Picture this. You're sitting in yet another leadership meeting, watching neurotypical colleagues meticulously outline their five-year plans, complete with detailed timelines and color-coded spreadsheets. Meanwhile, your ADHD brain is simultaneously generating brilliant solutions to problems no one's even mentioned yet while also wondering if you remembered to respond to that urgent email from last week.
For many of us with ADHD, leadership positions come with a unique set of challenges. But here's what traditional leadership resources won't tell you: your ADHD brain might actually be your greatest asset as a leader in today's rapidly changing world.
Why Traditional Leadership Models Don't Work for ADHD Brains
When you search for information about ADHD and leadership, 99.9% of what you'll find focuses on how to manage people with ADHD. But what if you're the leader who has ADHD?
The traditional leadership model often emphasizes traits that don't come naturally to those of us with executive functioning differences:
Perfect time management
Flawless organizational skills
Consistent follow-through on every task
Focused attention on administrative details
No wonder so many ADHD leaders struggle with imposter syndrome! When we try to force our brains to operate within neurotypical frameworks, we often feel like we're failing.
Transformational Leadership: Where ADHD Brains Shine
Here's the truth that research is just beginning to recognize: you can't naturally be the world's most organized leader and simultaneously be amazing at pivoting and change management. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses – including neurotypical leaders.
If you have ADHD, you likely excel as what leadership experts call a transformational leader. This leadership style focuses on:
Problem-solving
Original thinking
New project ventures
Adapting to rapidly changing conditions
Seeing possibilities others miss
Sound familiar? These are precisely the areas where ADHD brains often excel! In today's business landscape, where change happens at lightning speed, transformational leadership is more valuable than ever before.
As one ADHD business leader I worked with put it: "My division of the hospital constantly faces changing budgets, shifting government regulations, and unexpected challenges. My ability to pivot quickly and see creative solutions has made me the go-to person for solving seemingly impossible problems."
Understanding the Challenges of ADHD Leadership
While embracing your strengths as a transformational leader is important, it's equally crucial to acknowledge and address the challenges. The three biggest hurdles ADHD leaders typically face are:
1. Time Blindness
When you have ADHD, accurately estimating how long tasks will take can be extremely difficult. This becomes particularly challenging when:
Your job requires creating timelines for entire projects
You need to tell stakeholders when deliverables will be complete
You're managing multiple team members with different workloads
Solution: Create a simplified leadership dashboard that keeps you connected to your most important goals. Focus on what matters most by identifying:
Your one big goal for the year
The one thing that will get you closer to that goal this month
Key metrics that indicate progress
Team members responsible for each metric
This approach combats time blindness by keeping everything visible in one place and connecting your day-to-day actions to your larger vision.
PS: If you want a copy of the scorecard I use, just message me “SCORECARD”, and I’ll send it over.
2. Working Memory Struggles
ADHD leaders often struggle to keep track of all the moving pieces in complex projects. This can lead to:
Forgetting important details
Missing follow-ups with team members
Becoming overwhelmed by multi-step processes
Difficulty tracking progress across multiple initiatives
Solution: Find the most neurotypical member of your team and delegate working memory tasks to them. Your job is to practice what I call "hands in your pockets" leadership – teach people to do things but don't do the tasks for them.
This doesn't mean abdicating responsibility. It means recognizing that your highest value as a leader is in vision and strategy, not in tracking every detail personally.
3. Dopamine and Project Enthusiasm
We've all been there – burning the midnight oil on an exciting new initiative, only to find our enthusiasm waning as the project enters more routine phases. ADHD brains are particularly vulnerable to this pattern because:
We get a dopamine boost from new, exciting tasks
Our interest often drops when tasks become routine
We may unconsciously chase the "new project" high
Solution: Don't expect your dopamine to come from the task itself, as this excitement inevitably diminishes. Instead, create external rewards for making progress on ongoing projects. Remember that project dopamine is a side benefit, not something you can rely on throughout an entire initiative.
Building an ADHD-Friendly Leadership System
If you're a leader with ADHD, here are the key steps to creating a system that works with your brain rather than against it:
Embrace your strengths as a transformational leader. Remember that your ability to pivot, see creative solutions, and drive change is incredibly valuable in today's business environment.
Create a simple leadership dashboard. Focus on connecting your daily activities to your larger vision, and make it visually accessible enough that you'll actually look at it daily.
Delegate working memory tasks. Keep your hands in your pockets and let others handle the detailed tracking that drains your energy and attention.
Build in dopamine rewards. Create external motivation systems that don't rely on your fluctuating interest in projects.
Communicate your vision clearly. When explaining initiatives to your team, connect their individual tasks to the larger vision that excites you.
Remember, you don't need to be perfect at every aspect of leadership to be an effective leader. Your unique strengths as an ADHD thinker might be exactly what your organization needs to navigate today's complex business landscape.
As leaders with ADHD, we bring a distinct perspective that can drive innovation, adaptation, and creative problem-solving. By understanding and working with our neurological differences rather than against them, we can transform what might seem like weaknesses into our greatest leadership assets.
Here’s to focused, balanced growth with our unconventional brains!
Skye
P.S. Whenever you’re ready to grow your business without ADHD overwhelm, here’s how I can help:
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References
1. Sahakoski, A. (2024). Performance management: a case study, helping supervisors to improve their performance management.
2. Tenschert, J., Furtner, M., & Peters, M. (2024). The effects of self-leadership and mindfulness training on leadership development: a systematic review. Management Review Quarterly, 1-52.
3. Kaaria, A. G., & Karemu, G. K. (2024). Cultivating Neurodiverse connections through competent leadership: integrative literature review. International Journal of Advanced Research, 7(1), 93-121.
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