The Gifts of Neurodivergent Leadership with Dr. Michael Freeman
In my many interviews with leaders who have different brains, there's a similar theme. I heard it today from Beekman 1802 co-founder josh kilmer-purcell, who told me "One of the benefits of having mental differences is you accumulate experiences that then inform how you interact with the world.... Over time, I really did start to see anxiety as my superpower and my depression as a way to help me empathize with consumers." Stay tuned for that conversation!
I think many of us believe the very traits that make life feel harder are also the ones that make us exceptional. That’s the question I explore in the latest episode of The Anxious Achiever with Michael A. Freeman, M.D. —psychiatrist, researcher, entrepreneur, and one of the leading voices on founder mental health.
Freeman both practices with and studies entrepreneurs who are neurodivergent or have mental illness. He’s found they are more inclined toward impulsivity, have higher levels of suicidality, show greater creativity, and often engage intensely in short-to mid-term goals. A complex equation!
One of his most well-known studies (conducted with Sheri Johnson, Ph.D.Professor of Psychology, U.C. Berkeley and Paige Staudenmaier, Research Coordinator now at Stanford) revealed that 72% of entrepreneurs in the sample reported a personal (49%) or family (23%) mental health history. As Freeman writes:
“This suggests an opportunity to reconceptualize mental health differences in a way that is not confined by the limits of a disease model... The strict focus on a disease model seems reductionistic and misleading.”
His research asks us to see the whole picture: while entrepreneurs experience higher risks, they also create invention, innovation, companies, and jobs at extraordinary rates.
You may have heard of the term divergent thinking; neurodivergent leaders live it. J.P. Guilford’s classic work defined divergent thinking as the ability to generate multiple novel ideas from a single starting point. It includes fluency, flexibility, and the capacity to come up with unusual solutions. Divergent thinkers are rarely short on ideas, which is a gift and an Achilles heel.
When I was brainstorming titles for my upcoming book on neurodivergent leadership, my husband Nicco Mele and I joked I should call it “THIS IS THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!!!” (all caps, many exclamation marks). If you have a busy, novelty-seeking brain—whether from ADHD, bipolar spectrum, or just being wired for anxious energy—you may relate. Passion, creativity, and bursts of energy can fuel breakthroughs, but they can also tempt us to drop everything for the next shiny idea.
Freeman’s work also shows that this population tends to “overindex” on both good and bad news. Wins feel euphoric, setbacks crushing. We can also overvalue our own ideas. Which brings us back to a question I hear and see a lot: Is being neurodivergent a superpower or a vulnerability?
The answer, of course, is both. Success comes from finding work that allows us to lean into our gifts, while getting the help we need and surrounding ourselves with people who balance our blind spots.
That’s good advice for any leader.
Read more: Research study, "Touched With Fire?" https://michaelafreemanmd.com/Research.html
Divergent Thinking: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/divergent-thinking
Yours in divergent thinking/too many tabs open/too much going on!
Morra
P.S.: I'm having a lot of fun making videos for founders and entrepreneurs that center on "real talk"- what most of us feel but no one talks about. Here's one on channeling anxiety into performance and managing the window of tolerance. What do you wish we'd talk about? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/morraaaronsmele_leadership-entrepreneurs-windowoftolerance-activity-7373343660190502912-3c1M?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAOo3EBvCq8XhGFVG-_9KVCJYmaf26M_9g