Neurodiversity on your Radar

I think I always knew that my brain worked differently but I just thought of it as being different but in a creative way. It never crossed my mind that you could put a label on it. In fact, it wasn’t until I turned 50 that I was diagnosed as having ADHD.

My diagnosis only came about due to struggles with depression after 20 years as a manager, with over 35 years of experience in the OPS, and never progressing to meet my career goals. I was only ever successful in one of many interviews over the last two decades. The position I still retain 23 years later despite my aspirations.

I first started writing or posting articles about neurodiversity only because I started to think about the end of my career. My window to accept my pension is fast approaching. The problem is…I’M NOT DONE YET.”

So, what was and is my sense of purpose? I don’t mean the one assigned to me. Going through the motions is not a priority for me. Its more about making a difference.

My sense of purpose was about public service and how we best serve the public. What I discovered is a certain kind of thinking that we were not optimizing because there was little leadership in this area. So I'm putting it on the RADAR.

I’ve been reflecting about what could’ve been and should be different. My relationship with the OLN has been nothing but positive. It is through them that I can reach out to others; build new relationships; take advantage of their Advisors who are really exceptional with helping me set up webinars that explore neurodiversity in an effort to create greater awareness.

I’d like it to be a part of leadership curricula and enshrined in our HR doctrine such as the leadership pledge and the people plan and the diversity and inclusion targets.

There are all these leadership programs designed for increasing diversity but none of them include neuro-diversity as an asset to be optimized. In my opinion, we are losing out because of that.

The challenges of the public service are growing faster than the solutions originally designed to address them. Addressing neurodiversity head on will help supercharge solutioning…in my opinion.

My mind goes all over the place and at rapid speeds. It’s the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder within me. Its not a choice. I also have no sense of time. I don’t fit the cookie cutter everything we do. I've met many who feel the same.

The very solutions we need to entertain may be in fact under our noses. The people who struggle to think inside the box may in fact be helpful in a way that was never considered before.

It’s why over time I not only embraced diversity as I matured, but began to harness it like a team of experts in multiple disciplinary backgrounds.

Executive function deficits can be hard for a person with ADHD but also for my colleagues. It can make you feel like you don’t belong. It can change how people see you. You probably know someone with ADHD or some other form of neurodiversity. They aren’t broken. They might be misunderstood and possibly even held back.

So maybe this is where I can help? Maybe this is the thing that will make a difference?

I approached the Conference Board of Canada a few years back to ask for help in creating a leadership program specific to recruitment and retention of neurodivergent people. They agreed, and initiated research for the project that continues to this day.

So I started learning more; writing and posting more.

Here is one of the first presentations I organized: "Building an OPS Where Neurodiverse Workers Thrive"

Final Thought:

Just because I have executive function deficits doesn’t mean I’m broken. It means I have other strengths.

It’s my position that what one thinks is a disability, might actually be an asset. We just need to learn how to see it; how to manage for it and why it builds a better public service.

(Image credit: Unsplash)