When your ADHD team lead feels like the problem, and what actually works
Published on 8 July 2025 • Written by Dr Lisa Colledge
The team lead is passionate, high-energy, and deeply committed. She thrives on the last-minute buzz, pulling everything together just before every deadline.
And while that urgency gives her a rush of energy, for the team, it feels like chaos. Even though these deadlines were always known in advance, being driven by important customer meetings that had been scheduled weeks ahead, urgent messages fly, context is scarce, and the team scrambles to deliver.
And though the deadline is always met, and value is always delivered, something else quietly breaks.
Trust. Morale. Well-being.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
In this team, the lead’s preference for last-minute working gives her energy, but drains everyone else.
Over time, it is eroding performance, reducing value provided to customers, and leaving emotional fallout that lingers far beyond deadline week.
Team members find themselves carrying this stress home, feeling anxious in the evenings, and struggling to fully switch off from work, even during their personal time.
The team thinks they know what the problem is:
"She’s so ADHD."
But the team lead hasn’t disclosed anything. Maybe she doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't want to share. Maybe it isn't ADHD at all.
And honestly? Whether or not it is ADHD doesn't matter in the resolution.
I’m Dr Lisa Colledge, and I help ambitious leaders build future-ready teams they trust to deliver now and adapt to whatever’s next — driving engagement, performance, and enduring resilience.
Why diagnosis-based inclusion falls short
Most organizations with a process for neurodivergence inclusion still operate a compliance-driven approach: someone discloses a diagnosis to their manager, fills out paperwork, and asks for others to change their way of working to accommodate their needs.
But what happens in this model when the person who should be declaring their needs is the manager? Or when people don’t feel safe disclosing because of past stigma or bullying? Or when there’s no formal diagnosis at all?
As one UK employment lawyer shared in our discussion:
"That typical 'tick-the-box' approach we see in so many businesses, where people only get support if they declare a diagnosis and go through layers of forms, just doesn't work anymore. It's reactive, it's rigid, and it actually leaves a lot of people behind."
Traits of ADHD, like urgency, spontaneity, or working in bursts, can be a powerful asset when intentionally integrated into team dynamics. But when unmanaged, they can easily create friction. You can read more about ADHD traits here.
The answer isn’t in labels. It’s in shared team accountability.
Neuro-inclusion by design, not disclosure
The approach I’ve developed flips the script.
It doesn’t require disclosure. It doesn’t rely on labels. Instead, it draws on insights from neurodivergence inclusion to build working norms that benefit everyone's performance and mental health, whether they’re neurodivergent or not. You can read more about my cultural approach and how it contrasts with the disclosure model here.
In this case, I helped the team use my Neurostyle NavigatorTM followed by my FIT FrameworkTM to co-create new ways of working.
Here’s what that looked like:
The team used the Neurostyle NavigatorTM to share their working style differences by positioning themselves along a continuum between two opposite preferences. These opposites were chosen to be relevant to the situation but phrased in a neutral way to help the team reflect on their working style differences without judgement:
"I work best in bursts", vs, "I need steady pacing."
"Deadlines help me focus", vs, "Deadlines make me anxious"
"I prefer to answer in the moment", vs, "I reflect before responding."
Then, applying my FIT FrameworkTM together, they designed new norms that reflected shared accountability and met the requirement that no one needs to work outside their preferred style for an extended period.
FIT stands for Fair, Intentional, and Team-minded. This approach was key because this isn't a problem caused by one person. If everyone liked working right up to deadlines, the team would have loved these sprints to deliver.
Rather, it is a team-wide dynamic that needs a team-wide solution. There must be no blame, only recognition that sustainable high performance comes when everyone contributes to the way the team works.
What the team did differently
The solution the team found was practical and balanced:
They introduced a phased timeline. Team members submitted their contributions 3 days before the final deadline. This allowed those who prefer to plan and pace their work to complete their part without last-minute stress.
The team lead then took over in her preferred high-energy window, using those final days to consolidate and prepare the work for the customer meeting—the point where her burst of energy and creativity could shine.
During these last two days, the team agreed to a rapid two-hour turnaround for any clarifications, so that the team lead could still rely on support when needed. But to reduce noise, all requests were sent by email with clear subject lines, rather than scattered across multiple channels.
Slack was muted for team-wide discussions during this window, helping to reduce distractions and maintain focus.
They also built in a reflective habit: after each customer meeting, they held a short debrief to discuss what had worked well and what they could refine for next time.
This approach allowed the team lead to stay in her zone of strength without leaving the rest of the team exhausted. And it gave the whole team confidence that their work together would be smoother, calmer, and more sustainable the next time a deadline approached.
Everyone gave a little.
Everyone got something.
No one needed to disclose anything.
And performance, trust, engagement and mental health all keep improving.
The bottom line
If your team is breaking under deadline pressure, don’t wait for a diagnosis to fix it.
Start by noticing what’s happening in your team.
Bring your team into the process; don’t try tosolve it alone.
Design your ways of working to flex for difference, not sameness.
Because when every team member is working in, or close to, their preferred style most of the time, everyone performs better.
Key takeaways:
✔ ADHD may explain some behaviours, but it doesn’t define the solution.
✔ Traditional disclose-then-accommodate models fail in real team dynamics.
✔ Neuro-inclusive team norms benefit everyone, and don’t require a diagnosis.
✔ Teams can use my practical bespoke tools to co-create a solution that scales.
✔ You can design for different neurostyles without waiting for problems and permission.
Recognize this in your own team?
Book a free consultation and let’s talk about it.
We'll talk about what you're experiencing, identify root causes, and see how building a neuro-inclusive team will benefit the engagement, wellness, and performance of your team.
You can also listen to a version of this article in my podcast.
I’m Dr Lisa Colledge, and I help ambitious leaders build future-ready teams they trust to deliver now and adapt to whatever’s next — driving engagement, performance, and enduring resilience.
Learn more about building Neuro-Inspired Teams that outpace, outperform, and outlast your competition.
