Helen Needham
TEDx Speaker, Capco UK Neurodiversity Lead, Founder of Me.Decoded
Helen Needham
TEDx Speaker, Capco UK Neurodiversity Lead, Founder of Me.Decoded
I am a leader for a management consultancy, within financial services. For years I managed to deliver what was needed but struggled with the people around me. This held me back, and all my peers were promoted past me. I tried to change but nothing seemed to work, and I increasingly struggled with anxiety.
I was diagnosed as autistic in 2017, three years after my son. It was a turning point. I realised that I wasn’t difficult, I was different, and there is a value in my difference. I didn’t need to change who I was, I needed to change the world around me. I started with outsourcing my socially demanding tasks to the most sociable member of my team.
Getting my promotion, months after my diagnosis, was a big step for me. I am now part of our Data Leadership team and am increasingly being recognised as a strategic and big picture thinker.
I’ve started an employee neurodiversity network with a mission to bring about change in the company, and am proud to have put this on the company’s corporate agenda.
I’ve also launched Me.Decoded, an online platform for promoting Neurodiversity, and become a Neurodiversity advocate. A highlight being talking at the Game Changers Summit, which was hosted at the House of Commons.
Find people who believe in you and will support you to find your own path to success, as opposed to giving you generic guidance which doesn’t consider you as an individual.
https://www.medecoded.com/
