Reading between the lines with Nicola Knobel
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.
Reading between the lines with Nicola Knobel
Chapter 8: Leadership Across Cultures | Unmasking Leadership
This episode is only available to subscribers.
Unmasking Leadership | Neurodivergent Leadership +
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This episode features Chapter 8, Leadership Across Cultures, from Unmasking Leadership, read in full as part of this audiobook podcast series.
In this chapter, Nicola Knobel explores neurodiversity and leadership through Indigenous and collective world views, with a particular focus on Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on te ao Māori, the chapter reframes autism and neurodivergence away from deficit-based models and towards concepts of mana, whanaungatanga, wairua, and collective wellbeing.
Chapter 8 introduces the Māori concept of takiwātanga, meaning “in their own time and space,” and explains how this reframing aligns closely with the principles of the neurodiversity movement. It examines how Māori and Pasifika leadership models, grounded in relationship, care, and shared responsibility, naturally support neuro-inclusive leadership in ways that Western individualistic frameworks often do not.
A central focus of this chapter is kaitiakitanga, guardianship as leadership. Leadership is presented not as performance or authority, but as stewardship of people, culture, and psychological safety. This chapter shows how leaders act as guardians of inclusion through everyday decisions, meeting design, communication norms, and responses to difference.
Chapter 8 will resonate with leaders, boards, safety and risk professionals, HR practitioners, and anyone working in or alongside Indigenous contexts. It demonstrates why neuro-inclusive leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand must honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, value Indigenous knowledge systems, and move inclusion from accommodation to reciprocity.
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
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⚠️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.
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