Reading between the lines with Nicola Knobel

Nicola Knobel
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I read my books out loud for you to have access to!  We are starting with Book 1! Unmasking Leadership is a subscription-based audiobook podcast written and read by Nicola Knobel, exploring neurodivergent leadership, psychological safety, and the systems that shape who gets to lead at work. Each episode features a full chapter from the book Unmasking Leadership: Neurodivergent Leaders, Psychological Safety, and the Future of Inclusive Workplaces. Chapters are released regularly and presented exactly as written, without summaries or commentary. This podcast examines why traditional leadership models often fail neurodivergent people, how masking and burnout become occupational health issues, and why psychological safety frequently exists in policy but not in lived experience. It explores leadership through the lens of risk management, workplace safety, and organisational power, connecting inclusion to systems, not slogans. Designed for leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and neurodivergent workers, Unmasking Leadership goes beyond awareness to examine how work actually operates, who it protects, and who it excludes. If you are interested in leadership, neurodiversity at work, psychological safety, workplace safety, burnout, masking, psychosocial risk, and inclusive leadership, this podcast offers depth, clarity, and evidence-based insight. The first two chapters are available free. Additional chapters can be accessed by purchasing the full audiobook series.

Episodes

  1. JAN 21

    Chapter 21: Women Who Lead Differently

    Pop me message to read out loud! This chapter explores how neurodivergent women and gender-diverse people experience leadership through layers of expectation, performance, and survival. Drawing on emerging diagnostic trends, research, and lived experience, it examines why so many women discover their neurodivergence later in life, often after burnout, breakdown, or profound exhaustion. These late diagnoses do not reflect new conditions, but long-standing differences that were previously invisible within male-centred diagnostic and leadership models. Nicola examines how neurodivergent women are shaped by two overlapping systems: gendered leadership norms that reward warmth, emotional labour, and perfection, and neurotypical norms that prioritise composure, sociability, and consistency. The result is a unique and unsustainable double bind. Many women leaders become experts in effort, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, translating competence into constant performance. Over time, this leads to what research describes as functional exhaustion, where capability remains intact but vitality is depleted. Bias and double standards are addressed directly. Neurodivergent women are often judged more harshly for the same behaviours as their male peers, with directness read as aggression, sensitivity framed as weakness, and intensity mislabelled as instability. These compounded biases distort feedback, undermine credibility, and fuel imposter syndrome, even among highly competent leaders. The chapter also examines authority, empathy, and leadership presence. Neurodivergent women often demonstrate deep cognitive empathy and systems awareness, yet these strengths are frequently overlooked because they do not match traditional performance-based expressions of empathy. Authority is reframed as credibility and truthfulness rather than composure or charisma. In a deeply personal section, Nicola reflects on her own disclosure, diagnosis journey, and the reality of unmasking as a leader. She describes the unexpected grief, executive function shifts, and destabilisation that can follow decades of masking, alongside the relief of no longer feeling fraudulent. This reflection offers an honest account of the messy middle of unmasking, where authenticity and survival coexist, and leadership becomes an ongoing practice of repair rather than perfection. This chapter is essential listening for women leaders, neurodivergent professionals, executive teams, and organisations seeking to understand the real cost of performance-based leadership, and what becomes possible when women are supported to lead without depletion. This chapter is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    23 min

  2. JAN 21

    Chapter 20: The Neurodivergent Leader

    Pop me message to read out loud! Neurodivergent leadership has long been misunderstood, framed through deficit models that prioritise composure, social fluency, and consistency over depth, integrity, and insight. This chapter challenges those assumptions and reframes neurodivergent leadership not as an exception to effective leadership, but as a critical strength in complex, high-risk, and fast-changing environments. In this chapter, Nicola explores what it truly means to lead while neurodivergent. Drawing on research, lived experience, and systems thinking, she examines the double bind many neurodivergent leaders navigate, being valued for their insight and creativity while simultaneously managing stigma, bias, and expectations shaped by neurotypical norms. The chapter unpacks how autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and AuDHD leaders bring pattern recognition, ethical clarity, crisis responsiveness, and deep empathy to leadership roles, often acting as early warning systems for cultural and organisational risk. The chapter also addresses the often invisible cost of masking in leadership. Masking does not disappear with seniority. In many cases, it intensifies. Nicola explores how sustained performance, emotional regulation, and impression management drain energy, distort authenticity, and unintentionally model unsafe leadership norms. Regulation is reframed as a core leadership capability, alongside strategy and communication, with practical insight into how neurodivergent leaders can design sustainable leadership practices that protect wellbeing without sacrificing impact. Disclosure, stigma, and coaching are explored with nuance. The chapter acknowledges that disclosure is a strategic and deeply personal decision for leaders, shaped by organisational maturity and psychological safety. It examines when disclosure can shift culture and when it can backfire, and why visibility must always be paired with systems, education, and governance safeguards. The chapter concludes by redefining coaching for neurodivergent leaders as collaborative, concrete, regulatory, and strength-based, focused on translation rather than conformity. This chapter is essential listening for neurodivergent leaders, executive coaches, boards, and organisations seeking to understand how leadership truly works across cognitive difference, and how to build cultures where authenticity and authority are not in conflict. This chapter is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    10 min
  3. Chapter 5: The Language of Neurodiversity | Unmasking Leadership

    12/22/2025

    Chapter 5: The Language of Neurodiversity | Unmasking Leadership

    Pop me message to read out loud! This episode features Chapter 5, The Language of Neurodiversity, from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this audiobook podcast series. In this chapter, Nicola Knobel explores why language matters so deeply in neurodiversity-informed workplaces. The words we use to describe brains, behaviour, focus, and energy do more than label experience. They shape how leaders design work, interpret performance, and respond to difference. Chapter 5 introduces and explains key neurodiversity terms used in real workplaces, including neurodivergent and neurotypical, masking, hyperfocus, hyperfixation, special interests, executive function, monotropic thinking, sensory regulation, and task initiation. Rather than treating these as diagnostic concepts, the chapter frames them as practical design tools that help teams talk about needs, strengths, and limits without shame or judgement. This chapter also examines the tension between deficit-based language and the idea of neurodivergence as a “superpower.” It argues for a more honest middle ground, one that recognises both the potential and the cost of working in systems not built for cognitive difference. Through this lens, language becomes a foundation for psychological safety, not a set of buzzwords. Chapter 5 is essential listening for leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and anyone responsible for designing work, roles, or teams. It shows how shared language enables clearer communication, better planning, reduced burnout, and more inclusive leadership practices. This chapter is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    20 min
  4. Chapter 4: What Is Neurodiversity? | Unmasking Leadership

    12/22/2025

    Chapter 4: What Is Neurodiversity? | Unmasking Leadership

    Pop me message to read out loud! This episode features Chapter 4, What Is Neurodiversity?, from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this audiobook podcast series. In this chapter, Nicola Knobel explains what neurodiversity actually means, where the concept came from, and why most leadership and workplace systems have failed to account for cognitive difference. Drawing on the work of sociologist Judy Singer, this chapter explores the shift from the medical model of disability to the social model, reframing autism, ADHD, and other neurodivergent profiles as part of natural human variation rather than individual deficit. Chapter 4 examines key neurodivergent profiles including autism, ADHD, AuDHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, and how each interacts with work, leadership expectations, and organisational design. It explores why the idea of an “average brain” is a myth, how environments can disable capable people, and why performance, wellbeing, and burnout are environmental outcomes rather than personal failings. A significant focus of this chapter is AuDHD, the intersection of autism and ADHD, and why this combination reveals what leadership models often miss about energy, recovery, structure, and creativity. The chapter also addresses the legal reality of autism and ADHD as disabilities, the risks of disclosure at work, and why psychological safety must exist before inclusion can be real. This chapter is essential listening for leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and anyone seeking to understand neurodiversity beyond surface-level awareness. It connects evidence, lived experience, and workplace design, showing why neuroinclusive leadership is not optional, but foundational to safe and effective organisations. This chapter is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    19 min
  5. Chapter 2: When Leadership Feels Like a Performance | Unmasking Leadership Audiobook

    12/22/2025

    Chapter 2: When Leadership Feels Like a Performance | Unmasking Leadership Audiobook

    Pop me message to read out loud! This episode features Chapter 2, When Leadership Feels Like a Performance, from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this audiobook podcast series. In this chapter, Nicola Knobel explores how modern leadership often rewards visibility, confidence, and emotional performance over clarity, care, and capability. The chapter examines the pressure to appear composed, decisive, and endlessly resilient, and how these expectations disproportionately impact neurodivergent leaders and workers. Chapter 2 unpacks the concept of leadership as performance, including masking, impression management, and the cost of constantly regulating tone, emotion, and communication to meet unspoken expectations. It asks what happens when leadership becomes about being seen as capable rather than being allowed to work in ways that are genuinely effective. This episode will resonate with leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and neurodivergent workers who have felt the tension between authenticity and acceptance at work. It connects leadership performance to burnout, psychological safety, and organisational risk, positioning masking not as a personal coping strategy but as a predictable outcome of unsafe systems. This chapter is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4  Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    10 min
  6. Chapter 1: The Leadership Lie | Unmasking Leadership Audiobook

    12/22/2025

    Chapter 1: The Leadership Lie | Unmasking Leadership Audiobook

    Pop me message to read out loud! This episode features Chapter 1, The Leadership Lie, from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this audiobook podcast series. In this chapter, Nicola Knobel challenges the dominant stories we are told about leadership, including who leadership is for, what it is meant to look like, and why so many people feel they are failing at it. The chapter examines how leadership norms reward performance, confidence, and conformity, while quietly excluding neurodivergent people and anyone who does not fit the expected mould. Chapter 1 sets the tone for the book by questioning whether leadership has been designed around capability, or around comfort for those already in power. It introduces the idea that many leadership frameworks are less about effectiveness and more about maintaining familiar behaviours, hierarchies, and narratives. This episode is presented exactly as written, without commentary or summary, to allow listeners to engage fully with the text. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. This chapter will be of interest to leaders, aspiring leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and anyone questioning why leadership often feels like a performance rather than a practice. Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    14 min
  7. Author’s Note & Introduction | Unmasking Leadership, Neurodiversity and Psychological Safety at Work

    12/22/2025

    Author’s Note & Introduction | Unmasking Leadership, Neurodiversity and Psychological Safety at Work

    Pop me message to read out loud! This episode features the Author’s Note and Introduction from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this subscription-only audiobook podcast. In these opening chapters, Nicola Knobel explains why this book needed to be written and sets out the central questions it explores. The introduction establishes the focus on neurodivergent leadership, psychological safety, burnout, masking, and the gap between how workplaces say they support people and how safety is actually experienced. This episode lays the foundation for the chapters that follow, examining how leadership and safety systems privilege certain communication styles, energy levels, and ways of thinking, while quietly excluding others. It speaks directly to leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and workers who want to understand how power, silence, and inclusion really operate at work. These chapters are presented exactly as written, without summaries or commentary, to allow listeners to engage with the work in full. Chapters in this audiobook series are released regularly. This podcast is for listeners who want depth rather than soundbites, and who are interested in leadership, risk management, workplace safety, and neurodiversity beyond performative language Support the show Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/43cRqV4 JOIN ME OVER AT: Instagram: http://instagram.com/nicola.knobel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NikiKnobel?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaknobel.audhd Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nicola.knobel __________________________________________________ ⚠️NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. This video is based on lived experience, research, and educational insights. Please speak to a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

    11 min
  • 7 Episodes

About

I read my books out loud for you to have access to!  We are starting with Book 1! Unmasking Leadership is a subscription-based audiobook podcast written and read by Nicola Knobel, exploring neurodivergent leadership, psychological safety, and the systems that shape who gets to lead at work. Each episode features a full chapter from the book Unmasking Leadership: Neurodivergent Leaders, Psychological Safety, and the Future of Inclusive Workplaces. Chapters are released regularly and presented exactly as written, without summaries or commentary. This podcast examines why traditional leadership models often fail neurodivergent people, how masking and burnout become occupational health issues, and why psychological safety frequently exists in policy but not in lived experience. It explores leadership through the lens of risk management, workplace safety, and organisational power, connecting inclusion to systems, not slogans. Designed for leaders, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and neurodivergent workers, Unmasking Leadership goes beyond awareness to examine how work actually operates, who it protects, and who it excludes. If you are interested in leadership, neurodiversity at work, psychological safety, workplace safety, burnout, masking, psychosocial risk, and inclusive leadership, this podcast offers depth, clarity, and evidence-based insight. The first two chapters are available free. Additional chapters can be accessed by purchasing the full audiobook series.

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