“Dyslexics are great explorers of information. This is the reason so many people with dyslexia become CEOs; they can turn complex information into ways to grow their organisation and juggle competing priorities effectively. In the simplest terms, dyslexia and strategic, innovative thinking go hand-in-hand,” says Boden.
“Twenty-five percent of CEOs are dyslexic, but many don't want to talk about it,” Chambers, who was Cisco's CEO between 1995 and 2005, told students at MIT last Thursday. It's not clear where Chambers sourced his claim, but the proportion appears to gel with various pieces of research conducted on the topic.
Famous dyslexic entrepreneurs
Her research into the US market showed that 35% of company founders identified themselves as dyslexic, compared with 15% in the general population.
Another survey from 2007 revealed that 35% of entrepreneurs involved with the study in the U.S. had dyslexia (which was higher than the prevalence in the general population, thought to be about 10% at the time).
Another skill that sets dyslexic entrepreneurs apart is their ability to motivate, lead and inspire people. This is born out of our strong Connecting skills and heightened emotional intelligence. Being aware of our weaknesses and the need to focus on our strengths, we also become expert delegators.
Research from Cass Business School in London found that 35% of entrepreneurs in the US and 20% of entrepreneurs in Britain showed signs of dyslexia, compared with just 5–10% of the overall population. In a survey of 69,000 self-made millionaires, 40% of entrepreneurs were found to show signs of dyslexia.
In fact, despite reading ability, people who have dyslexia can have a range of intellectual ability. Most have average to above average IQs, and just like the general population, some have superior to very superior scores.
40% of the 300 millionaires who participated in the more comprehensive study had been diagnosed with dyslexia. It may also be referred to as reading disability, reading difference, or reading disorder.
“Dyslexic thinkers have soft or power skills like creative thinking, problem-solving, communication, people and team building, all of which are vital for building and running successful businesses.”
Dyslexic brains process information differently. We are naturally creative, good at problem solving and talented communicators. Our heightened abilities in areas like visualisation and logical reasoning skills and natural entrepreneurial traits bring a fresh and intuitive perspective.
But dyslexia is an issue with language. It's important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it's not a problem of intelligence. People with dyslexia are just as smart as their peers. There are countless stories about people thriving with dyslexia, including actors, entrepreneurs, and elected officials.
The study saw psychologists assessing and analyzing the thought patterns, mental drives, and influences that brought the world's top entrepreneurs their success. Here, they discovered that out of the 300 business leaders selected in their study, 40% of them had dyslexia.
Perhaps one of the most famous figures known to have dyslexia is Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 and has become synonymous with intelligence and wit.
Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924, (learning disability)
28th President of the United States from 1913-1921 who is known to have a (learning disability) (dyslexia). World War I leader awarded Nobel Peace Prize for Versailles Treaty, 1919, domestic reforms included 1914 creation of Federal Reserve.
One in five people are dyslexic, including over 50 percent of NASA employees.
"The dyslexics were using 4.6 times as much area of the brain to do the same language task as the controls," said Richards, a professor of radiology. "This means their brains were working a lot harder and using more energy than the normal children."
Living With Dyslexia
This does not mean that those who suffer from dyslexia automatically become geniuses, but it also does not mean that they are individuals with an intellectual inferior to that of the rest of the population.
Dyslexia can affect short term memory, so your partner may forget a conversation, a task they have promised to do, or important dates. They may also struggle to remember the names of people they have met or how to get to places they have visited before.
People with dyslexia process information in their brains differently from the majority of people. They have this in common with those who have AD(H)D, high-giftedness, dyscalculia and PDD-NOS. They think in a different way.
It is one of the most common learning disabilities to affect children. Myth: Dyslexia is rare. Fact: In the United States, NIH research has shown that dyslexia affects 20%, or 1 in every 5 people. Some people may have more mild forms, while others may experience it more severely.
Dyslexia influences at least 1 in 10 people and is a genetic difference in an individual's ability to learn and process information. Over 6 million individuals in the UK have dyslexia and may not have received a diagnosis.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia affects approximately 15-20% of the population. This means that around 1 in every 5 individuals has some form of dyslexia. Additionally, it is estimated that boys are more likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia than girls.
The 4 types of dyslexia include phonological dyslexia, surface dyslexia, rapid naming deficit, and double deficit dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disorder where the person often has difficulty reading and interpreting what they read.
Firstly, it is theorised that dyslexics may have high levels of emotional intelligence, sensitivity, and awareness of others' emotions because they frequently experience 'secondary symptoms of dyslexia'.
People with dyslexia tend to have poor working memory, speed of processing and rapid retrieval of information from long term memory. These weaknesses will also affect maths learning. 60% of learners with dyslexia have maths learning difficulties.