Operations Nation reposted this
"Has your startup's CEO got unmanaged ADHD?" This was the title of a talk I gave recently to the Operations Nation community at their annual #cONference. This was a personal one - between 2012 and 2016 I was a founder/CEO with unmanaged ADHD (spoiler: it was a mixed bag, and ended badly). In my talk I covered.. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 The data suggests 1 in 12 startup CEOs have undiagnosed and unmanaged ADHD. In one study 29% of entrepreneurs self-reported ADHD symptoms. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗗 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗲 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀) The ‘doing’ deficit (“I know what to do. Yet somehow it does not get done.”) and the ‘emotional regulation’ deficit (too easily adrenalised, too ready to bolt from charged situations). 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗗 It's fascinating - and very well understood. An ADHD brain behaves differently in all sorts of ways to a typical brain. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗗 Great and terrible. Two sides of the same coin. Creative. Driven. Seeing opportunities and risks first. Understanding what customers want. Inspiring and convincing. Hired a great team. Unreliable. Impatient. Creator of avoidable crises. 5-10 mins late. Overcommitted us. Periodically burned out. 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗘𝗢 - 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 - 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗗 Lead with compassion and curiosity. Read up on ADHD. Start making simple, unilateral, practical changes to how you work with them. Take it from there. I’m thinking about repeating this as a webinar here on LinkedIn Live one lunchtime soon - comment below or DM me if you’d be interested in hearing the full thing..
The more I understand about the area, the more stats like this 1st one surprise me. I expect the number is much higher. Sounds like an amazing talk Pete.
How were you diagnosed?
This talk was one of the highlights of my time at The cONference, such an insightful talk Pete Finlay. The practical advise was spot on, even for navigating close personal relationships. Thanks for sharing so vulnerably!
Not for my CEO but me! Also one of the reasons I am so passionate about AI - it has quite literally transformed by capacity and level of excellence at what I do. Great work Pete!
I was present for this talk and I found it really inspiring! Thank you for sharing such a vulnerable moment with us all at the conference
I'd love to join such a webinar. ☺️
Sign mu up Pete 🙋🏼♂️
Would love to hear this Pete! Something I’ve personally been discovering / learning about myself (via burnout) this last few years.
Creative Director at Framed Fantasies Photography
1wThis was such a fantastic talk! It was honest, emotional and thought provoking.