Attention Deficit Is in the Office, Too

Business Section
September 22, 2002
EXECUTIVE LIFE

By ANNE FIELD

Two years ago, Andrew Hearn felt as if he was going nowhere fast. He was 45
but couldn't hold down a full-time job in his field, social work, instead
doing part-time stints at Planned Parenthood of New York City and Beth
Israel Medical Center.

Mr. Hearn knew that something was wrong, but he didn't know what. So he
sought help from an executive coach, and it didn't take her long to figure
out the problem. She asked him if he had been tested for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.

He hadn't. So he took the test and learned that he had the disorder. He
began taking Adderall, used for treating A.D.H.D., and almost immediately
could focus better and organize his day more efficiently. Though his
symptoms — trouble meeting deadlines, a tendency to become distracted and to
jump from project to project — didn't disappear, he learned some basic
tricks to keep them under control. He could hold shorter meetings, for
example, or break down projects into steps.

Last January, Mr. Hearn was promoted to director of social services at
Planned Parenthood of New York City. His salary — and his self-confidence —
shot up, and for the first time, he set up a 401(k) retirement account. "I
now know how to deal with the problem and live with it," he said. "And at
the end of every day, I'm able to accomplish so much more than ever before."

About 3 percent to 5 percent of all adults have the disorder, estimates
Kevin Murphy, associate professor of psychiatry and chief adult A.D.H.D.
clinician at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.
The condition, also known as just A.D.D., for attention deficit disorder, is
a malfunctioning of the part of the brain that governs self-control,
concentration and planning.

While the disorder can hamper anyone's job performance, it is a potential
career killer for managers, who must struggle to complete tasks that
colleagues can breeze through. Their energy and creativity are "enormous
assets," said Dr. Edward Hallowell, clinical instructor of psychiatry at the
Harvard Medical School and founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and
Emotional Health in Sudbury, Mass. "But in corporations, they get into
trouble by being late, by offending people with their shoot-from-the-hip
style and by their impulsiveness."

For some executives, the answer is to seek help not in psychotherapy but in
the practical advice of executive coaches. An increasing number of coaches
are specializing in A.D.H.D., and many have become more adept at recognizing
its manifestations. About a half-dozen organizations, including the American
Coaching Association in Lafayette Hill, Pa., and the ADD Coach Academy in
Slingerlands, N.Y., provide such training to coaches.

"We've seen a substantial growth in the number of A.D.D. coaches and
businesspeople seeking help," said Dan Martinage, executive director of the
International Coach Federation in Washington. The increase has come even
though most executives hide their condition, fearing that it will be
perceived as a weakness.

What makes them go for help? Sometimes a spouse or trusted employee prods
them, or they just "have the feeling that something is missing," said Nancy
Ratey, a coach in Wellesley, Mass., and the president of the Attention
Deficit Disorder Association. One of her clients, the chief executive of an
insurance company in the Midwest, sought her out at the urging of his
family.

His symptoms were classic. He would change appointments without telling his
assistants, lose files, run meetings without an agenda, jump from topic to
topic and generally leave everyone in confusion. "It was like trying to
lasso an amoeba," Ms. Ratey said.
But his condition was treatable. Ms. Ratey followed him around for three
days, interviewing people including his chauffeur and his secretary, then
made recommendations. Each morning, for example, his assistant would hand
him one file at a time, discussing what needed to be done and taking notes.
Only after they had finished with one folder would she hand him the next.
The chief executive also moved his top executives' offices closer to his
own, so he would have fewer distractions on his way to talk to them.

Difficulty in concentrating is probably the most troublesome symptom for
executives and is the focus of most coaching. Pamela Redmond, executive
director for finance operations at Anthem Inc., an insurance company in
Columbus, Ohio, is a case in point.

Ms. Redmond, 46, had managed to succeed in her job despite her lifelong
pattern of being easily distracted and her difficulty juggling multiple
assignments. But there was a cost. "For years, I'd watch other people
leaving at 6, and I'd be there till 9, 10 at night," she said. "I just
wasn't able to focus." Thirty people reported to her, and she had meetings
throughout the day.

Ms. Redmond suspected that she had A.D.H.D., though she didn't take a
diagnostic test. Instead, a year ago, she sought help from Barbara McCrae, a
coach in Colorado Springs. In weekly phone sessions — executive coaching is
often done on the phone — the two zeroed in on ways to bolster her
organizational skills. For example, she learned how to make a to-do list
that wasn't "just 100 things I needed to get done," she said. She learned
techniques for figuring out which two or three tasks were the most important
and started keeping a journal about her goals. Today, she says, she leaves
the office around 7, even during her busiest season.


Coaching techniques vary. A daily nagging session works for a 54-year-old
Massachusetts executive who requested anonymity. For the past year, his
coach has been making 10-minute calls every morning at 8 to go over the
previous day's accomplishments and the goals for that day.

"It's all about time management," said the executive, who recently left his
old job as the principal of a consulting firm to become director of policy
for a state agency.

Executives can learn a variety of on-the-job strategies, but the most
important coping mechanism is finding good office help, coaches say.

"The things that are hard for them, they need to delegate," Ms. McCrae said.
"And they have to get a very organized assistant."