Speak Up About Your Neurodiverse SuperPowers!
On Sunday at the grocery store, I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that said: MY SUPERPOWER is ADHD. Wow, I thought to myself, someone actually boasting about having ADHD! Of course, I gave him a thumbs-up, and he returned the gesture with a big smile.
In the workplace, there’s still a considerable stigma surrounding ADHD and neurodiversity in general. Many neurodiverse employees feel pressured to conform to the norm, often masking their needs and adopting unnatural behaviors. Acting “normal” consumes so much energy, detracting from their actual work and reducing their ability to perform at their best. This often leads to performance improvement plans (PIPs), stress, and burnout.
In CoreCoaching, I encourage my clients who have faced disappointment in previous jobs due to their efforts to fit in to be upfront in interviews, promoting their strengths with gusto and acknowledging their weaknesses. In my conversations with managers and C-suite executives, it is seen as a sign of strength and a mark of courage to highlight these features from the start. It shows that you care about the company’s success and how your contribution can be significant. Unfortunately, in most cases, these admissions often come too late, after several reprimands and lost revenue.
Removing The Stigma Of Neurodiversity
Promoting your superpowers is one of the best ways to remove the stigma of neurodiversity and ADHD in particular. Once you accept and appreciate your ADHD, you realize that, despite its shortcomings (and who doesn’t have shortcomings?), you can be an asset, not a burden, to an organization.
Take Ricardo, for example, a software engineer who landed a great position at a startup. Tired of hiding his ADHD as he had done at other companies, Ricardo got COREageous and told the founders at the interview, “Hey folks, pattern recognition and solving perplexing problems is my thing. Bring it on. By the way, my crunch time is usually from 2 am to 6 am, when I deliver my best results. Therefore, if you’re okay with that, we as a team can work almost 24 hours a day, even though we are all in the same country. But I’ll be upfront to tell you that admin stuff, like CRM and sending out invoices, is not my thing.” Bravo Ricardo!
The founders’ reaction? They appreciated knowing from the get-go what Ricardo’s strengths were and were not. Imagine the savings in terms of time, money, and aggravation from knowing how Ricardo can perform best for the company. This way, Ricardo is free to spend his energy making the startup successful, and let others who do admin well, do admin.
Think about your superpowers and how an organization can benefit from them. Give examples of how your ability to hyperfocus or thrive in chaos can positively impact the bottom line. Be forthright about what is not your forte, giving credit to those who are more efficient in those aspects.
Carina Lomberg, an associate professor and researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, claims that entrepreneurs are generally more accepting of neurodiversity than established workplaces because of the hustle and ‘can-do’ mentality. However, her research into conflict in startups reveals that when teams “sweep problems under the rug,” these are the teams that eventually fall apart. Team breakdown is one of the most common reasons for startup failure.
Therefore, be COREageous. Speak up for your superpowers!
Need help pitching yourself to an employer? Contact me for CoreCoaching at Rebecca@MindfulCommunication.com. Visit me at MindfulCommunication.com.
"It takes more than courage to be an Entrepreneur, it takes CORE."