Understanding the Turbo Thinker© Executive Brain: Insights from an Executive Assistant
Leveraging neurodiversity as a leadership strength in action
As a Turbo Thinker© executive and coach, I have the pleasure of working with an amazing executive assistant who understands neurodiversity. When I asked about their experiences supporting executives over the years, hoping to avoid common pitfalls, their observations struck a deep chord. Most challenges they described relate directly to patterns we Turbo Thinkers© often face. Below are their insights, gathered from 15 years in direct support roles, followed by my perspective as both a Turbo Thinker© and an ADHD coach.
Even with an assistant, we Turbo Thinkers© still need to regulate our thoughts, actions, and emotions. While working with an executive assistant is transformative, they won't make all of our challenges disappear. We need to understand how our brain works to better delegate and accept help, even from a professional executive assistant.
Organization and Executive Function
* Executives struggling with executive function can often feel disorganized, even with multiple team members supporting them and keeping them on track.*
As Turbo Thinkers©, we see all possibilities, which means we also see the need for extra risk management and opportunities for growth. This leads to multiple projects and work streams happening simultaneously, with new ones constantly being added. While we possess executive function skills, they're not always available on demand, especially when immediate interest and intrinsic motivation aren't present. This can make us appear unorganized, with difficulty prioritizing or managing our time and energy levels consistently.
Workflow Management
*This disorganization often leads to executives assigning multiple team members the same tasks, causing overlap in efforts, confusion about responsibilities, and deviation from established team processes and workflows.*
This is such a familiar pattern! As Turbo Thinkers©, we often love reinventing the wheel. Our minds constantly spot ways to optimize, and our working memory challenges can make it hard to remember existing solutions. We may not document plans or remember where notes are stored. Often, we forget to conclude meetings with a clear consensus on who's doing what and by when. Our brains love novelty, leading us to seek new solutions even when unnecessary.
Meeting Culture
*Some executives struggle to focus on projects unless they're in meetings about them. This results in an over-reliance on meetings, creating a culture where staff days become "walls of meetings" without sufficient work time between them to implement. This pattern leads to burnout for both executives and their teams, potentially straining interdepartmental relationships.*
This is another common challenge for us Turbo Thinkers©! Without realizing it, we often use meetings as coworking sessions, needing body doubles or collaborators. While we benefit from working with others on daunting or tedious tasks, not every brain operates this way. Not everyone is neurodivergent or wired similarly. Understanding when we need a thinking partner is only part of the solution - it's equally important to recognize that what helps us might not help everyone else.
Crisis Management
*Regular fire drills! Executive management of organizational priorities can result in frequent last-minute or seemingly random requests, pressuring staff to reshuffle priorities to solve urgent needs. This leads to burnout among established staff and distrust among newer hires, who may view the work culture as unsustainable. The result? Frequent turnover and a potentially tarnished organizational reputation.*
As Turbo Thinkers©, we often experience everything as urgently important and needing immediate attention. One of my clients calls it Mighty Mouse Syndrome - our brains love the opportunity to drop everything and swoop in with a red cape to save the day. We get high on the stimulation and drama of crisis. Learning to assess true urgency and establish clear timelines can help us channel this energy more effectively.
Emotional Intelligence
*Challenges with emotional regulation erode the confidence, trust, and attitude of both executives and their teams. Some executives struggle with emotional regulation amidst client and organizational stressors, creating workplace cultures of fear with "high highs and low lows." Their teams often prioritize the executive's needs above their own professional and personal needs, leading staff to consider resigning regardless of their passion for the work.*
How can we, as Turbo Thinkers© learn to regulate our emotions throughout the day? How can we remain calm, confident, clear-headed, and positive even while handling work and life's greatest challenges? With practice, we can experience the power of the pause - the ability to stop, breathe, and assess before taking the next step.
Creating Supportive Environments
*Overall, staff hope their executives will provide clear, consistent, healthy, and productive work environments for themselves and their teams.*
As Turbo Thinkers©, we often follow the latest trends rather than honestly reflecting on what environment truly supports us. When we pause to determine the right ecosystem for thriving, we realize how specific that is to our unique brain. In doing so, we recognize that every brain is different. How can we explore, with kindness and curiosity, what environments best support each team member?
The better we understand our Turbo Thinker© brain, the better we can manage it. This helps us communicate and work more effectively with our executive assistants and teams. While most executive assistants excel in executive function skills, they cannot replace our own. Understanding and managing our neurodiversity allows us to activate our executive function skills and work better together.
Special thanks to my Executive Assistants at Handled. By Hayden & Co.