Lucy was tearful and overwhelmed the first time we met. She was the CEO of a million dollar non-profit organization.
She cared passionately about her organization, but her ADHD was causing her to underperform. And when she underperformed, she avoided showing up. This led to a loss of donors and a loss of trust in the people who relied on her. She felt like she was letting everyone down.
Lucy was 52. She’d had ADHD her whole life, but this was the first time she’d addressed it head on.
What a brave thing to do!
Lucy’s first step was to lay bare exactly what behaviours she wanted to shift. She identified her time management skills at 0-/10 (10 being best.) But she was also overwhelmed 10/10.
Lucy’s coaching work was about introducing one new executive functioning skill at a time, until her workload began to feel more manageable.
As she learned to trust that she could manage her time, she stopped avoiding so much. As she avoided less, her sense of agency grew and overwhelm took a back seat to confidence.
We worked together for a year.
In that time, she developed her time management to 10/10. She successfully reduced the shame and guilt she’d lived with for so long. And her organization thrived.
Lucy showed up to every session ready to explore the way she’d been working. She challenged her assumptions about what she could or could not do. More bravely still, Lucy shared openly about the shame stories she’d been living with for years. She’d assumed the shame would never go away. But as she acknowledged the depth of the shame with compassion and understanding, she took bold actions.
She agreed to try new tools for managing herself, including reframing her thoughts. She also agreed to engage in behaviours that she’d actively avoided in the past, such as showing up to events where she felt small.
She shared with me, “I have truly found my voice and I love what I hear.”
ADHD doesn’t have to hold you back from becoming the leader you want to be. Through personalized ADHD and executive coaching, Lynda Hoffman helps you strengthen your executive functioning skills, manage your time more effectively, and lead with greater confidence.