“Dyslexia was a blessing in disguise.” This is how Richard Branson made a disability his superpower

On LinkedIn’s video series, This is Working, I sit down with top figures from the world of business and beyond to surface how they solve difficult problems. Today, I'm talking to Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as we close out Dyslexia Awareness Month.

Richard Branson doesn’t have to think twice about what his superpower is. You might credit the billionaire investor and adventurer’s success to his business acumen or skills with numbers. But Richard says his strength is his dyslexia. 

“[It] was a blessing in disguise for myself,” Richard told me. “I think actually dyslexia is a blessing in disguise for all dyslexics.”

That perspective might raise eyebrows for most people. The disorder has long been considered exactly that — a disorder. What was once called “word blindness” has been stigmatized as a learning problem or a reading disability, with dyslexics having difficulty decoding words. But dyslexia has no impact on IQ. 

What Richard and others who have it have found is that the same brain wiring that causes the reading difficulties can open up new avenues. Richard calls it “dyslexic thinking” and has set out to make sure people see it as a powerful skill, linked to creativity, problem-solving, and leadership.

Before Richard realized his gift, dyslexia held him back as a teenager. Around the age of 16, he dropped out of high school, and perhaps surprisingly, started working at a magazine.

“Even I didn't know that I was dyslexic,” Richard told me. “I would sit at the back of the class. I wouldn’t understand particularly what was going on on the blackboard.”

During this crucial stage in Richard’s life and as he got older, he wasn’t supported by teachers, managers or colleagues who were aware of or knew about his condition. Still, today, this exact problem among dyslexic employees persists in offices everywhere. While more than 20,000 LinkedIn members list "dyslexic thinking" as a skill, only 22% of American workers have had conversations with dyslexic colleagues about how the disorder affects them, according to research by LinkedIn and non-profit group Made By Dyslexia. Dyslexic individuals also feel underutilized. Just 38% of those surveyed felt their workplaces harnessed their hidden talents.

So what can managers do about managing people with dyslexia? The key is to put people on projects where their natural skills can accelerate company needs versus putting them on projects where there is a skills mismatch and hoping the worker figures it out. In other words, it’s Management 101.

Richard says knowing someone is dyslexic should help managers move those employees into more difficult problem solving or reasoning projects — and shift them off of projects that involve data-crunching or heavy written communication, which dyslexics have more challenges with.

Does that mean dyslexic employees can never work with spreadsheets or docs? Hardly. Like everywhere, AI is likely to change the game. At least 68% of dyslexics, according to the LinkedIn survey, think AI tools like Chat GPT could be a boon to their career progression.

What I loved about this conversation was that Richard’s idea of finding your superpower applies to everyone, everywhere. And you don’t need a billionaire entrepreneur’s help to redefine something from a disorder into a power. It’s on all of us to find where we get joy out of adding real value.

“I'm a great believer in life,” Richard said. “You should follow your passion .. I think from a pretty young age, you're going to know what interests you or what doesn't interest you. And by and large, what interests people is turned into their superpowers.”

If you live with dyslexia, we want to hear from you. How has dyslexia shaped your career? Got questions you want to hear our This is Working hosts ask? Share a post or comment on LinkedIn using the hashtag #ThisIsWorking, or drop us a line. You can reach us at ThisisWorking@LinkedIn.com.

And check out our #ThisIsWorking podcast to listen to the full interview at your own speed. Follow Richard Branson on LinkedIn, and subscribe to the This is Working newsletter here: LinkedIn.com/ThisIsWorking

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