I am not your conventional City figure, and that is precisely the point.

There have been lots of moments in my career when I’ve felt out of step with my peers. Times where my thoughts came too quickly or too slowly. Ideas that didn’t fit neatly into a powerpoint slide. Am I missing something everyone else sees — or seeing something they don’t?   

For years I questioned if I had what it takes to succeed as a management consultant.

Consulting is a profession built around people - influencing stakeholders, navigating complex relationships and building trust quickly. Yet for most of my life, I have struggled with people. I was often viewed as difficult or abrasive, without meaning to, and this became a bigger issue as my role increasingly required me to lead teams and influence senior stakeholders.

My perspective on neurodiversity began not in the workplace, but at home.

As the mother of a neurodivergent child, I found myself on a journey many parents will recognise: learning how a different mind experiences the world, seeking tools that could help my child thrive, and rethinking many assumptions about learning, behaviour and success.

Being diverse isn’t a bad. Rather it makes me who I am, and my network wouldn’t have it any other way. My name is Leora Wilson, and I work as a transport planner at Mott MacDonald, a global engineering, management and development consultancy. I co-chair the Department for Work and Pension’s London Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, and I am also autistic.