There’s a kind of exhaustion that doesn’t come from doing too much—but from trying to be someone you’re not. This book put words to that feeling in a way I didn’t expect.
As I turned the first few pages, I realized this wasn’t going to be a typical leadership read. It wasn’t offering quick fixes or polished frameworks—it was unfolding something far more honest. The kind of honesty that makes you pause, reflect, and quietly question the roles you’ve been playing for far too long.
What Traditional Leadership Gets Dangerously Wrong?
Ron Sosa opens the book by naming something most leadership literature refuses to touch: the fact that the traditional model of leadership was never designed for everyone. It was built on the unspoken expectation that you show up emotionally neutral, endlessly available, and effortlessly composed — and if you can’t manage that, the problem is you, not the system.
Sosa disagrees. Loudly, thoughtfully, and with a lot of data to back it up.
He traces his own journey from veterinary practice manager to neurodivergent leader in crisis — leading a team of 105 employees while quietly unraveling on the inside. His ADHD and autism diagnoses didn’t arrive as a relief. They arrived with shame. But they also gave him the language he’d been missing his whole career.
Why Neurodivergence Is Everyone’s Business, Not Just a Niche Conversation?
One of the strongest arguments Sosa makes — and one I wasn’t expecting — is that neuroinclusive leadership isn’t a niche accommodation. It’s a better way to lead, period. When you build workplaces that work for neurodivergent people, you actually build workplaces that work better for everyone.
He breaks down concepts like masking (performing neurotypicality to survive professional environments), justice sensitivity, demand avoidance, and intersectionality in ways that are clear without being oversimplified. As someone who had never deeply engaged with this language before, I appreciated how grounded and human each explanation felt.
The R.I.S.E. Framework: Practical, Not Just Pretty
At the heart of the book is Sosa’s R.I.S.E. model — Reflect, Implement, Sustain, Elevate. It’s a leadership framework built around continuous self-awareness and systemic action. Each chapter builds on the last in a way that feels organic rather than forced.
What sets this apart from most leadership frameworks is that it doesn’t demand you become someone else. It asks you to come back to yourself — to question the habits, assumptions, and performance pressures you’ve absorbed and start leading from a more honest, more sustainable place. There are journal prompts, worksheets, and accountability tools woven throughout, making this one of the most immediately actionable leadership books I’ve read.
Who Should Read This — And Why It Might Be You?
This book is for anyone who has ever felt like they were leading from behind a mask. If you’ve ever burned out trying to meet expectations that were designed for someone else, or if you manage people and genuinely want to do it better, Rewriting the Rules will meet you where you are.
It’s not a soft read. Sosa challenges conformity culture, calls out the quiet harm of performative professionalism, and asks hard questions about power, equity, and what legacy really means. But he does it all with radical empathy — you never feel judged, only invited to grow. Get your copy of the book on Amazon —> Rewriting the Rules
About the Author
Ron Sosa (he/him) is a neurodivergent life and leadership coach, consultant, and international speaker with over two decades of experience in veterinary medicine. Diagnosed with ADHD and autism as an adult, Sosa brings rare authenticity to his work — he’s not theorizing from the outside; he lived everything he writes about. He is the founder of Syn-APT Neuroinclusive Leadership & Coaching, a practice dedicated to helping neurodivergent professionals thrive without masking who they are. A Jay Shetty-certified life coach and a passionate advocate for systems-thinking and inclusive design, Sosa is also a collaborator with Dr. Andy Roark and the Uncharted Veterinary Conference. You can explore his work at syn-apt.me.
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