I have wanted to write about this for sometime now. My friend Dan Blank, Soccer Poet, writer and all around good guy has inspired me to do more of it. I guess he thinks that I have a lot to say, some good and some bad.
This is one topic I have wrestled with for sometime. Instead of dancing around this, let me say that yes I have one of these labels and if I was a kid today I am sure I would have all. At first I was embarrassed even ashamed, it took me a while to accept this for who I was and not as a crutch. Along the way, The Chapin school, Gingo, Becker, Fuller, Thompson all found ways to use this to my advantage, then, The Pennington School, Dr. William S. Hawkey and Mrs. Garry started to teaching me how to build bridges allowing me to cross over. Even though I have crossed over the problems are still there, just as an adult you learn how to deal and channel so that you are way more productive than most.
Most that are diagnosed with ADD, ADHD or Dyslexia are extremely bright, some are geniuses, they just figure things out differently, in my opinion. So how many are hiding in your company, applying for jobs or just completely overlooked because something was different. Richard Branson, yes the billionaire of Virgin, has dyslexia and probably got him where he is today.
I have had some outstanding bosses, one actually questioned why DirecTV dishes had to be round and not shapes that can be appealing, like a butterfly. Sounds crazy and I am sure there are reason why they can’t but with technology today, who wouldn’t want to see a nice butterfly on the side of a house rather than a grey dish. These are the type of bosses anyone would want, crazy yes, but willing to take chances in front of C-level executives for a multi billion dollar company, those are the ones I want to learn from.
So the ones that are fidgety, looking off into the distance, not writing in depth emails, might just be a diamond in the rough. Can these employees, students, freelancers, see things you can’t? Can they be proactive and not reactive towards a assignment? Put them in front of clients, let them explain their work/designs. Let them talk passionately, then watch as a room gravitates towards then, excepts them. I am lucky and cursed with having a bunch of energy and when I get in front of clients I am not swayed by a title, I address everyone in the room as equals, I go on talk about my work, explain it in detail, push clients to think beyond what they have tasked us/me to do, be proactive not just solving a problem today but giving what someone might want tomorrow.
You won’t find it on their resume, you may never know, maybe they will tell you, the one thing that is for sure they will have great ideas. As far fetch as some might seem there is always something you can take away. Let everyone speak in meetings, encourage out-of-the-box thinking and designs, you just never know.
Let them out!