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Workplaces design for the "average" employee — fixed hours, open floors, one-size-fits-all motivation. But what if the average employee doesn't exist? In this episode of Tough Day’s Podcast, KVJ sits down with Morra Aarons-Mele — author, Harvard executive educator, and host of The Anxious Achiever podcast — to explore what it means to be neurodistinct and how to design a workplace that embraces our distinct needs and complementary super powers to achieve our goals.

Morra's new book, The Atypical Achiever: Leading and Thriving When Your Brain Is Wired Differently, makes the case that the way most organizations think about high performance is leaving some of their best people behind. She also ran the Neurostrength Study — surveying 1,286 professionals across ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, learning differences, and more — and brings those findings into the conversation alongside her own personal experience and decades of work in this space.

What we cover:

• The difference between neurodiversity and neurodivergence
• What Morra's Neurostrength Study reveals about identity and disclosure
• The myths around neurodivergence that workplaces still get wrong
• Using TAAM: Time, Attention, Agency, and Motivation to set yourself up to thrive
• Why most mental health benefits aren't working and what's actually driving the gap 
• The four pillars of mentally healthy leadership

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Resources Mentioned:
‍One Mind at Work Mental Health at Work Index: https://mentalhealthindex.org/
Incorruptible by Eric Ries: https://www.incorruptible.co/
Sovereign by Emma Seppälä: https://www.iamsov.com/ 
Values Bridge by Suzy Welch: https://thevaluesbridge.com/ 
Lyra Health Report: https://www.lyrahealth.com/resources/report/2026-state-of-workforce-mental-health-report/ 

Learn more about Morra Aarons-Mele:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morraaaronsmele
Website: https://morraam.com/ 
Books: https://morraam.com/books 
Podcast: https://morraam.com/podcast 
Neurostrength Study: https://morraam.com/neurostrength-survey ‍

Learn more about KVJ | Tough Day
Website: https://tough.day/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kvonjan

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