A recent article on Forbes, “5 Steps for Creating a Successful Leadership Development Plan” by Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, caught my eye for a few reasons. Keep reading to see how MPG can help you own your leadership journey, based on these insights.
First, the article highlighted five ways employees can own their career path. Even more importantly for the context-driven brains, the article clearly articulated the WHY driving these efforts. This is so important for leaders with ADHD navigating the workplace and career advancement.
Second, I recognized that each step outlined in the article tied in nicely with our Lead with ADHD program. Designed in 2021, and tweaked along the way to best serve participants, this program is equal parts leadership development and ADHD awareness and inclusion.
“More fluid, self-directed journeys are replacing the traditional linear paths to leadership. This change is a challenge and an opportunity for professionals to tailor their leadership development to their unique strengths and aspirations.”
Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, 5 Steps for Creating a Successful Leadership Development Plan, Forbes.com
Below, learn about the five topics covered in the article and how they map to Lead with ADHD!
Deep Self-Assessment
The author states the importance of introspection. For many people, especially those with ADHD, this does not always come easy. By leveraging various psychometric assessment tools, we help clients gain deeper insights into their personality. Assessments help people see how they show up at work, recognize themes, uncover blindspots, and identify strengths.
We use the Hogan suite of assessments. Each client gets to dive into how they show up on a good day, and when they are under pressure. We can even see how you fit in with the organization based on personal values and motivators.
Being able to gather these insights about yourself as you plan for career advancement will help you stay aligned with work and teams that are best for your advancement.
Goal Setting with Agility
When talking owning your leadership journey and goal setting, we can’t simply agree that SMART goals are the only way to go! ADHDers are driven by interest, so if someone doesn’t understand why a goal matters, it will be hard to muster motivation. This happens when goals are made for people by someone else (boss) or someone tries to emulate a peer that wrote a similar goal. The person will not connect to the goal personally, and it will be hard to achieve.
Consider how prioritization (importance and urgency) play into goal setting. Consider your motivators, and use those to your advantage.
Most importantly, acknowledge that goals can, and should, evolve. If the situation changes, or a component of an existing goal no longer makes sense in the bigger picture, embrace the mindset that goals can shift and grow with you.
Lead with ADHD introduces a number of tools to help with the skills mentioned.
Embracing Leadership Training
Just by enrolling in Lead with ADHD you are embracing leadership training! Check with your leadership to see if the program can be paid for or reimbursed by your company. MPG can make it easy with templates.
A benefit of the open enrollment sessions we conduct is that participants from different industries can gain new perspectives, while also seeing some parallels in the leadership challenges faced by their peers.
Sessions hosted by companies still create space for learning across job functions and roles, and can create deeper understanding and stronger relationships with colleagues.
Cultivating a Robust Professional Network
A major theme throughout Lead with ADHD is that YOU are your own best advocate. Nobody is better suited to the task besides you when it comes to:
- setting boundaries.
- clarifying expectations or needs.
- asking for reasonable accommodations in the workplace.
But this doesn’t mean we need to go it alone. Building a strong network can help in every aspect of our career. Some times your network might help you:
- Gain buy-in on a new idea.
- Get leadership support for a role change or leadership transition.
- Learn more about the business across all units or functions.
Lead with ADHD includes an activity where we sift through mentors, coaches, sponsors, friends, peers, and others in our networks. Each participant understands the role each person is currently playing, and they might want to deepen that relationship.
This can also be a good activity to identify some boundaries, where people may have been assuming someone to wear multiple hats as mentor and sponsor, etc.
Strengthening Soft Skills
First of all, ‘soft skills’ is still working on it’s glow-up of the century, the way cauliflower morphed from stinky steamed veggie to pizza crust and Buffalo wings. ‘Soft skills’ downplays the importance, and minimizes what it takes to build and maintain these critical business skills.
Lead with ADHD leverages research on executive presence to fully see where these critical business skills are helping and hindering participants in their workplace. Understanding the three pillars of executive presence, and the various elements their peers and leaders maybe judging them against, helps participants re-focus on what matters most.
What’s Next
If you are ready to own your leadership journey, and tailor development efforts around your own unique strengths and aspirations, Lead with ADHD is for you!
Companies: If you have four or more participants interested in this program, we can design a cohort built to fit your shared goals. Contact us today.
Individuals: Open enrollment sessions are available a few times per year. The next one opens soon! Complete the contact form, and you will be the first to know when the Winter 2024 dates are posted.
If Lead with ADHD isn’t the right fit for your or your organization, there are plenty of ways MPG can support you and your leaders. Let’s chat about other coaching packages, speaking engagements, and workshops that serve you best.
We hope we can help you make 2024 the best year yet!
