Neurodivergent leaders find themselves at a challenging crossroads. Despite their apparent success, they can feel they have more to offer and that their current performance doesn’t fully reflect their potential. Working harder isn’t the answer—they may already be at a tipping point, which can be both frustrating and daunting.
Fortunately, there are strategies neurodivergent leaders can employ to enhance their effectiveness. Here are five brain-friendly ways to optimise success:
Neurodivergent individuals often exhibit a pattern of high peaks and low troughs in their performance, contrasting with the more consistent profiles of neurotypicals. This variability is rooted in neurobiological wiring, not a lack of effort or motivation. By accepting this, leaders can focus on leveraging their natural strengths and avoid expending energy on areas that are inherently challenging.
Identify and own unique neurodivergent talents
Whilst no two neurodivergent leaders are the same, each of them has stand-out strengths. For example:
- Visionary thinking that brings fresh perspectives and inspires ground-breaking ideas.
- Pattern recognition and associative thinking leading to insightful solutions and sound decisions.
- Rigorous logic and analysis that challenge assumptions and assess risks and opportunities effectively.
Anxiety about weaknesses can too often obscure these talents. Leaders can create an inventory of their value-adding strengths by recalling their successes, understanding their contributions, and recognising the unique impact they have on team outcomes. This clarity boosts confidence and helps colleagues see the critical value of their input.
Optimise neurodistinct strengths
With a clearer understanding of their capabilities, leaders can then identify the conditions that enable them to utilise their strengths most effectively, thereby negotiating and creating an ideal environment tailored to their unique needs. Common enablers for neurodivergent leaders include:
- Opportunities for dialogue and networking to stimulate fresh perspectives and feed creativity.
- Freedom for unstructured thinking to perceive unique insights.
- Dedicated time for reflection away from interruptions.
Identifying what ‘not’ to do and minimising activities that don’t support optimal performance is also beneficial.
Reframe perceived weaknesses
Traits often labelled as weaknesses—such as distractibility or procrastination—are not flaws per se, but variations in wiring. They can be reframed as signs that external conditions are hindering strengths. For instance:
- Distractions in meetings may indicate a different way of processing information. Reduce in-the-moment data overload.
- Late reports could be due to a misalignment between the submission process and the leader’s strategic visualisation.
- Deviating from plans may reflect a need to stay open to alternatives rather than being boxed in.
- Reframing these behaviours allows leaders to explore changes that unleash their inherent abilities.
Leverage talents to mitigate challenges
In today’s volatile environment, there may be organisational pressure to focus primarily on immediate demands. There may be limited opportunities to shift the culture to be more neuroinclusive and therefore a need to work within the system.
In this situation, tailored solutions can be found by returning to standout strengths. For example, a talent for seeing the bigger picture could be used to clarify priorities and streamline processes. A leader with dyslexia and ADHD successfully applied her visual storytelling skills she had used outside of work to reorganise her workload. She freed herself from what she described as “the tyranny of spreadsheets”, reducing stress and improving performance without additional effort.
Conclusion
Neurodivergent leaders possess unique talents that can drive extraordinary success when properly harnessed.
By understanding their neurodivergence, embracing their strengths, enhancing their environment, reevaluating weaknesses, and optimising their distinct abilities, they can overcome challenges and thrive in their leadership roles.
Whatever the neurotype, whether it’s ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia or something else, neurodivergence can be embraced and reframed to unlock full potential.