This week marks Dyslexia Awareness Week and while one in five people in the UK are estimated to have dyslexia, the workplace remains largely unaccommodating. From open-plan offices where giving any one thing your full attention is verging on impossible, to workplace messaging systems designed to interrupt, creative workplaces are rarely built with neurodiversity in mind. 

Yet as the industry strives to become more inclusive, ensuring this extends to those that are neurodiverse is extremely important. People with dyslexia tend to excel creatively and have great problem solving skills; skills which are crucial in the advertising sector. So creating a workplace in which they can successfully bring their full selves to work is vital. 

You need only look at the multitude of dyslexic leaders to know that great minds do not all think alike. With this in mind we asked  Katy Wright, CEO, FCB Inferno and Sam Budd, CEO and Founder, Buddy Media about their experience of dyslexia to mark Dyslexia Awareness Week.

Q: To what extent do you feel your dyslexia has played a part in your career to date? 

Katy Wright, CEO of  FCB Inferno: Very early on I had heard that if you have dyslexia, you can’t do a number of things. Having never been a fan of the phrase ‘You can’t do this, because of X’. I was never diagnosed at school and I’m pretty sure those early coping mechanisms I developed have helped me in everything I do today.  

Maybe everyone should think of a presentation like a story. No one is ever going to say, ‘What I loved most about you was how you read your slides to me’. They are going to enjoy eye contact and someone listening. I’ve always felt that where some skills like spelling may be lacking, it means that other areas are more free flowing. 

I’ve always felt my brain just works really quickly, which is why the words on pages might jump around. It didn’t mean I couldn’t read, and I’ve grown to fall in love with books now. But the truth is I think a big factor in my career is resilience, and on a really practical level – not seeing problems as problems and a natural ability to form strong relationships because I believe people around me feel heard, has really helped me. A lot of that natural curiosity and intuitive behaviour, from what I know now I thank my dyslexia for.  

I'm a very visual person, helpful in a creative industry, or indeed any business, simplifying the problem and asking what if, or daring to just change because what we’ve always done isn’t always right. Being a part of a team has ensured that this skill is viewed as something valuable and that’s been incredible.

Sam Budd, CEO and Founder, Buddy Media, adds: “I have always really struggled with creating and designing documentation, be it essays, pitch decks etc so I have leveraged the likes of public speaking and verbal collaboration wherever possible. This has made me a highly effective communicator and storyteller and led me towards sales and leadership roles from the very start of my career.