Imagine using what you consider a disability to your advantage? If you play it well, say by underplaying it, it could become your biggest asset.
A slight attention deficit disorder is not the end of the world and has advantages you might not have though of. For instance, it can make you be able to jump lines of thinking quickly. This is a key factor in leading innovation, creativity and innovative thinking. I bet you didn’t know that typically, dyslexic people have better peripheral vision than most? In a public environment, say when speaking to a large group, you are more aware of looks your attendance shows. For instance you can catch glimpse of boredom, surprise, restlessness and other cues that help you keep their attention engaged. , and have learned to respond to these in real time. In other words, dyslexia makes you more sensitive to people’s facial and body language and use to to decode the messages.
Another lesser known fact is that people with Aspergers Syndrome, AS are natural observers and can become great executives who can see the greater picture in a dispassionate way, then figure out what works and what doesn’t. If people with AS have a hard time connecting to others, they are great at getting others to connect. This is also another key aspect of leadership. You stutter? Then you can develop a deep, reflective, halting style to not only compensate, but also make you look thoughtful and deliberate. The list goes on and on.
And if you don’t suffer from ADD and other a la mode symptoms, than look at what you don’t like about yourself, then turn into a quality. If you need help, I highly recommend reading Steve Job’s biography by Walter Isaacson. I promise you will see the great Job in a different light than you already do. As Dave Logan author of Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance said, when done properly, the truth is that self-reinvention, when done properly, is embracing your innermost self. Only partial or flawed reinvention is changing what you don’t like. I couldn’t have said it any better.
