Latent Entrepreneur Personality Type (LEPT)
By: Sprig Allan
In a normal day to day conversation, the terms ADHD and entrepreneurship are completely unrelated. For Deb Gilbertson, former corporate Marketing and Innovation Manager at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, ADHD can be redefined as Latent Entrepreneur
Personality Type (LEPT). Gilbertson explores the concept that ADHD developed on an evolutionary standpoint to give hunters a mental advantage over their prey. LEPT allowed for the hunters to “see everything,” constantly on the look out for the next meal or threat. This capacity to observe all, served them well in the hunt, but in the classroom it looks like inattention and distraction.
These rapid sifts in focus and high energy may hinder a person with LEPT in the classroom but in terms of entrepreneurship, this person is well equipped to deal with the challenges facing an entrepreneur. In ADHD people and young children, the frontal lobes are immature or sluggish, so they appear to act without thinking. In adults it is characterized by restless energy, rapid onset of boredom and deficient short -term memory. It is also characterized by passion, utter commitment to areas if interest, creativity, resilience to setbacks, willingness to engage in moderate risk taking, slightly maverick behavior, eclectic experiences and high energy.
These qualities of being creative, insightful, breaking rules, making rules, reframing issues, and gaining meaning are characteristic of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and creative people. They are also a signature of ADHD. Considering the fact that people with ADHD are four times more likely to be an entrepreneur than an average person, there is an obligation to notice the positive characteristics that LEPT individuals have and to encourage them to try entrepreneurship.
A Sprig of Hope 