Julie, a litigation associate at her law firm, was well-liked and hardworking. But her substantive work performance was inconsistent. She had just drafted a reply brief that required a substantial write-off due to wasted, unbillable time. Yet other work she’d written — including the opening summary judgment brief in the same case — had earned rave reviews. Her practice group leader, Jonathan, was disappointed and puzzled.
I see variations of this scenario regularly: the hardworking lawyer who’s a near-fixture on the Delinquent Timekeeper List; the rainmaker who can’t get their act together for bills and collections; the Chief Legal Officer whose team dreads working with her because she’s so disorganized; the brilliant analyst who misses deadlines; the charmer who attracts clients quickly but loses them because he’s unresponsive.
These patterns often point to ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). Understanding this deceptively complex condition — and how to work with it — isn’t just about accommodation. It’s about accessing exceptional talent that your organization may be missing.
ADHD 101
As an executive leadership coach to senior and emerging leaders and a trained ADHD coach, I often see leaders baffled by this situation.
Here’s what’s crucial to understand: people with ADHD have brains that run on a fundamentally different operating system. Think electric vs solar power. The brain architecture is different; a person with ADHD often needs different inputs to jump-start their brain and keep it engaged and focused. And people with ADHD can have different results from neurotypical people even with the same input; tasks that are easy for many people with ADHD can be difficult for a neurotypical person – and vice versa.
These differences are linked to an imbalance in neurotransmitters, especially dopamine. That impacts executive functions, which are the brain’s management system for planning, problem-solving, self-awareness, inhibition, working memory, self-regulation, and self-motivation. ADHD is highly individualized because the specific executive functions affected vary from person to person.
If you have a solar-powered brain living in a world wired for electricity, you face a two-fold challenge. First, you must develop strategies that compensate for your weakest executive functions since the world won’t bend to accommodate your operating system. Second, you must teach others how to help you flourish so you can contribute your best.
People with ADHD often possess exceptional strengths — whether innate or developed as compensatory measures in response to their struggles. The challenge is that their weaknesses can be equally exceptional.
This isn’t just “everyone has strengths and weaknesses.” With ADHD, both the peaks and valleys are often more extreme. Even more confusing, people with ADHD seem to have exceptions to their strengths and weaknesses that are both narrow and deep. They might be brilliant at Task A but struggle with Task B, even when both tasks appear similar on the surface. What looks random usually isn’t; it’s often a specific executive function deficit creating these seemingly contradictory patterns.
That explains why Julie struggled to write the summary judgment reply brief yet easily wrote an excellent opening brief. The writer of an opening brief has a fairly free hand to structure an argument. But a reply brief requires a different skillset: responding to an argument rather than setting its terms. It’s like making the opening serve in tennis versus returning the serve.
As with Julie’s writing, it’s rarely obvious that someone’s inconsistent performance is driven by executive function-related deficits. The corporate lawyer with unpredictable project management might excel when given a timeline but flop when he must create one. The marketing director whose success fluctuates might shine when presented with last-minute opportunities but otherwise disappoint because she lacks a planning and time management system that works for her.
When unexplained, these contradictions can be deeply frustrating to the person with ADHD as well as to colleagues and family. Because the person’s profile isn’t “normal” or their behavior doesn’t match our expectations based on past experience, it’s easy to conclude that this otherwise successful high achiever is lazy, unmotivated, or passive-aggressive when they struggle with something that “should be easy.”
Success with ADHD requires precise identification of both exceptional strengths and significant weaknesses. That’s how you determine whether it’s worth expending precious resources to improve a particular weakness, or whether it’s better to delegate tasks requiring those weak or missing skills.
Strong leadership sees, values, and uses the strengths of each person. The best leaders regularly ask these questions about all their people, not just those with ADHD: What exactly are this person’s top strengths? How can those be applied to maximum benefit? What are their contours and limits? How will I know when we’ve hit those limits? And, crucially, how can I get this person to explain all that to me in a way I can understand?
What ADHD Requires of the Individual
ADHD is an explanation, not an excuse. The person with ADHD bears significant responsibility in this equation.
ADHD is both complex and individualized. Person A may struggle with executive functions affecting certain tasks, whereas Person B excels at those same tasks but struggles with something entirely different that’s easy for Person A. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
This means people with ADHD must commit to serious self-education. They need to learn about ADHD generally, and more importantly, they must understand their own specific ADHD profile. This understanding develops through trial and error. The person must create their own Operating Manual — a clear understanding of exactly what they need to perform any given task.
Then comes the second part: they must be able to explain this Operating Manual to others. Their leaders at work. Their family members. Anyone who needs to work effectively with them. This requires self-awareness, a reined-in ego, clarity, and the courage to advocate respectfully for what they need.
If nothing they devise will allow them to perform the essential functions of their job, they’re likely in the wrong job. It’s usually less “I can’t do that” and more “The effort it will take me to do that has too many opportunity costs to be worth it.” That’s valuable information for everyone involved.
A Two-Way Street
When both sides fulfill their responsibilities — the leader asks the right questions and creates space for honest dialogue, and the person with ADHD does the hard work of self-knowledge and clear communication — something powerful happens.
Organizations gain access to exceptional talent. That brilliant analyst who misses deadlines? With the right support system, they might become your most valuable strategist. That partner who struggles with collections? Pair them with someone whose brain excels at follow-through, and you’ve unlocked their revenue-exploding genius.
But if either side fails to hold up their end — if leaders assume everyone should function the same way, or if people with ADHD expect accommodation without doing the work of self-understanding and communication — the result is predictable. Talented people fail, sometimes taking others down with them or driving frustrated colleagues to quit.
Once Julie understood how her ADHD had undermined her reply brief, she explained it to Jonathan. Together, they brainstormed strategies to compensate for her affected executive functions. Within a few years, Julie made partner. She’s now known as the person struggling associates seek out — someone who helps everyone succeed.
Many people use the new year as a catalyst for building new habits. We all flourish when our habits align with how our individual brains work — and this is especially true for people with ADHD. As awareness of ADHD has grown, there are many free resources available online. If you have (or suspect you may have) ADHD, I encourage you to use these resources as the beginning of your self-education. If you are a leader or manager, I encourage you to remain curious and supportive of team members who may be navigating ADHD or related challenges.
Lauren Krasnow is an executive leadership coach and consultant to legal leaders and leadership teams in companies and law firms. She also speaks on leadership-related topics. She is a Global 100 Leader in Legal Strategy & Consulting. Contact her at laurenkrasnow.com.