What I Called Flaws Was Wiring

I never thought I was broken. But I always knew I was wired differently.

I spent years in executive roles working around my brain. Then came a late ADHD diagnosis (with OCD and dyslexia along for the ride), and a lot of my "flaws" got renamed overnight.

It's ADHD Awareness Month, so here are 7 things I thought were flaws but were wiring:

1. Starting 12 things at once → a brain that connects everything.

2. Losing afternoons to hyperfocus → deep work most people envy.

3. Rereading an email five times → dyslexia and OCD doing their thing.

4. Blurting ideas in meetings → pattern recognition that couldn't wait.

5. Needing the "why" before the "what" → a brain that runs on meaning.

6. Hitting a wall mid-afternoon → the cost of masking all day.

7. Feeling everything at full volume → caring hard, not "too much."

None of this made it easy. If this is you: you're not broken, and you're not making excuses. It's real. It's how you're wired. And there's a way to work with it:

• Build systems around your wiring.

• Name your needs out loud.

• Guard your focus time like a meeting.

What's one "flaw" of yours that turned out to be wiring?

I wrote about this in Book 5, Grounded in How I'm Wired. Link in the first comment.

#adhdawarenessmonth #neurodiversity #latediagnosis #leadership