In this episode, Phil speaks with Nathan Whitbread of The Neurodivergent Coach on neurodiversity in the workplace. Nathan is inspiring people and establishing neuro-inclusive workplaces. He encourages awareness, active participation in employee resource groups, and leadership improvements to promote neurodiversity.

Nathan emphasises the impact of reasonable adjustments for individuals in the workplace and how making small changes can make a big difference to people’s work experience. He aims to create workplaces where everyone, regardless of neurodiversity may thrive using empathy-driven strategies and practical interventions.

Links

Nathan Whitbread LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nathanaelwhitbread

Nathan Website - https://theneurodivergentcoach.co.uk/

3D Coaching - https://www.3dcoaching.com/

Exploded coaching, or coaching exploded – Action Learning Sets - https://theneurodivergentcoach.co.uk/tag/action-learning-sets/

Book recommendation - Microadventures - Microadventures - Alastair Humphreys

Book recommendation - Neurodiversity at Work - Neurodiversity at Work: Drive Innovation, Performance and Productivity with a Neurodiverse Workforce : Kirby, Amanda, Smith, Theo: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Book recommendation - Simplifying Coaching - Amazon.com: Simplifying Coaching: How to Have More Transformational Conversations by Doing Less eBook : Pedrick, Claire: Kindle Store

Book recommendation - The Human Behind the Coach - The Human Behind the Coach: How great coaches transform themselves first: Amazon.co.uk: Pedrick, Claire, Baldelli, Lucia: 9781788604567: Books

Book recommendation - The Material World - Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future: Amazon.co.uk: Conway, Ed: 9780753559154: Books

During this episode my guest today is Libby Sander, a leading thinker on understanding the future of work and how we can re-imagine work to live more meaningful and creative lives.

We discuss how physical work environments affect cognitive, emotional, and relational reactions, highlighting the importance of focus and concentration for knowledge workers. We discuss how open-plan offices could hinder productivity due to noise distractions and mention the positive impact of a sense of beauty in workplaces on mood and creativity.

Links

Libby Sander LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/libbysander

How spaces can make us better versions of ourselves | Libby Sander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cscBdhU0QYA

Libby Sander’s website: https://www.libbysander.com/

Psychological perceptions matter: Developing the reactions to the physical work environment scale: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360132318307157

Open-plan office noise is stressful: multimodal stress detection in a simulated work environment: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-management-and-organization/article/abs/openplan-office-noise-is-stressful-multimodal-stress-detection-in-a-simulated-work-environment/F3EF8D2DF47767F18CBF5C081D6AB3A0

Externally-induced meditative states: an exploratory fMRI study of architects’ responses to contemplative architecture - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263517300055

Get a proper chair, don’t eat at your desk, and no phones in the loo – how to keep your home workspace safe and hygienic (theconversation.com)

During this episode my guest today is Emma Wall, Practice Manager at a large General Practice in Derby. We take a deep dive into the challenges faced in leadership during remote and hybrid work environments, particularly focusing on emotions at work.

Primary care is a hugely challenging setting from an emotion perspective. Patients are unwell and/or emotionally charged already, so their ability to regulate their emotions is inhibited. Those providing primary care are often over stretched. Those that are there to help the patients and those providing the care are then contending with regulating their own emotions as well as the emotions of all those around them.

Our conversation touches on various aspects such as resilience, adaptability, communication strategies and understanding yourself better through tools like Myers-Briggs tests and Clifton's strengths finder. We discuss the importance of clear communication, setting expectations, engaging individuals before tasks, and being mindful of team dynamics.

Emotional labour and emotion work are subjects we have covered in episodes 2, 25, 26 and 27 as well as the special edition of episode 37. If you are after more on emotional labour listen to those podcasts next, links below.

Links

Emma Wall LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmawallwriter/

Book - Emotions Revealed by Paul Ekman - Emotions Revealed By Paul Ekman | Used | 9780805083392 | World of Books (wob.com)

Myers-Briggs personality test - Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) | Official Myers Briggs Personality Test (themyersbriggs.com)

16 Personalities website - Free Personality Test | 16Personalities

Big Five personality test - Free Big Five Personality Test - Accurate scores of your personality traits (truity.com)

How to start a Movement TED Talk by Derek Sivers - Derek Sivers: How to start a movement | TED Talk

Simon Sinek TED Talk - Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | TED Talk

The Clifton Strengths personality assessment on Gallup - Clifton Strengths Online Talent Assessment | EN - Gallup

Emotional Wellbeing in the Workplace report

Sign up or log in to the Emotion at Work Community here for free: https://community.emotionatwork.co.uk/signup

Go to “Research & Analysis”

Download the report, “Emotional Wellbeing in the Workplace”.

Previous episodes on emotional labour

Episode 2 - https://emotionatwork.co.uk/episode-2-emotional-inauthenticity-burnout-and-coping-mechanisms/

Episode 25 - https://emotionatwork.co.uk/episode-25-emotion-at-work-in-emotional-intelligence/

Episode 26 - https://emotionatwork.co.uk/episode-26-emotion-at-work-in-emotional-exploitation/

Episode 27 - https://emotionatwork.co.uk/episode-27-emotion-at-work-in-emotion-regulation/

Episode 37 - https://emotionatwork.co.uk/episode-37-special-edition-a-focus-on-emotion/