Superpowers

I have been asked to write about mental health, an everlasting important topic that we speak and write about but never enough. As a society and especially in the professional community, this is still a considerable tabu. If we speak about it, we tend to speak about it generally, never related to ourselves. Let me ask you something, how many people that you know have shared with you their situations, conditions, and challenges, and how many people told you that they are actively doing something about it? Well, from the thousands of people I know, just a few. If we ever want to improve the situation, the first step is to talk about it, share our experiences, and listen to one another. I’ve decided to share my story, to uncover my mind and soul, to show you myself completely naked, as if we want to see the change, we have to be the change or something like this:)

My first encounter with the subject happened at an early stage; I was about 6 or 7, and our family doctor, after knowing me for a couple of years, diagnosed me with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). ADHD is a superpower. In the 80s, little did western medicine know that it is not a condition, as they say, but a real superpower. Let's look at it from the medical standpoint. We will see several downsides of the conditions, like the inability to concentrate on one thing, the inability to stay still, the inability to suppress your emotions, etc.. Still, if we look at it from the superpower standpoint, the accurate picture is the following:

- Inability to concentrate on one thing -> multitasking

- Inability to stay still -> increased dynamism

- Inability to suppress your emotions -> sensitivity

All these superpowers have made it possible for me to have an incredible life full of adventures and beautiful experiences that made me travel the world a couple of times, provide value to various companies and meet wonderful people that today I call friends. The hardest part for me was not having all these superpowers and using them when needed but was being labeled as different just because I’m part of the minority of people that is not the same as the majority. I always asked myself if the inappropriate ones were the ones that did not have this superpower. I remember the endless amount of times that the stigma prevented me to do things; as soon as I let the collective consciousness prevail, I was done, my superpower got lost, and this became a condition. For me to be able to use all the superpowers I had, I always needed to listen to my heart first; my heart always knew where to go and what to do. The same stigma that prevented me from using my superpowers is part of the daily routine of many people around the globe. We as civilization tend to label people to have an easier understanding of where we stand in the whole picture. However, in doing so, we judged others and limited ourselves. I believe that if a simple rule of common sense is applied, as well as in the working place, we can go a very long way.

One of the value at Utopia (www.utopiamusic.com) is Always Learning, always learning do not reflect only on hard skills but also on soft skills, as well as diversities. Diversities of opinion, point of view, as well as functioning. We do have to make a conscious effort to get over our limited ego programs and do our best to understand, respect, and value people that have a differently wired brain than we do. Managers should know their team members and understand how to create an environment where mental “diversity” is seen as a positive thing, not something we should be scared off. There is so much benefit in having diverse brain programs in a workplace. My superpowers are helping me massively in all the topics. Multitasking allows me to work with various teams across all the different BUs and assist them in moving things forward for the good of everybody involved. Increased Dynamism comes out when I feel a bit down in my energy level. Once Increased Dynamism is combined with passion, the energy level rise, and I become superman ?? and sensitivity is key to asses every situation, reading the room, understanding the talents in my team and everybody involved in the project, I feel that with superpowers I gained many different talents rather than been conditioned… I wish to ask each of us to listen, accept the diversity of opinions, and continuously learn and learn from the experience of each other and this precious diversity. If we want to make the change, we have to be the change, and if not, who?