Neurodiversity Awareness | Telekom Careers Blog

Jules is highly capable: Her creative solutions consistently hit the mark, and with her strategic foresight, she helps the team make progress with every challenge. But in day-to-day work, there are also those moments that make others wonder. Why does she usually retreat in the evenings instead of wrapping up the day with the team? And why does she sometimes seem distracted in meetings and fidget with her pen or other objects?

Jules behaves differently than you might expect. But that might not be intentional. It could simply be a matter of neurodiversity.

This story about Jules serves as the introduction to Deutsche Telekom’s Neurodiversity Awareness Guide

Why we developed a neurodiversity awareness guide

Professionalism is often measured against neurotypical ideals, such as engaging in small talk, maintaining eye contact, or responding spontaneously in social situations. Those who deviate from these standards are often miscategorized.

Deutsche Telekom’s Neurodiversity Community aims to challenge these norms: its approximately 950 members developed the guide for managers as a community project, guided by the principle: “We know best what it’s like to work here as a neurodivergent person. Let’s shape the perspective and how we approach this.”

What leaders can take away from this

Good leadership isn't about treating everyone the same. It's about taking differences into account. That sounds obvious - but it’s surprisingly difficult in everyday life. We’re used to evaluating behavior: committed or uncommitted, a team player or difficult, attentive or unfocused.

Neurodiversity encourages us to take a step back:

What does this behavior actually mean?

One example discussed in the guide is the concept of “masking.” Many neurodivergent people constantly adjust their behavior to meet expectations. They observe, analyze, and imitate - often for years - with the goal of appearing “normal” to others. But on the inside, it takes an enormous amount of energy. When this energy is spent on adaptation rather than on performance, everyone loses in the end.

What has changed as a result

Feedback from both employees and managers was overwhelmingly positive:

Employees like Jules felt seen for the first time: “I feel so much more included now!” – Member of the Neurodiversity Community

Managers felt more confident in working with their neurodiverse team: “For a colleague in our department, we were able to achieve a lot through small adjustments to his daily work routine - the impact is noticeable not only for him, but for the entire team.” – Manager at Deutsche Telekom Technik GmbH

This marks an important first step toward greater inclusion: People are talking about the issue, and they’re open-minded and well-informed. The next time a “Jules” moment happens - when someone doesn’t react the way we expect - hopefully more people will pause and ask a different question:

Not: What’s wrong here?

But instead: What don’t I understand yet?