Rethinking the Fit: Why Housing Needs Neurodiverse Voices at the Table

I was 46 when I was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia.
 
 By then, I’d led large teams, shaped strategies, and delivered transformation programmes all while navigating an invisible landscape of overthinking, overworking, and quietly wondering why everything felt just that bit harder than it seemed to be for everyone else.
 
 I’d spent years shape-shifting, adjusting to fit what leadership was “supposed” to look like. From the outside, I was confident and high-performing. Inside, I was translating, overcompensating, and often exhausted.
 
 Now I know I wasn’t broken. I was just operating in systems that weren’t designed with people like me in mind.
 
 And I’m not alone.
 
 The Hidden Stories in Housing
 
 Across the housing sector, neurodivergent colleagues are quietly doing the same: masking, navigating, adapting and often thriving but sometimes just surviving.
 
 They’re working in frontline roles, customer service teams, project boards, and executive suites. They’re problem-solvers, deep thinkers, empaths, analysts, and creatives. But too often, they don’t feel safe enough to say: I think differently. I work differently. I need something different.
 
 And that’s a loss not just for them, but for all of us.
 
 Because housing is about people. Complexity. Innovation. Connection. These are areas where neurodivergent minds can truly shine when the environment allows them to.
 
 What’s Not Working — Yet
 
 The workplace norms we’ve built aren’t neutral. Many were created in eras that assumed a single way of thinking, leading, and showing up.
 
 - Open-plan offices and sensory overload   
 - Meetings that reward fast talkers, not deep thinkers  
 - Recruitment processes that test memory over potential  
 - Leadership expectations built on constant urgency and output  
 - “Wellbeing” that requires asking for help when people are already exhausted
 
 Even the language we use — “reasonable adjustments,” “support needs,” “coping strategies” quietly positions difference as deficit.
 
 It doesn’t have to be this way.
 
 Shifting the Culture, Not the Person
 
 Neurodiversity isn’t a niche HR topic. It’s a lens for inclusive leadership and future-fit organisations.
 
 We don’t need neurodivergent people to try harder to fit in we need to reimagine what fit looks like.
 
 That means:
 - Flexibility in how and when people work   
 - Clearer communication, without unnecessary complexity  
 - Meeting formats that allow for prep time, pause, and reflection  
 - Permission to work in ways that suit the brain, not just the job description  
 - Leadership development that embraces emotional intelligence, not just strategy
 
 Neurodivergent Strengths Aren’t ‘Nice to Have’. They’re Critical
 
 When we talk about resilience, innovation, or authentic leadership, we’re talking about things neurodivergent people often bring in abundance:
 
 - Pattern recognition  
 - Deep empathy  
 - Creative problem-solving  
 - Hyperfocus and passion  
 - The ability to challenge the status quo from lived experience
 
 However, these strengths can only emerge when the environment is safe enough to be genuine.
 
 To the Shape-Shifters Reading This
 
 You’ve been quietly translating the world for years. Navigating, adapting, and overthinking. You’ve succeeded in spaces not built with you in mind, and now, it’s time to stop shrinking yourself to fit them.
 
 We are on a mission not just to include, but to transform.
 
 Because a sector built on compassion, community, and care must be a place where all kinds of minds can thrive.
 
 Not just survive.

 Liz Oliver, strategic housing leader, executive coach, and founder of One True Path — a coaching and consultancy practice specialising in authentic leadership, neurodiversity, and wellbeing in high-stakes sectors.