I was already a CEO when I was diagnosed with ADHD.
That is one of the reasons it took me a while to figure out what to do with the diagnosis.
I was not trying to fix a broken career. The career part was going pretty well.
What I eventually realized was that the diagnosis was not teaching me how to become a better leader. It was helping me understand why I led the way I did.
And once I understood that, a lot of things started making sense.
One of the biggest was the people I surrounded myself with.
For years, I thought leadership was about becoming more well-rounded.
Find your weaknesses.
Improve them.
Become better at everything.
At some point, I realized that was a losing battle. I do not enjoy details. I do not enjoy process for the sake of process. I do not enjoy maintaining systems nearly as much as I enjoy building them.
What I do enjoy is solving problems. Creating things. Seeing opportunities. Connecting dots.
The breakthrough was realizing I did not need to become great at everything.
I needed to build a team that was.
I did not need to become great at everything. I needed to build a team that was.
The people who have had the biggest impact on my success are often the people who think completely differently than I do.
They see things I miss. They catch things I would overlook. They ask questions I would never think to ask.
The older I get, the more I appreciate that.
A few weeks ago I had another realization.
I found myself dealing with a difficult business situation.
The details are not important, but the important thing was I was challenged, and what was interesting was my reaction.
Within hours, I had more energy than I had experienced in weeks.
Projects started moving.
Decisions got made.
My focus sharpened.
I could feel my brain lighting up.
That was when I finally connected something that had been true my entire life.
Challenge is fuel for me.
The harder the problem, the more focused I become. The bigger the obstacle, the more engaged I get.
That is useful when you are leading a company. It is also why I need people around me who are energized by different things.
Because eventually every challenge becomes a process. Every crisis becomes a system. Every exciting new idea becomes someone’s day-to-day responsibility.
Thankfully, I have people who love those things.
Then there is the communication piece.
This may be the part that drives my team the craziest.
If someone walks into my office and starts explaining every detail of a situation before telling me the recommendation, there is a good chance I stop listening.
Not because I do not care. Not because I do not respect their work.
I just need the answer first.
Tell me what you think we should do. Then we can talk about how you got there.
For years, I assumed everyone worked this way.
They do not.
Eventually I realized I needed to explain how my brain works if I wanted people to be successful around me.
Today my team knows the rule.
Lead with the recommendation. Then we can discuss the details.
Interestingly, one of two things usually happens. Either I immediately say yes. Or I start asking questions.
Lots of questions.
There is rarely much in between.
What I learned over time is that people often misinterpret those questions. They think I do not trust them. They think I am poking holes in their work. They think they missed something.
Most of the time, none of that is true.
Usually one of two things is happening. Either something feels off and I cannot quite explain why yet. Or I am genuinely curious and want to learn more.
But there is one thing I cannot stand.
Half-baked ideas.
If you are bringing me a recommendation, I assume you have already thought through the obvious questions.
That does not mean I need all the details up front. In fact, I usually do not.
But if I decide to go looking for the details, they need to exist.
I do not need all the details up front. But if I decide to go looking for the details, they need to exist.
And then there is probably the most important thing I have learned.
Not every statement from an ADHD leader is a decision.
Sometimes it is just a thought.
This sounds obvious until you have worked for one.
An ADHD leader might say:
“What if we did this instead?”
Or:
“I wonder if there is a better way.”
Or:
“Have we ever considered trying this?”
To them, they are thinking out loud. To everyone else, it sounds like a new project just got assigned.
I have gotten better about labeling those moments over the years.
Sometimes I am brainstorming. Sometimes I am gathering information. Sometimes I am making a decision.
Those are three very different things.
But one of the best questions anyone has ever asked me is:
“Is this a thought, a discussion, or a decision?”
That question eliminates confusion almost instantly.
And maybe that is the biggest lesson the diagnosis gave me.
For years, I assumed everyone saw the world the way I did. The diagnosis taught me they did not.
The leadership lesson came later.
If you understand how your brain works, you have a responsibility to help the people around you understand it too.
Not as an excuse.
Not as a justification.
Just as a user manual.
And it turns out that user manual has made me a much better leader than pretending everyone thinks the same way I do.
Gratefully,