the culture. And then I suppose, pave the way for other individuals throughout the organisation to have that confidence to bring their whole self to work as well. So that’s, I suppose, what I meant by role models. Have you have you witnessed examples of leaders in any of your professional organisations who have had that confidence to come forward?

Natalie Montecino: Yeah, well, I, in my humble opinion, I think we do it exceptionally well at the Climate Democracy Initiative. It’s something that I’ve been actively trying to create, not since I not just since when I stepped into my leadership. but since I joined the organization as a whole over a year ago, just radical transparency is something that we as an organization bring to the table. And I think the people that we attract reflect that quality as well. I’ll share a story about a hiring interview I was doing a few months ago. You know, I had been very open with the candidate that, yeah, I’m ADHD. These are some of the things we do at work that help people like me succeed in what we do. And she said, oh, wow, that’s really amazing. Well, I’d like to tell you that, you know, I have an auditory processing disorder and I also have ADHD. And for the interview, these are the things that I need to show up and do the best that I can do. And this is before I even hired her. She felt comfortable enough to let me know. And I think there’s a lot of people out there that might think, oh, you shouldn’t share that, especially before you get hired. They might be biased against you. But she shared that with me right up front and I was able to give her the tools that she needed to do well in the interview. I ultimately hired her and now I continue to bring those accommodations and that support in my day-to-day management as well. And I think we work together better, all the better for it. Yeah, it’s amazing.

Katy Talikowska: Thank you, thank you, Natalie. So Ian, if I come to you, you are the executive director of We Project and a proud neurodivergent leader. But you shared with me prior to this session that you’ve perhaps been on a bit of a journey and earlier on in your life, you perhaps didn’t have that confidence to share. Can you talk us through that, please? Yep, absolutely. And for anyone who’s listening, I’m Ian.

Iain Drennan: I’m a very pale Northern Irish man, the wrong side of 40 with a beard. And I head up We Protect Global Alliance, which is a multi-sector network focused on ending child sexual abuse online. I think it is absolutely amazing that we are having this discussion at all in Davos. Absolutely. And that people with Donald Trump in competition have turned up and are. here to listen. I mean, I think it’s the first time it’s ever happened to talk about neurodiversity. So I think, you know, the fact this is happening at all is a milestone. I mean, I’m drawing on this is a sort of shorter version of a longer post that’s on my LinkedIn, which is kind of up two years after I was diagnosed as autistic, which was quite a long process that I went through. Sort of two years after that, I decided to be open about it, to come out as it as it were. And I think that role modelling is part of it, because I can say there was a role model for me, which is a British wildlife broadcaster called Chris Packham, who’s done a lot of shows about autism. And I think for me, made me think, actually moving beyond the stereotypes, it’s not just Rain Man, it’s actually, that resonates a lot with me. So I, I think if you’d have met me when I was 10, you would think, more obviously, yeah, that, that kid lining up dinosaurs in a row, and posing them carefully is, is, is probably autistic. I pushed against that a lot. I was quite ashamed of who I was. And if you look at my sort of going through education, going through my career, I pushed against that I put myself in situations, which were way outside of my comfort zone. So I, I served as a diplomat in Afghanistan, I’ve, you know, volunteered to speak, to speak publicly. And I think, as happens to a lot of people, what, what prompted me to change was a, I was keeping it together in work, but I wasn’t keeping it together everywhere. And a very small group of people were seeing kind of when the wheels came off. So it’s a lot of pressure to try and project. There’s a term, masking. I’d say I’m pretty good at it, but it’s like it’s not instinctive. It’s learnt. So I can speak. It’s like speaking a foreign language very fluently, but it’s not your mother tongue. So that pressure and that stress, and then recognising with my daughter, who we came to the conclusion we needed to go through that diagnosis process, that meant me having, as I researched more, having a deep think about myself, and that’s how I ended up getting on that process. I mean, I think it’s really important, and sort of what you’ve said in terms of being able to be open in the workplace. I was open with my colleagues a long time before I was open with the rest of the world, and I think that acceptance helped me a lot to have that courage to come through. But I think autism is who I am. Just because I’ve got a label on it, it’s meant that instead of going through a forest with a blindfold and learning from bumping into trees and adjusting to it, I now have a sort of a map. It’s opened up. A diagnosis isn’t a silver bullet. It’s not a magic thing. It hasn’t changed me as a person, but it means that I’m a bit kinder to myself in terms of taking time out, in terms of when I’m feeling overloaded, in terms of having the courage to say to the team, this is, you know, if I say something that might seem blunt or might seem inappropriate, this is why. Please call me out on it. Please speak to me. This is what I’m trying to do. But I bring that, I bring a lot of traits from my autism to work. My sense of justice and fairness. My focus and drive. I would say, you know, reading the book, I see… I miss what others catch, and I catch what others miss. And so being able to bring that to work and be open about it and kind of make my peace with who I am has been a massive step forward for me. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. And… Thank you, Ian, and thank you for whoever started the applause.

Katy Talikowska: Thank you. So, Shanti. Shanti Raghavan, I hope I’m pronouncing that properly, founder of Enable India. We’ve worked together for a while, although I’ve only just met you at Davos, so that was an absolute bonus. So, Enable India is a pan-ability organisation. But for the purposes of today, as a disability inclusion charity, talk to me about your experiences, your best practice, and what you share with others in terms of neurodivergence.

Shanti Raghavan: First of all, our neurodiversity programme has brought us so much joy. Absolute joy. Because it tells you that you can just be yourself, whichever way you are. I mean, I was not planning to tell this, but my first encounter with a person with autism… You know, my name is Shanti, right? And there’s a song, Om Shanti. So, he meets me and starts singing that song. Great sense of humour. Said with a flat tone, but what people are seeing is with the flat tone. And I’m like, whoa, what a sense of humour, right? So, it’s what you focus on. So, our neurodivergent programme, the diversity programme, just enables you to focus on this humour and not, you know, oh, it’s a flat tone. You know, you look behind that. Can you just be yourself, right? So, we started many years back, actually in 2007, but our programme got strengthened about 12 years back. And what we set out to do was, as part of that, you know, working closely with companies and building… the leadership of the person with disability through our employability. As part of that, the person knows their strengths and also knows the solutions, what are you doing? You’re just more self-aware, and you also are able to speak about it with dignity. That is the first point. Second is just conditioning. People will tell you, oh, don’t try this with a neurodivergent person. I mean, you’ll have to work in a company, you’ll have to perform. So it’s just about conditioning, give more chances where you give feedback, you give targets, you kind of up the ante. Why would you lower your expectation as if there’s a problem here? It’s not a problem, I’m just different, you know? So these things actually enabled our folks to not only go but thrive in a company, because on the other side, what we did was we made the candidate very often, not very often, actually always, present about themselves to the company. The company is expecting us to tell more about the candidate, but we made the candidate do the presentation. That kind of threw people off, right? It disrupts. We also were very kind to the employers, creating a level playing field for them. Don’t think about employability as the main training. Includability, which you know, is the competency for you to see beyond that difference and take the strengths and use solutions, right? So that was done with the companies. But what was the result? And that’s what I want to tell you. The highest fresher starting salary has been six times more than the per capita median income of India. That tells you that people have seen value. And of course, then people grew in their career. What’s more important was the level playing field was created because our folks did not have the right, they had a lot of barriers for education. So the statistic we have, and I was like blown away by it, because you know, sometimes when you look at the data, that’s what tells you everything. Only 39%, you know, looked at graduate and above. We were able to have, I think I’m just. seeing the number, it’s 35% less or equal to 10th grade. I hope you realize 10th grade means you should be doing a manual job. And our folks are doing jobs, I was just looking at the kind of jobs that were there, Power BI analyst, AI training representative. You’re talking about choices for the candidates without necessarily the education. So this is what we were able to do. And more importantly, after that, when we look inside our organization now, and just did the math, 14% of people at Enable India are neurodiverse leaders. I’m not talking about just neurodiverse, just the leaders who are neurodiverse. And the program of neurodiversity is led by a lady with neurodiversity. And just to kind of compliment what Natalie was saying, this is how our meetings go. There was a meeting, there was a lot of ruckus, and this lady just says, guys, guys, I’m going a little haywire, can you tone it down? And that’s okay. Oh my God, does everybody want this for yourself? That’s what neurodiversity does for you.

Katy Talikowska: Amazing, thank you, Shanti. There was some language that you used there that I really liked. You spoke about joy, and you spoke about dignity. And just picking up actually, sort of drawing the thread in terms of what you were saying, Natalie. I love the fact you were talking about sharing. Now, look, I understand that sharing can be very personal and some people don’t feel comfortable. But I’d like to understand your specific perspective, Shanti, in that very often within corporations, they talk about self-ID policies, self-identification, self-disclosure. And that comes with certain sort of perhaps negative connotations or a sense of awkwardness or obligation. Now, I think learning from Gen Z, and again, it goes back to my point about creating the right sort of culture of trust and psychological safety. But I think what you’re talking about there, Shanti, is just creating a space where everyone just feels. comfortable being themselves, be they neurodivergent or not, just starting those conversations to go, this is me, this is Katie, and to do my best work, I need this, and then that’s that catalyst. But do you, I mean, does that chime with you, that thought of sort of sharing and openness? Because I love almost the sort of the, the sort of playful, sort of informality that you talk through, and I wonder if, forgive me, but slightly stiffer, more traditional corporates could perhaps learn from that. Yeah, absolutely, see, there has to be an incentive and understanding that the leader, companies, we know the business case, so I don’t need to discuss that.

Shanti Raghavan: But I don’t think leaders have realized the opportunity they get to be better people managers, to get the best out of everybody. If they were to do this, I don’t know, I have a problem with this word, reasonable accommodation. I mean, just tongue in cheek, I give reasonable accommodation to my smokers in the office who get a little frazzled when they don’t smoke, or the ones who need tea and coffee at the right time. So I think we need to normalize this word reasonable accommodation. So isn’t this a great opportunity for a leader to grab with both their hands? So that’s, but they still have to do that. And if they don’t do that, I don’t see why anybody should self ID in an atmosphere where they’re not sure about their leaders. And that’s why more, we always feel we work more on the company side and the ecosystem side, the candidate will be fine. I mean, they’ll do everything right in their power to kind of get ready. And also when you become a leader, you’re always trying to do better and better. We work more on the company side. Yeah, fantastic.

Katy Talikowska: Thank you. Stanley, thank you. You’ve been sitting there very patiently. So Stanley Bergman, CEO and Chair of the Board of Henry Shine, a Fortune 500 company, and I believe the world’s largest provider of healthcare products and services to dental and medical practitioners. And from what I’ve read and understand, genuinely. a truly progressive business in creating inclusive environments that enable everyone to fulfil their potential. So, Stanley, over to you. So, Katie, thank you. I’m enthralled by this panel. You know, when I was asked by the Whiff to do this panel, participate as a business member of the Whiff,

Stanley M. Bergman: it was almost a hesitation, we’re going to ask you to do this, but I’m not sure if you’re going to want to do it, and I said absolutely. My colleague David was with me and I said absolutely, there’s just no hesitation. So, yeah, the facts. The facts are one in five people on this planet either have a physical disability or some form of an intellectual disability. It’s one in five. It’s massive. And so we view these kinds of programmes as fitting the Benjamin Franklin enlightened self-interest, doing the right thing for society and doing the right thing for business. Yes. Doing well by doing good. And we have multiple constituents, each of you have them in your organisations, and for us, two valuable constituents, our people, our team and our customers. So from our team point of view, if you think about it, one in five people on this planet has an issue. So every single one of our team either has an impact, has a disability, their family, somebody in their family has a disability or they live close to someone who has a disability. So everyone is impacted. Absolutely. So how do you make sure that everybody is comfortable in the organisation relating to… or communicating their family issues, their friends’ issues, their community issues. You have to create an environment that provides safe spaces where people can talk. So we have what’s called employee resource groups. We have them for women, for people from different parts of the world, veterans. And we have one that relates to people that are handicapped in one way or another. It’s called ADAPT. And ADAPT, believe it or not, has attracted more people than any other group. And what it involves is open dialogue on challenges relating to some form of disability. So what it provides for in the end is to include in one way or another those leaders and those members of the team that are in fact disabled. And I would submit to you that people that are disabled are more finely tuned than the average person. And if you have them sitting around the table in a management meeting or in the boardroom, these people are going to be highly understanding of their fellow team members and their customers. So we have some incredible examples. We have one of our top women leaders, and hopefully she’ll see this. We wrote an article for our publication, our company publication. And she said, and I quote, Disability was my gift, my superpower. Because she felt when she was young that she was at a disadvantage. Then she realized that perhaps it’s an advantage. And she has become a role model in our company. She publicized her disability, and she does extremely well. On the other hand, we have a young fellow who, at his graduation party from high school, dove into a sumikpoo. and broke his neck. Terrible story. He is one of our best writers in our communications department because he understands people better than anyone else. He understands how he has to relate to people and how people relate to him. And he can apply that to whatever he has to write about. You have a fellow, he retired, who was one of the leading professional firms, accounting, law, whatever, and he retired in his 60s and he joined our firm as a senior leader. When he walked out of the elevator, he couldn’t tell left or right. This guy was one of the most motivational people in the company. So the question is, how do you enhance that and why give up that opportunity to engage people that have sensitivity to the world? I found this to be an incredible asset and unfortunately is missed by most organizations. Yes, you can have programs with disabled people can work in the warehouse and pick and pack. That’s great. But I think you want people involved that are disabled in one way or another in leading and dealing with those people that require some form of interface. Now, that takes us to the customers. So we have a million customers around the world. That’s a million and a half dentists in their office and physicians in their offices. One of the biggest opportunities for a dentist today is to figure out how to deal or service or have a patient that is in some form or another disabled where other practitioners won’t see them. And yeah, there’s all sorts of reasons. You don’t have the right insurance, this, that, and the other, but many, many, many, many dentists. in the world will not see a disabled person because you need the right equipment or because they’re sensitive, they see the dentist, they get scared. So we, through our connection with the profession, have figured out that we need to turn out dentists that are sensitive to treating patients that are disabled. So we went to New York University, one of the largest dental school in the United States, a little later to the University of Pennsylvania, one of the biggest and leading dental schools, and we said, let’s study this area, let’s set up rooms in each facility that can deal with sensitivity so that when the patient comes into the chair, firstly, the dentist is trained, but you have the right equipment. And this has created an enormous amount of interest, and in terms of enlightened self-interest, it’s business, but it’s also helping society. We took it one step further, we went to the organization that accredits dental schools, and we’ve now had that included in the program to assess a dental school’s capability of teaching. So I could talk about this on and on, but if you can get your team to understand the value of engaging with people that are disabled, and if their parents or their fellow workers somehow or another are in the organization, impacted in one way or another, have a kid at home or something, that there’s sympathy in the organization and an understanding what’s needed, you will create loyalty in your organization off the charts. And if you can help your customers deal with more, treat more patients, what an opportunity. So this panel is absolutely 100% the right panel, and I hope business leaders around the world are watching, because there’s an opportunity to engage.

Katy Talikowska: with talent that is just missed by society. Amazing. Thank you, Stanley. And you spoke a lot about a lot of leaders, a lot of corporations not understanding that value. Do you have any advice in terms of what would be the first step to try and do that? Because, forgive me, from what I’ve understood, you slightly pivoted and changed your business model from selling the products to the story, the fantastic story you’ve just told about sort of dental training. Was training already in your business model, or was it because you identified that so many disabled patients wouldn’t be seen by dentists? I’d just like to understand a little bit further. So, to a business model, of course, like any organisation,

Stanley M. Bergman: we have to sell to our customers. You go into a customer and you say, this product is better than that, and the customer says, yeah, the previous salesperson walked in with the same idea. So, from a business point of view, how do you develop relationships with your customers? You find ways to work on common projects that are good for society. So, we launched probably one of the most successful health care public-private partnerships in the US with the American Dental Association. It’s called Give Kids a Smile. And every year in February, we treat about, we get dentists, and by the way, for those that are not in the United States, this is the richest country in the world, but there are millions of children that don’t get access to oral care, to dental care. They either can’t find a dentist or they don’t have the funding. So, we went to the dental community and said, why don’t you work with us, the American Dental Association, to bring your dentists together to treat patients free of charge that are in one way or another not seeing a dentist. So, every year in February, we bring together a few thousand dentists and they see about 400,000 patients free of charge. But who’s helping them? Our salespeople. What better way to develop a relationship with a customer than to be standing side by side doing good for society? And out of that model, we’ve gone further and we’ve now educated dentists. Yes, it’s good to see patients that are in one way or another poor. Either they’re poor in education, they can’t find a dentist, or they’re economically poor. Yes, that’s good. But why not at the same time learn how to treat disabled patients who it’s not easy for you to treat because you’re not trained. But if you know how to treat them, you’ll expand your customer base. And goodwill, actually.

Katy Talikowska: Of course. It’s exactly what you said. What is good for society is what’s good for business, undeniably. I’m aware that the spending power of the disabled community globally is US$18.3 trillion. So it just doesn’t make business sense to not want to capitalise upon that.

Stanley M. Bergman: Not capitalise economically, but also from the workforce. And if you figure a way to help your team, your customers, who likely have people in their family, in their circles that are disabled,

Katy Talikowska: and work this through, can you imagine the multiplier impact? Absolutely. So it’s a good thing to do for society. It also makes good sense from a business point of view. And just to build on that, I think it’s increasingly important that we stop seeing the disabled community as separate or other. Because the reality is it is all of us. As we know, it’s a group that anyone can join at any time through illness, through age, through accident. So it is plain wrong and short-sighted to think about people with disabilities as separate. It is all of us. It is a reality of the human race. condition. So right, we’ve got 10 minutes left and I would love to open the floor to some questions. I know it’s the last panel in the day but I hope there’s energy and interest for questions. We should have time for a couple and then if it’s okay we’ll just end on a quick takeaway or a call to action for all of you. So thank you. Any questions? Fantastic, thank you. And I think we’ve got a mic as well if that’s okay coming. Thank you very much.

Audience: First I want to thank you for doing this panel as a dad for a daughter with autism that’s in college. This is phenomenal that it’s happening now and we’re talking about the workplace and the interview process and autism. It’s just fantastic. So I just want to thank that first. Second, Davos obviously has been very AI focused and my daughter has told me that AI for her, she sees it as an accommodation. She’s able to put all of her thoughts and all of the ideas that come to her mind and really disseminate them with kind of AI’s help. So I’m wondering, and that’s in college obviously, so I’m wondering if any of you have any thoughts about how to incorporate that, you’ve seen it in the future, or any thoughts about how AI is integrated with disability as we’re seeing AI is basically integrated with everything. Natalie, would you be comfortable taking that? Sure, I’d be happy to comment and thanks for

Katy Talikowska: your question. I can speak to my workplace in particular. We use chat GPT pretty regularly,

Natalie Montecino: my team does, and we’re very transparent about that, right? We say, hey I’m going to use chat GPT for this, this, and this. It’s often things like, hey I’ve got a lot of documents I need to read. AI helps me get all of that into one place. I have some thoughts that I don’t really want to just say out loud. I want to work through them first and chat GPT is one of the first places that I can do that. I think what’s important to me is still seeing the creativity and independent thought of my team and I’ve been really happy to to see that using ChatGPT as an accommodation rather than like a crutch has really benefited us as a team overall and I think our work’s been better for it. If I can just add to that, not about AI, I’m just saying in general, we’re all sitting on a chair, why don’t we all stand forever, right?

Shanti Raghavan: So it’s a solution, this is a solution we use because we can’t stand all the time. So when your daughter, you mentioned, when your daughter goes to the company, she has to say, I’ll be using this as my workplace solution, period. And you see the dignity with it? Just like I use a chair, just like I’m using my glasses and that’s it. I love that language of workplace solutions. Yeah, it’s so positive, right? Because it is a solution, that’s all. Fantastic, a question for the lady there, thank you.

Katy Talikowska: Yeah, thank you all of you for your really nice perspectives. I was just intrigued by the last thing you said about having to keep the, not thinking about the people with the disabilities as just people with disabilities, but they’re also customers. Me, myself, I’m in a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury.

Audience: And I think that’s really interesting because I know that no one puts stairs there to be mean, right, but still there’s stairs there that makes it difficult to move around in society. And just where I live, I’m from Norway, where I live, I live straight by one of Oslo’s biggest shopping streets. And I can’t get into 80% of the stores because there are stairs in. So I also need to buy my groceries, right? I also need to buy my cosmetics, you know, and my clothes, but I can’t get in. So I had lots of discussions with the different stores and asking them, well, why don’t you just make a ramp? It’s pretty easy, not much of a hassle. And the answer I get, which is very interesting is, well, the customer group with that need is so small that it costs us more to adapt than we are thinking that we’ll get from bringing them into the stores, which is actually, it’s impressively blunt. But I also find it interesting because then I fall back to, well, do we need regulations? Like the US have a lot of really good regulations with the American Disability Act. But I’m just curious of your thoughts. How can we work to actually be seen as a part of the broader society? And what can we do to intrigue them? To open? Or do we need regulations?

Katy Talikowska: Sandi and Ian, you both want to go first?

Iain Drennan: I mean, I’d just say, like, I would question the data there because those are the customers they see. What about all the customers who think there’s not even any point in going to that shopping street? You can’t get in. That’s the point. Because I know I won’t, I don’t want to put myself through that process. And I think it’s just, it’s something we talk about in our work with tech, like kind of safety by design. Like thinking about from the ground up, how do we design places that everyone can be part of and that you’re not excluding? And I just think it’s just not acceptable that you can have a substantial proportion of the citizenship excluded from the thing. I, yeah, it’s just, so I think, yeah, there needs to be a baseline. There’s got to be a baseline. So business is driven by one thing, making money, right? What’s the most powerful tool in the world today? Social media. I would try to connect the two. I think you said you’re from Norway? Where is Greta from? Sweden. Sweden, a neighbor. A little bit of social media.

Stanley M. Bergman: What I would do, I would look on your main street and find one or two stores that are easily accessible, and man, I would ride on the internet. And you will see within a short period of time, their business will go up and people will change. And to me, that’s what you’ve got to do. And I’m sure you must know others. that are disabled, similar condition, in your town. And what I would do is I would find out the ones, those stores that provide access, and I would direct everyone to them.

Katy Talikowska: Thank you, sir. And you’ll see quickly things will change. So, we have four minutes left, and we have four people. We are in the home of clocks and efficiency, so we will end on time. One minute each, please, for a key takeaway, a call to action, perhaps something tangible that the audience today can take away. Shanti, I’m going to go to you first. I think I’ve said it, actually. What’s the environment you can… I’ve already spoken about includability. What’s that environment you can create if you’re a company?

Shanti Raghavan: It’s as simple as just providing the tools, the solutions by which the person can work. Just giving that, allowing the person to be able to advocate for themselves. Just providing that environment would be the first starting point. And if you can all do that, I think it’ll help. And providing opportunities for learning. And you’ll want to do that for everybody. So, it’s like a learning project, giving different opportunities where you can try and succeed. Give that little space. The support part becomes very important. When you’re always questioning yourself, you’ve been masking, you’ve been doing this, just saying, hey, I like what you did today. Just that little validation can go really long. So, I think with that, people can just do this. Actually, do it for yourself first, then you’ll do it for the others automatically. How about that? Perfect. Thank you, Shanti. Natalie?

Katy Talikowska: Thank you.

Natalie Montecino: Well, as the American in the room, and for those of you that are tuning in online, we’re just now following a session from President Trump. And there’s been some really interesting challenges that are going to be coming for our community. There’s an executive order that has… pulled back the DEIA regulations in the United States, and yeah, there’s a big challenge ahead of us, right? But I think in that challenge, there’s also a really big opportunity. We have the opportunity as leaders to commit to creating neuro-inclusive spaces, to creating disabled inclusive spaces for the people that we serve in our community, regardless of what the government might say, regardless of what forces may be against us. This is something that we all need to double down on and build a more inclusive future for everybody. So that’s my call to action. I love that. Thank you, Natalie. Ian. So just bouncing off that, neurodiversity is not a new phenomenon.

Katy Talikowska: Yeah.

Iain Drennan: For a lot of autistic people, the traditional office of the fifties, where you had a nice quiet space, you got on with your work, you had a secretary who handled all, for a lot of autistic people, that would be the dream. Think about, we need to have deeper conversations. So it’s not some kind of new woke snowflake thing. It’s been around forever. We need to be having deeper conversations as leaders on what our teams actually need to achieve outcomes. And it may not be what we think. We shouldn’t be bound by conventional thinking about what a workplace ought to be or how it should be organized. It’s what’s going to deliver results. And we should be bringing technology in to help us to do that. What is right for the employer is absolutely right for the employee. They’re inextricably linked.

Katy Talikowska: Perfect. Stanley.

Stanley M. Bergman: Yeah, all of this is good. Morality is important. Laws are important. But there’s 20% of the world’s population that can be addressed by business. Yeah. Have business focus on this and have those that are successful in bringing products to market, creating safe spaces, put them on the internet. Yeah. And I mean, if we get 10% of the world to put that on the internet. businesses that are friendly towards people that have some form of a disability will thrive and the rest will follow. The others will have FOMO. FOMO, brilliant.

Katy Talikowska: That’s what we’re going to go for. Here’s to creating FOMO. Shanti, Natalie, Ian, Stanley, thank you so much for joining us today. Personally, I loved it, so thank you so much. Thank you to the audience.

Agreement Points

Neurodiversity brings value to organizations

speakers

– Katy Talikowska
– Natalie Montecino
– Shanti Raghavan
– Stanley M. Bergman
– Iain Drennan

arguments

Neurodiversity brings creativity and problem-solving skills

Neurodivergent individuals have unique strengths that benefit organizations

Neurodiversity enhances understanding of team members and customers

Neurodivergent leaders bring valuable perspectives to management

summary

All speakers agreed that neurodiversity brings unique perspectives, skills, and strengths to organizations, enhancing creativity, problem-solving, and understanding of both team members and customers.

Creating inclusive work environments is crucial

speakers

– Katy Talikowska
– Natalie Montecino
– Shanti Raghavan
– Stanley M. Bergman

arguments

Leaders need to create psychologically safe spaces for openness

Being open about neurodiversity creates a more inclusive work environment

Organizations should focus on strengths and provide accommodations

Employee resource groups can provide support and dialogue

summary

The speakers emphasized the importance of creating inclusive work environments through openness, accommodations, and support systems like employee resource groups.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for openness about neurodiversity and focusing on strengths rather than limitations in the workplace.

speakers

– Natalie Montecino
– Shanti Raghavan

arguments

Being open about neurodiversity creates a more inclusive work environment

Organizations should focus on strengths and provide accommodations

Both speakers argue that accommodating neurodiversity leads to better understanding and management of all employees, not just neurodivergent individuals.

speakers

– Stanley M. Bergman
– Iain Drennan

arguments

Neurodiversity enhances understanding of team members and customers

Accommodating neurodiversity improves overall employee management

Unexpected Consensus

Business case for neurodiversity

speakers

– Katy Talikowska
– Stanley M. Bergman

arguments

The disabled community has significant spending power

Inclusive practices create loyalty among employees and customers

explanation

While the focus was primarily on workplace inclusion, there was unexpected consensus on the strong business case for neurodiversity and disability inclusion, highlighting both the spending power of the disabled community and the loyalty it creates among employees and customers.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement were the value of neurodiversity in organizations, the importance of creating inclusive work environments, and the business case for neurodiversity and disability inclusion.

Consensus level

There was a high level of consensus among the speakers, with all agreeing on the importance and benefits of neurodiversity in the workplace. This strong consensus implies a growing recognition of the value of neurodiversity in business and society, potentially leading to more inclusive practices and policies in organizations.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to creating inclusive environments

speakers

– Shanti Raghavan
– Stanley M. Bergman

arguments

Organizations should focus on strengths and provide accommodations

Employee resource groups can provide support and dialogue

summary

While both speakers advocate for inclusive environments, Raghavan emphasizes focusing on individual strengths and providing accommodations, while Bergman highlights the role of employee resource groups in fostering dialogue and support.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement were subtle and primarily focused on different approaches to achieving similar goals of inclusivity and neurodiversity in the workplace.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among the speakers was relatively low. Most speakers shared similar views on the importance of neurodiversity and inclusion in the workplace, with minor differences in their approaches or areas of focus. This low level of disagreement suggests a general consensus on the value of neurodiversity in the workplace, which could potentially lead to more unified efforts in promoting inclusive practices across various organizations and industries.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the importance of openness and transparency regarding neurodiversity, but they differ in their approaches. Montecino emphasizes personal openness within the workplace, while Bergman suggests using social media to promote inclusive businesses externally.

speakers

– Natalie Montecino
– Stanley M. Bergman

arguments

Being open about neurodiversity creates a more inclusive work environment

Social media can be leveraged to promote inclusive businesses

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for openness about neurodiversity and focusing on strengths rather than limitations in the workplace.

speakers

– Natalie Montecino
– Shanti Raghavan

arguments

Being open about neurodiversity creates a more inclusive work environment

Organizations should focus on strengths and provide accommodations

Both speakers argue that accommodating neurodiversity leads to better understanding and management of all employees, not just neurodivergent individuals.

speakers

– Stanley M. Bergman
– Iain Drennan

arguments

Neurodiversity enhances understanding of team members and customers

Accommodating neurodiversity improves overall employee management

Key Takeaways

Neurodiversity brings valuable skills and perspectives to the workplace, including creativity, problem-solving, and enhanced understanding of team members and customers.

Creating neuro-inclusive work environments requires openness, accommodations, and rethinking traditional workplace designs.

There is a strong business case for neurodiversity and disability inclusion, including access to talent, employee loyalty, and market opportunities.

Generational shifts, particularly with Gen Z, are driving greater demand for neuro-inclusive workplaces and transparency around neurodiversity.

Leadership plays a critical role in fostering inclusive cultures and normalizing discussions around neurodiversity.

Resolutions and Action Items

Business leaders should commit to creating neuro-inclusive spaces regardless of regulatory changes.

Organizations should focus on strengths of neurodivergent individuals and provide necessary accommodations.

Companies should leverage social media to promote and support disability-inclusive businesses.

Leaders need to have deeper conversations about what their teams actually need to achieve outcomes, beyond conventional workplace norms.

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively integrate AI as an accommodation tool for neurodivergent individuals in the workplace

The role of regulations versus voluntary business actions in improving accessibility and inclusion

How to change the mindset of businesses that view accommodations as not cost-effective

Suggested Compromises

Using AI tools like ChatGPT as workplace accommodations while still valuing individual creativity and independent thought

Balancing the need for regulations with highlighting the business benefits of inclusion to drive voluntary action

I think Gen Z is really aware of the connection that neurodiversity has to mental health, right? I think as a generation, we are looking way more closely at what it means for us to be healthy in our whole selves.

speaker

Natalie Montecino

reason

This comment provides insight into how younger generations view neurodiversity, connecting it to broader conversations about mental health and holistic wellbeing.

impact

It shifted the discussion to focus on generational perspectives and expectations around neurodiversity in the workplace.

A diagnosis isn’t a silver bullet. It’s not a magic thing. It hasn’t changed me as a person, but it means that I’m a bit kinder to myself in terms of taking time out, in terms of when I’m feeling overloaded, in terms of having the courage to say to the team, this is, you know, if I say something that might seem blunt or might seem inappropriate, this is why.

speaker

Iain Drennan

reason

This comment provides a nuanced perspective on neurodiversity diagnosis, highlighting both its benefits and limitations.

impact

It deepened the conversation by introducing the complexity of neurodiversity diagnoses and their impact on workplace interactions.

Disability was my gift, my superpower.

speaker

Stanley M. Bergman (quoting an employee)

reason

This reframes disability as a positive attribute rather than a limitation, challenging common perceptions.

impact

It shifted the tone of the discussion to focus more on the unique strengths and perspectives that neurodivergent individuals can bring to the workplace.

I don’t know, I have a problem with this word, reasonable accommodation. I mean, just tongue in cheek, I give reasonable accommodation to my smokers in the office who get a little frazzled when they don’t smoke, or the ones who need tea and coffee at the right time. So I think we need to normalize this word reasonable accommodation.

speaker

Shanti Raghavan

reason

This comment challenges the framing of accommodations for neurodivergent individuals as special or unusual, pointing out that many workplace accommodations are already normalized.

impact

It prompted a reconsideration of how workplace accommodations are viewed and discussed, encouraging a more inclusive perspective.

We have the opportunity as leaders to commit to creating neuro-inclusive spaces, to creating disabled inclusive spaces for the people that we serve in our community, regardless of what the government might say, regardless of what forces may be against us.

speaker

Natalie Montecino

reason

This comment emphasizes the role of business leaders in driving inclusion, regardless of external pressures or regulations.

impact

It concluded the discussion on a call-to-action note, emphasizing the responsibility of leaders to drive change.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by broadening perspectives on neurodiversity, challenging common assumptions, and emphasizing the role of both individuals and organizations in creating more inclusive environments. The conversation evolved from discussing personal experiences to exploring broader societal and business implications, ultimately culminating in a call for proactive leadership in fostering neurodiversity inclusion.

How can AI be integrated with disability accommodations in the workplace?

speaker

Audience member

explanation

The audience member raised this question in relation to his daughter with autism using AI as an accommodation in college. Understanding how AI can be used as a workplace solution for neurodivergent individuals is important as AI becomes more prevalent.

How can businesses be encouraged to see people with disabilities as valuable customers?

speaker

Audience member

explanation

An audience member in a wheelchair raised this issue, noting that many businesses don’t make their spaces accessible because they don’t see the economic value. Finding ways to change this perspective is crucial for improving accessibility and inclusion.

Do we need more regulations to ensure accessibility, or are there other ways to drive change?

speaker

Audience member

explanation

The same audience member asked about the need for regulations versus other approaches to improve accessibility. This is an important question for determining effective strategies to increase inclusion of people with disabilities in society.

How can social media be leveraged to drive businesses to be more accessible?

speaker

Stanley M. Bergman

explanation

Bergman suggested using social media to highlight accessible businesses and drive change. Exploring this strategy could provide valuable insights into using consumer power to increase accessibility.

How can leaders have deeper conversations about what their teams actually need to achieve outcomes?

speaker

Iain Drennan

explanation

Drennan emphasized the need for leaders to think beyond conventional workplace structures. Investigating how to facilitate these conversations and implement findings could significantly improve workplace inclusivity and productivity.