Harnessing the power of employees with ADHD: A strategic advantage for businesses

As we kick off October 2024, I want to take a moment to highlight a condition that is often misunderstood yet immensely impactful: ADHD. With ADHD Awareness Month upon us, it’s an ideal time to recognise the significance of this condition and its implications for individuals and organisations alike.

I am personally committed to raising awareness of what the condition really means and why the world needs to challenge the stigmas associated with it. At consultancy, training, and technology business This is Milk, we believe in working towards inclusive workplaces. To us, this means celebrating uniqueness and fostering environments that allow everyone to flourish. I truly believe in accepting people’s struggles and shortcomings and allowing them to work to their strengths.

ADHD has always been a hopelessly misunderstood condition, leading many people to miss diagnosis. This results in those affected living through their struggles without available support—and in some cases, never reaching their potential. I know a host of adults who have only recently been diagnosed and who have suddenly come to understand the "why” behind the “what” of their lives. According to the ADHD Foundation, only 20% of diagnoses are picked up through school.

ADHD is a bit like an iceberg: there is the material at the top that most people know about—the poor concentration and fidgeting. Underneath that surface layer are co-occurring conditions, behaviours, and pains. These include insomnia, poor working memory, sensory overload, and low self-esteem.

Interestingly, thought leadership in the area seems to be moving towards a view of neurodivergence that sees the likes of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia (among other diagnoses) as overlapping so much that perhaps they aren’t discrete conditions that can be looked at in isolation. Indeed, my recent literature reviews have told me that 50% of people with dyspraxia also have autism, and the same proportion have ADHD.

ADHD is one of the most researched "conditions” in the industry, with studies finding that ADHD brains are literally “wired differently”. Working with this understanding, there are various interventions that individuals can deploy to manage their lives differently. Two of the things that I see most often with colleagues, friends, and family who have ADHD are low self-esteem and anxiety. Both may be partially as a result of the condition itself and partially due to the blows life has dealt them.

​Alongside these are the difficulties that come with living with ADHD in a world that doesn’t look favourably on the behaviours that come with it. With this experience, the questions I ask myself include: what can I do to improve the self-esteem of those around me? How can I support those who are feeling anxious?

Inclusive workplaces and inclusive leadership, to my mind, are less about identifying those who are "different” and adjusting for them (although that is a good start). It’s more about creating an environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves, can work in a way that suits them, and can play to their strengths.

Neurodivergent minds have acknowledged strengths. These include creativity, ingenuity, and the ability to work under pressure. In a world where we are facing huge challenges, where organisations require adaptability and entrepreneurial thinking, we need these qualities in abundance. Indeed, 60% of self-made millionaires have ADHD. This may make you think that we need these unique brains as a normal part of society.

It may come as a surprise that various household names have overcome the societal and educational barriers put up against those who have ADHD and similar conditions. A theme emerges when we consider that Mel B of the Spice Girls, New Girl star Zooey Deschanel, and pop star Justin Timberlake all have ADHD/ADD. The predominance of the creative disciplines is very evident.

Evidence is strong in suggesting that people with ADHD are more likely to take risks. It’s part and parcel of the diagnosis—impulsivity. This impulsivity and the associated increase in risk-taking is part of the reason that unmanaged ADHD can take 21 years off your life expectancy (according to a great book titled ADHD 2.0).

Living with ADHD without support increases your likelihood of suicide, death through accident, addiction, and a host of other issues. On the flip side, the condition is also crucial to entrepreneurship—a quality the world needs in abundance as we rebuild our society.

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder and CEO of IKEA, famously adapted the inner workings of his business empire to accommodate his ADHD and dyslexia. This demonstrates that not only can businesses adapt to be inclusive, but they can do so while becoming a global empire.

However, on sharing a diagnosis or a sense of having ADHD, individuals can experience negativity as a result. This can come across as a sneer or an eye roll, for example—a general sense that “it’s just an excuse for X or Y or Z.” Well, the professionals disagree. This is a real condition that’s massively under-diagnosed and misunderstood.

With the right support and encouragement, people with ADHD can bring strengths to a team and society at large. Everyone needs a chance to succeed, but that chance must be created by mutual understanding and cooperation. It cannot be given or taken. It must be created mutually.

Interventions in your workplace—hiring policies, management practices, flexible working, and beyond—can all increase the inclusiveness of your organisation. In return, you will see the benefits of a diverse workforce, for the neurotypical and atypical together. These are all areas my team at This is Milk is ready to address. In 2024, we want to work together to turn talk into action.