1087: How Neurodivergent Professionals Thrive at Work with Shea Belsky

How to Be Awesome at Your Job

How to be Awesome at Your Job

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4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Shea Belsky shares his top do’s and don’ts for managing neurodiversity in the workplace.

— YOU’LL LEARN —

1) Why neurodivergency is unavoidable at work

2) The unique strengths and struggles of autistic people

3) When and how to discuss neurodiversity at work

Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1087 for clickable versions of the links below.

— ABOUT SHEA —

Shea Belsky is an autistic self-advocate. He is a Tech Lead II at HubSpot, and the former Chief Technology Officer of Mentra. Having been the manager of neurodivergent & neurotypical employees, he brings many unique perspectives on neurodiversity in the workplace. Shea has championed neurodiversity for organizations like Novartis, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Northeastern University, in addition to being featured in Forbes and the New York Post.

• LinkedIn: Shea Belsky

• Podcast: Autistic Techie

• Website: SheaBelsky.com

— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW —

• Book: Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott

• Past episode: 150: Expressing Radical Candor with Kim Scott

• Past episode: 860: The Science of Compelling Body Language with Richard Newman

• Past episode: 1049: What Dyslexia Can Teach Us About Creativity, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking with Kate Griggs

• Past episode: 1070: An ADHD Strategist’s Pro Tips for Staying Motivated and Productive When You Can’t Focus with Skye Waterson

• Past episode: 1085: How to Find More Fun at Work Every Day with Bree Groff

— THANK YOU SPONSORS! —

• Strawberry.me. Claim your $50 credit and build momentum in your career with Strawberry.me/Awesome

• LinkedIn Jobs. Post your job for free at linkedin.com/beawesome

• Quince. Get free shipping and 365-day returns on your order with Quince.com/Awesome

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If you suspect somebody's neurodivergent, I would not go up to them and ask them about it unless they already have or talk about it in the past.
0:16.6	Like if they put it in Slack or talk to you or your team about it, that's open territory.
0:20.8	But if you don't know that but you suspect it, then you can at least initiate creating the psychological safety,
0:27.1	having retrospective, suggesting process improvements, working with your manager to make sure that
0:31.1	people feel welcomed and respected and that opinions are heard regardless of where they're coming from.
0:35.8	That helps initiate the likelihood that somebody will self-disclose.
0:50.6	That's Shay Belski.
0:52.0	He's a tech lead at HubSpot and an autistic self-advocate. With his unique
0:55.7	perspective, he's worked with many organizations to champion neurodiversity in the workplace.
1:00.3	And today, he's here to share some of that wisdom. So you'll learn, one, why neurodivergency
1:04.6	is unavoidable at work. Two, the unique strengths and struggles of autistic people. And three, when and how to discuss neurodiversity at work.
1:14.5	And if you want a quick summary write-up of these actionable takeaways,
1:17.0	I recommend you sign up for the free Gold Nugget email newsletter.
1:19.6	You can find that at awesome at your job.com.
1:22.1	I'm Pete McItis.
1:23.1	This is How to Be Awesome at Your Job.
1:24.7	And now, here's Shea.
1:30.7	Shea, welcome.
1:32.0	Pete, thanks for much for having me.
1:33.3	I'm super sick to be here.
1:34.5	And I'm looking forward to this for a while.
1:36.0	Thank you.
	...

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