In this episode, Founder, CEO & Chief Accelerator of Kadima Careers, Alan Stein, interviews Lee McKeeman, an openly autistic Staff Software Engineer at Google, about how he overcame being “different” in the FAANG world. Letting go of limiting beliefs and pushing through discomfort to develop the necessary soft skills to effectively manage others was key.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
✅ You can move from smaller to mid-sized to larger technology companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google.
✅ In the workplace, it can be important to be transparent about neurodiversity because its challenges are not nearly as apparent as those employees who have physical disabilities.
✅ Both neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals can suffer from imposter syndrome and other related mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression.
✅ Relationship-building and intentionally acquiring the positive communication and social skills to connect with others is critical for good leadership.
Tune in to this authentic conversation which proves that all human beings are similar. Hearing one unique man’s story about how he focused on developing the skills that he needed to accelerate his career is hopeful and uplifting for everyone.
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Bio:
Lee is a Staff Engineer at Google, and has worked as an engineer and people manager across a variety of industries and company sizes. He is Autistic and discusses how this intersects and impacts work in tech leadership. Lee shares career development advice across experience levels, discusses empathy-first leadership, and champions humane work for marginalized groups through help-everyone curb cuts. He hopes to leverage his experience and privilege to open doors for others.