Empathy and Neurodiversity in Teamwork with Gloria Folaron of Leantime

Empathy and neurodiversity in teamwork aren't separate conversations, they're the same one. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, hosts Stephen Sakach and Mike Liwski welcome Gloria Folaron, CEO of Leantime and a former ER nurse, to talk about what it takes to build teams where different brains can do their best work.

In this episode we explore:

• Why cognitive accessibility matters as much in software as it does in healthcare
• How Gloria's own ADHD diagnosis reshaped how Leantime builds its product
• Why most companies badly undercount how many of their employees are neurodivergent
• What the data says about neurodiverse teams and performance
• Why disclosure still feels unsafe for a lot of neurodivergent employees
• What it looks like to design a project management tool around how ADHD actually thinks

Gloria defines the core idea plainly: "cognitive accessibility is acknowledging that people have different brains and that those brains have different needs in order to almost equalize the playing field." She built that principle into Leantime after her own ADHD diagnosis, asking a simple question of her own product: "if this is how ADHD thinks, what does the science say? How do we build in things that are intrinsically motivating?"

The gap between how many people are neurodivergent and how many companies think are is stark. Gloria cites a UK tech industry survey where "53% of them self-identified when asked directly, are you neurodivergent... but then they asked the same companies, how many of your employees are neurodivergent and they said only 3%." That gap has a cost: teams that include neurodiverse professionals are, per a Deloitte study Stephen references, "30% more productive than those without them."

Disclosure still carries real risk. Gloria describes friends put on performance improvement plans for what were really just neurodivergent traits, not performance problems: "by not making room for those differences, we're not giving people the opportunity to excel where they excel."

That same instinct, building around how people actually think instead of how a spec sheet assumes they will, is what good marketing does too. It's the same principle behind Zero Company's approach: understand the real audience before writing a word of copy.

Key Takeaways

• (11:16) Cognitive accessibility, defined: "acknowledging that people have different brains and that those brains have different needs in order to almost equalize the playing field"

• (12:36) Gloria built Leantime's design around her own ADHD diagnosis: "if this is how ADHD thinks, what does the science say? How do we build in things that are intrinsically motivating?"

• (23:47) A UK tech industry survey found 53% of workers privately identify as neurodivergent, but their employers estimate only 3% do

• (28:31) Teams with neurodiverse professionals are, per a Deloitte study, "30% more productive than those without them"

• (37:36) Asked if love belongs in business: "love in terms of empathy and respect for other human beings is something that has to be in business"

FAQ

What is cognitive accessibility?
Gloria Folaron defines it as acknowledging that people have different brains with different needs, and designing tools and systems so that information is communicated clearly for everyone rather than assuming one way of processing is the default.

Why don't more companies know how many of their employees are neurodivergent?
A UK tech industry survey found 53% of workers privately identify as neurodivergent, but the same companies estimated only 3% of their staff were. Gloria Folaron says the gap comes down to safety: disclosure has led to real consequences, like being put on a performance improvement plan for traits that were never actually a performance problem.

Are neurodiverse teams actually more productive?
Yes. Citing a Deloitte study, the hosts note that teams with neurodiverse professionals are 30% more productive than those without them, and Gloria Folaron adds that neurodivergent thinkers often bring faster pattern recognition and big-picture strategy skills that benefit the whole team.

Gloria's answer when asked if love belongs in business: "love in terms of empathy and respect for other human beings is something that has to be in business." Learn more about Gloria and Leantime at leantime.io.