A conversation with Lee Judson on the exhaustion of masking, why vague feedback leaves employees guessing, and how managers can support different ways of thinking without waiting for a diagnosis.
Host: Adam Kleckner (Head of Strategy at LinkTech), Devon Walker (Head of Recruiting at LinkTech)
Summary:
After decades in healthcare leadership, Lee Judson realized the most rewarding part of her work wasn’t negotiating contracts—it was helping her people grow. A diagnosis after leaving corporate life also gave her language for years of workplace frustration. Now a coach and author of Bridging the Gap, Lee shares practical ways to make work more accessible: specific expectations, timely feedback, documented wins, and conversations that uncover hidden obstacles. Her central point: supporting neurodivergent employees starts with everyday management practices that can help everyone.
Main Topics:
Intriguing Quotes:
“What does clean it up mean? There are no typos.”
“Document your years so that you know what a full year’s worth of wins look like.”
“Feedback’s gotta be two ways.”
“They’re the ones who taught me to slow it down and explain things differently.”
“Your best worker is sometimes not your best manager.”
Key Moments:
[02:07] The career shift: helping employees navigate change and move into new roles became more gratifying than the contracting work itself.
[04:04] What a diagnosis explained: unwritten rules, meeting dynamics, and years of feeling out of place in corporate environments.
[07:10] The corporate role: Lee describes putting on the expected behavior each day, then going home absolutely exhausted.
[12:47] Support without disclosure: break tasks into smaller pieces, explain things differently, and replace vague instructions with specific expectations.
[20:26] Growing independence: move from guided research to discussing a proposed answer, then give employees room to act and reflect on the result.
[28:57] Why Lee wrote Bridging the Gap: she found books explaining neurodivergence, but wanted a practical guide showing managers what to do.
[32:14] A better one-on-one: document wins throughout the year, identify hurdles early, and make feedback a conversation in both directions.
[35:19] The hidden workload: an employee appeared to be falling behind until coaching revealed daily urgent requests his manager didn’t know existed. Making that work visible exposed a team-level problem.
[41:17] The lesson her children brought to work: explain things in the way the other person needs—not just the way that makes sense to you.
Notable Resources:
Book: Bridging the Gap by Lee Judson — a practical field guide to neurodiversity at work.
https://books.apple.com/us/book/bridging-the-gap-a-field-guide-to-neurodiversity/id6753608141
Concepts: Masking; universal design; specific and timely feedback; critical thinking; documented wins; manager training
Connect with Lee Judson:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisajudson/
Connect with The Human Advantage Podcast:
Website: https://www.thelinktech.com/podcast