Open Door

Triple down on what you’re naturally good at. Don’t spend your time becoming average at everything. If you have a fixation, learn to broaden it just a bit. Find something that has associations with it and that can lead to a career you’ll be fulfilled in. It will pay off in the end. A jack of all trades is a master of none. #openyourdoor

The theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Inspire Inclusion’. But how well do corporate culture and DEI policies meet the needs of neurodivergent women? Some organisations are ramping up their support for neurodivergent women, but not all. How well does your company measure up? Consider one group of neurodivergent women; those with ADHD. For too long, ADHD in women and girls has been ‘Missed, Misdiagnosed and Misunderstood’. Why? Here’s a clue: ·      Until 1979, there was no systematic research on ADHD in females.  ·      In 2008, adult ADHD was first recognised by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) via the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). ·      In 2018, NICE updated its guidance and specifically highlighted that ADHD was being under-recognised in Girls and Women. Then, between 2019 and 2021 there was a 3200% increase in women taking online tests to check for ADHD. There’s a perception that ADHD creates only chaos. However, women with ADHD learn to mask from an early age and use highly developed coping mechanisms, like careful scheduling or working long hours, not only to get a job done, but to do it really well. Samantha Hiew, PhD sums it up, “Women with ADHD are prone to overdelivering and overpromising, and we are notorious for burning the midnight oil to make a deadline work for others at the expense of our own health.” The result: women with ADHD will continue to hyper-focus on complex projects, until completely overwhelmed and exhausted. Then, even everyday tasks can become a struggle. Once out of balance, feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem and chronic stress can follow. So, leaders, what are you doing to advocate for the equity and inclusion of neurodivergent women in your teams? How can you accelerate strategies that benefit neurodivergent women, many of whom may only now be making this discovery for themselves? Hired for much sought-after strengths, such as creativity, energy, persistence, problem-solving and resilience, are you taking steps to retain this talent? Even if you’re solely driven by KPI dashboards, the value neurodivergent women bring to your business is worthy of your attention and action. #InternationalWomensDay2024 #InspireInclusion #DEI #neurodivergentwomen #ADHDwomen 

Stop doing shit for the “stuff”… start doing shit for the “feelings”

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