Dyslexics challenge their very description. The learning difficulty is, for many people like me, actually a business advantage. Figures such as Richard Branson and Jamie Oliver overcame their dyslexia to create hugely successful businesses and research suggests that dyslexics are disproportionately represented among entrepreneurs.
Commentators note the condition enables people to excel at problem-solving and focus on the wider picture. The same is true for me, a serial entrepreneur who lives with dyslexia. I realised from an early age that mixing up my letters and struggling to follow written commands made me almost invincible to failure. I did not avoid it; I expected it.
I believe this condition that grants me immunity to failure and the ability to learn visually, makes me a better entrepreneur.
Being like me
Dyslexia makes reading and writing pretty challenging and certainly hampered me inside the Singaporean education system, where grades are seen as a way to determine your future job prospects and opportunities.
Dyslexia intrinsically changes how one communicates via the written word. In my experience, the learning difficulty makes me miss out on some words when reading and writing. For example, I might get confused with the letter “b” and “d”. This made school much more difficult than necessary. There were times when I might need five to eight hours to study for something my peers could do it within the hour.
This felt somehow shameful for a young man who excelled at everything else apart from written tests. I have come across dyslexic peers who have simply been taught that they were born stupid or incapable. However, when I spoke to them about things that they are passionate they reveal themselves as extremely gifted and brilliant people.
Dyslexics come to realise that our brains are simply wired differently. It does not make us stupid; in fact, it can help us to do many things that others cannot. I think about things in a very visual way, for example. This allows me to “see” multiple scenarios in the choices I make for my startup, bolstering my foresight for company growth.
For me, dyslexia made me feel comfortable with failure and it strongly influences the entrepreneur that I have become. Interestingly, I am not an outlier in this thinking.
Our weakness is our strength
It is not correct to describe dyslexia as a hindrance to entrepreneurship. In fact, the reality is far from it. People like me actually thrive in being the boss because, well, it is how our brains are wired to function.
In my experience, people with dyslexia visualise rather than write information and this helps entrepreneurs entertain multiple business scenarios better than others. Perhaps we cannot convert this into the written word very well, but us dyslexics are excellent at considering multiple points of view and multiple possibilities in business.
Also Read: Productivity: What’s expected in the office vs what really happens
Julie Logan, emeritus professor of entrepreneurship at Cass Business School, in London, says that 20 per cent of the UK’s business self-starters have the condition. Her research into the US market showed that 35 per cent of company founders identified themselves as dyslexic, compared with 15 per cent in the general population.
These figures are food for thought. The word “learning difficulty” implies somebody who is less than able. In the case of dyslexia, however, the opposite is true when it comes to entrepreneurship.
Why creativity is key
Do not get me wrong – I have not always been thankful for my dyslexia. However, it has certainly carved my career path and shaped my decisions up until this point. I feel that this is a familiar story for many people like me and likely the reason there are plenty of us in entrepreneurship.
Dyslexics know how to best work through their condition. After all, it is something we grow with and learn to accommodate. This probably answers why we flock towards jobs such as entrepreneurship – more than most, we need to take charge and mould our work environment to our personal skillset.
I now see my dyslexia as a gift. It assists me in finding unique solutions to problems professional and personal. It makes me the entrepreneur I am today, one who is adaptable and flexible to the given scenario.
Personally, I do not think it would have been possible to find success as a serial entrepreneur without my dyslexia. My entrepreneurship has been coloured by the way the “disorder” makes me think. Dyslexia buoys my experiences with the world and undoubtedly makes me a better entrepreneur for it.
—
Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.
Join our e27 Telegram group here, or like e27 Facebook page here.
Image credit: Content Pixie on Unsplash
The post Why dyslexia makes me a better entrepreneur appeared first on e27.