ADHD Primer For Leadership
Connecting ADHD science to leadership resilience: Finding leadership growth, confidence and self-compassion in knowing the why behind how your brain works.
This workshop is for leaders with ADHD who are ready to turn down the volume on critical voices and lead from a place of greater confidence, self-compassion, and awareness. This critical voice is rooted in constant comparison to neurotypical expectations, blaming yourself for being different and not understanding how your needs are different.
It’s worth noting that ADHD self-diagnosis is just as valid as a formal diagnosis from a healthcare professional.
Our Goal
Our goal in this workshop is to connect the science of ADHD to your personal experience and normalize what you’re going through. Understanding the scientific cause and effect can give you the reasons necessary to move you out of comparison and into self-compassion. Knowing it’s not your fault can be the perspective shift necessary to live authentically and in service of your needs. To feel empowered to embrace your differences and have the language you need to communicate your needs effectively.
The Science Applied
As we lead you through the material we’ll relate the concepts back to recent issues you’ve faced. We’ll explore core ADHD challenges around Inhibition, self-control, executive functions, and emotional dysregulation. These core challenges are behind a majority of ADHD symptoms and challenges. Patterns will start to emerge for you and you’ll be able to identify which of these areas you struggle with most often. We’ll also look at how these patterns show up in common leadership challenges.
ADHD brains benefit from processing information in different ways. A recurring theme is the benefit of externalizing thoughts, time and tasks. We’ll practice this with group discussions and journaling exercises which will help solidify the material but also so much more.
The Science Connected
A recent attendee had a lightbulb moment where they were able to connect their need to process information differently, externally, the science and language to explain why and the confidence to ask for what they need despite it being different from their neurotypical colleagues.
“I’ve been afraid to brainstorm ideas with my team. I didn’t see anyone else doing this and I was worried my team would look at me as a weak leader. Now that I know this is the way I need to externalize and process my thoughts, I feel empowered to do a quick idea session with my team.”
The Value of Shared Experiences
The real magic of this workshop is the validation and normalization from connections you’ll make with ADHD peers. We hear over and over, “they get me”, “I feel seen”, “It’s amazing how much alike we are”. Knowing you’re not alone can help you move past shame and self-blame to break out of the cycle of disappointment and despair.
“To be in a room full of accomplished leaders sharing their ongoing challenges, coping strategies, and insights was a deeply cathartic and life affirming experience. “
You know when you learn about a new car model and start to see it everywhere? This is called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. We hope that connecting the science to your experience will help you notice what you didn’t notice before. Having new points of awareness can be the starting point for making changes that move your leadership in new directions.
Here’s what past participants have to say:
“In addition to educational content, I've personally found relevant community to be life changing as a way of seeing my experience reflected in others with similar lived experiences. It's helped me feel more real, valid, and empowered in a world that has often felt like it wasn't meant for me, and has helped me unravel and reframe *so* much shame and misunderstanding about my own abilities and needs as a leader and a builder of high performing teams. “
“In the moment the workshop was as engaging and inspiring as you can imagine being in a dynamic room full of ADHD leaders will be – snappy, impeccable timing, and never a dull moment. After a month following now I'm noticing sustained growth in holding difficult emotional conversations, maintaining my file of ideas, and welcoming the spirals that come with awareness about what isn't working, making moves and changes.”
“I found it extremely validating. I understood intuitively, but I’ve never seen it in a group setting like that. The breakout rooms were really good. It’s always tricky to have a group discussion with people you don’t know but it broke the ice and the content was excellent and I learned a lot.”
Who is this course for?
The curious/interested leader who wants to be more ADHD aware.
The leader who suspects they may have ADHD.
The leader who knows they have ADHD.
This course is beneficial even if you don't have ADHD or an official diagnosis. It's not necessary to suspect that you have ADHD, as statistically it’s likely you have worked with more than one ADHD person already.
What will I get out of this course?
We distill the abundance of ADHD information to fundamental concepts that you can recognize and use in your day to day. Our approach includes:
ADHD diagnosis and prevalence: Cover the diagnostic criteria, prevalence rates, and the common misconceptions about ADHD to help leaders better identify and understand the condition.
Understanding the foundation: We will explain the role of emotional regulation, inhibition, and executive functions as they relate to our self-control. We will look at these important skills through the lens of brain development.
Building on strengths: Emphasize the unique strengths and talents that individuals with ADHD can bring to the workplace, such as creativity, resilience, and adaptability.
Confronting challenges: We will explore the neurodevelopmental aspects of ADHD to help us pinpoint challenges in our behavior and within our teams through written and group inquiry.
Applying Strategies: We will touch on the common strategies that help professionals overcome relationship and performance barriers associated with ADHD.
ADHD in Leadership: We will discuss how ADHD shows up in the 6 common challenges of leadership.
When is the next cohort?
The next course date is TBD join the waitlist
What is the course format?
The course is a mix of learning and discussion. If the thought of open discussion makes you nervous or apprehensive, we get it. Just know everyone else will be feeling the same way. Part of what we’re bringing to this course is setting up a safe and confidential container where everyone can share and learn from each other. This is also where you’ll get the most benefit from this course. Fear is sometimes an indicator of the thing you should be moving towards, and you may surprise yourself in the process.
How do I sign up?
Join the waitlist or signup for our newsletter to stay up to date on our workshops and coaching related announcements.