Mark Scully, a former Tax Director at KPMG Ireland discusses his journey and how his autism diagnosis in 2021 impacted his career.

Initially joining KPMG’s tax graduate programme in 2011, Mark advanced through his career but faced underlying challenges that became apparent only after entering the workforce. Despite excelling in certain job aspects, he struggled with certain social dynamics and task comprehension, which affected his mental health. The diagnosis provided clarity, allowing him to embrace neurodiversity and incorporate neuro-inclusive practices into his professional and personal life, leading to improved well-being and career performance. 

Motivated by his passion for coaching and the lack of neurodiversity awareness in Irish workplaces, Mark founded Braver Coaching & Consulting to offer executive coaching and neurodiversity training, aiming to foster a more inclusive work environment. Braver’s services include executive coaching for young professionals, team coaching, and neurodiversity awareness webinars and workshops tailored to HR and leadership roles. Mark’s journey highlights the importance of understanding and embracing neurodiversity for personal growth and professional success.

1. Can you tell me more about your background prior to getting your autism diagnosis?

I was formally diagnosed as autistic in 2021. At that point I was a Tax Director in KPMG Ireland, having initially joined the firm’s tax graduate programme in 2011.  

I progressed through my career as tax consultant at the usual rate so if you were looking at my CV, there would be nothing to indicate that there was anything going on behind the scenes. 

Academically I did well but it was only when I properly joined the world of work after 2011 that it became apparent that there were areas in which I experienced some challenges. There were aspects of the job that I was very good at but other aspects that I simply did not get. People could not reconcile, and neither could I, that this academically smart person would find himself going down rabbit holes, unable to figure out what my manager / client wanted, finding it difficult to navigate certain social dynamics. During that time, I would have continuously kicking myself “Why can’t I just do [X] or be like [Y]?” – This really impacted my mental health and I encountered some crisis points during my career.

Thankfully, I reached out for some help during those times and my friends and bosses were very supportive and I was able to avail of counselling and professional coaching. I found coaching to be hugely beneficial for me, so I started studying it in my own time.

It was after a number of sessions with one particular counsellor that he suspected autism may be a underlying factor for the mental health issues I’d been facing throughout my life – he arranged for me to do a screening tool for autism and results came back indicating it may be something I may wish to look into further with. So, I arranged an adult autism assessment and the rest is history.

2. How did your autism diagnosis help to shape the direction of your career?

It had so many impacts for me.

Firstly, I felt it gave me permission to have some compassion for myself. Others may not need the diagnosis to feel that way, but I did.

At the same time, there was still a nagging part of me which couldn’t accept it as I just couldn’t see anyone else out there who I felt was like me. I was researching and studying autism heavily (I signed up to do a Post-grad in Autism Studies delivered in partnership between Mary Immaculate College and the Middletown Centre for Autism, which I completed a few months ago) and that turned me down the path of neurodiversity and the neurodiversity movement.

Nearly everything I was reading was from the UK, there seemed to be very little commentary in Ireland about it. The more I read about it, the more I realised, I’m not deficient, I’m not disordered, I’m just different.

I started incorporating the neuro-inclusive practices into the way I lived and worked – I felt I could finally stop berating myself for the areas where I encountered challenges, start asking for help and play more into my strengths while dropping negative coping strategies I had built up over the course of my life. I was happier and more productive in all aspects of my life, personally and professionally. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the year I was diagnosed was also the first year I received a top rating in my annual performance review at KPMG.

So I was building up a bank of knowledge on autism and neurodiversity, was putting it into practice in my own life and was reaping the benefits in work and setting clear boundaries between work and personal life. At the same time, I was more confident in myself and was caring for myself and I think this played into two further major positive changes in my life – I quit drinking and smoking, which I understood were coping mechanisms I had built up to manage my anxiety and stress. I also met my (now) wife who has been a rock of support in my decision to change career.

3. Why did you think that a need for Braver existed?

I could see that awareness of neurodiversity in Irish workplaces simply wasn’t there and I knew there was so many people in Irish workplaces facing mental struggles, kicking themselves because they couldn’t understand why there was some things they couldn’t “get”, that they didn’t feel like they belonged – I wanted to help change that.

Separately on the coaching side, I was looking around and coaching was still being used mainly for one of two reasons – a perk to be provided to middle management and above or (ii) a tool to be used for employees with performance issues / burnout. I really credit coaching with helping me understand my values, play to my strengths and achieve my goals and I wanted to bring it to people earlier in their careers, when it could have a real chance for the benefits to compound over time.

That is why I wanted to make a point for Braver to provide a  discount on executive coaching rates for students or people just starting out in their careers such as trainee accountants / solicitors.

4. What specific services does Braver Coaching & Consulting offer?

Braver provide executive coaching services for young professionals, from people just starting out in their careers through to senior  management. We are also expanding the services to team coaching, helping teams understand their internal dynamics, purpose and relationships with external stakeholders to achieve the team’s goals. In future, we also hope to expand our coaching offering to include specialist disciplines such as ADHD coaching through appropriately accredited coaches.

Braver provides neurodiversity awareness webinars as well as in-depth neuro-inclusion training for HR, Managers and Leaders.

5. What is the primary focus of the neurodiversity services provided by Braver Coaching & Consulting?

Our services primarily focus on awareness across the entire organisation and specific in-depth training for people managers, including line managers, HR and leadership.

Our neurodiversity awareness webinars help participants recognise the strengths and challenges faced by Neurodivergent individuals in the workplace. They also provide some practical tips on being neuro-inclusive and signposting of appropriate resources for both neurodivergent staff and those who wish to learn more. Topics covered include: 

• Neurodiversity, its importance and using inclusive language.
• Understanding common neurodivergences.
• Practical tips, “Do’s and Don’ts” to facilitate inclusion by everyone, not just neurotypical attendees.

Our neuro-inclusion workshops educate leaders and people managers on the importance of neurodiversity in the workplace and equip them with practical tools and strategies to support neurodivergent employees effectively. Topics covered include:

• The case for neurodiversity in the workplace
• Impact of Irish employment equality legislation on management practice
• Workplace adjustments and reasonable accommodations
• Effective communication
  • Using inclusive language
  • Facilitating feedback
  • How to handle sensitive conversations such as disclosure

While we wouldn’t classify it as a “neurodiversity service”, just to mention we do provide executive coaching services to neurodivergent employees.

6. Do you prefer to do your coaching session in-person or online?

I prefer for the coaching session to take place in whatever format puts the coachee at ease and in the frame of mind where they feel they can get the most out of the session – this can be particularly important for neurodivergent clients who may feel more comfortable with changes in the coaching environment or process that takes into account their preferences. 

But given the opportunity, if we are talking about the first coaching session, I generally find that an in-person session often works best to build that initial rapport which is so key to a good coaching relationship – so I do let those I coachknow my preference in that instance but it always remains their call.

7. Can you tell me if there are any other people, companies or programmes that you are a big fan of in DEI in Ireland?

I have to say I’ve been very impressed in conversations that I’ve had with IDA Ireland – they embraced neuro-inclusion sooner than most in Ireland and have embedded neurodiversity in the organisation for several years. I’ve seen Niah McGill and Monica Harding share really practical and candid insights when it comes to the challenges (but also the benefits) of integrating diverse teams.

Coming from my professional services background, I know how much return on investment means to business so I really like to see processes, data and evidence based interventions embedded into DEI and neurodiversity – Unless we are gathering the data, setting targets and measuring progress, businesses will not know if DEI initiatives are effective and are more likely to reduce investment when times get tough.

So I would also be a big fan of the likes of Sandra Healy in Inclusio and Siobhan McKenna in Public Appointments Service and Laura O’Donnell in Irish Centre for Diversity who I have seen advocate for this strongly in the past, tying DEI initiatives into targets, data and benchmarks – I’ve seen Inclusio and Irish Centre for Diversity roll out data analysis tools in this respect and I think that’s only going to become more important as time goes on.

I obviously wanted to see what the professional services firms were doing in this space and would have done market research on them. From my perspective, Grant Thornton seem to have really put some serious work into their DEI programme, I was very impressed with what I saw and I know they have some really passionate people in there like Aisling McCaffrey pushing that agenda forward. Obviously, I must call out Bank of Ireland’s rollout of its neuro-inclusion policy, with a comprehensive training programme for its staff. This was a big statement to the entire Irish market that Neurodiversity in the workplace had “arrived” and for other Irish organisations to follow. Importantly, the policy document was published in full on their website with the stated intention of making it available for others to use as a template, and they deserve kudos for that.

Finally in the not-for-profit sector, just to call out a recent piece of work that was impressive. Specialisterne Ireland recently completed a large cross-EU project aimed at making neurodiversity in the workplace resources aimed at SMEs freely available which can be found at www.neurodiverseworkplaces.eu – this is.