Collette Easton
ADHD at work, from both sides of the desk

From the CEO's chair, not a textbook. I built and sold three companies on an ADHD brain I did not understand until I was 49.

Now I do three things with that. I coach the leaders who run on this wiring. I help the organisations that employ them stop losing their best people. And I publish the research that shows why it matters. From the seat, on the same wiring.

Collette Easton, ADHD executive coach, three-time CEO and author of The ADHD Tribunal Files CEO × 3 · qualified coach · late diagnosed
3companies, built & sold
20 yrsleading & scaling
475tribunal judgments read
AC · APMGAssociation for Coaching accredited · APMG-accredited Neuroscience for Change Management Practitioner
The thing most people get backwards

There is a lot of noise about neurodiversity at work right now. Some helpful, some not. After three companies, a late diagnosis and reading every published ADHD tribunal judgment in Britain, here is the version I believe.

"Some people just cannot keep up."
What if the system is the problem?

Most organisations still run on systems built for a kind of person who does not really exist. Constant interruption. Vague communication. Artificial urgency. One size fits all. We call it a people problem. Usually it is a design problem. Whether you are the leader on this wiring or the employer of people who are, that is where I start.

constant interruption vague communication artificial urgency one-size-fits-all
Where to start

Two ways in, depending on which side of the desk you are on.

For individuals

You run on an ADHD brain.

You are capable, and it costs more than it should. The work is closing the gap between the leader you are on a good week and the one you want to be every week, without burning out to do it.

For organisations

You employ people who do.

ADHD tribunal claims have risen six-fold since 2020, and most start as a performance conversation a manager did not know was dangerous. The Human Operating System trains both sides of the relationship.

The research underneath all of it

The ADHD Tribunal Files

I analysed every published ADHD employment tribunal judgment in Britain, all 475 of them. The finding that matters most: outcomes track manager behaviour, not claimant condition. It is free, ungated, and it is where the coaching and the toolkit come from.

475
judgments read and coded
4 in 5
clean-practice employers won
£20,786
median award
£3.78m
the uncapped ceiling
The toolkit · £295

The Three Moments

Three working documents built from the research: the disclosure protocol, the pre-sanction checklist, the adjustments log. What managers actually reach for in the moment.

ADHD events

What's on in the ADHD world.

A live calendar of ADHD events — mine and other people's. Plus the talk I give to business audiences, "Aren't we all a little bit ADHD?", as given at BrightonSEO.

Why this matters more now

As AI takes the operational work, the human parts get more valuable, not less.

Attention. Creativity. Trust. Judgement. The odd angle nobody else saw. That is disproportionately where your divergent thinkers earn their keep, and it is the part you cannot automate.

The quiet cost

Your "talented but chaotic" people are the ones generating your best ideas.

They are also the ones burning out, or quietly handing in their notice. What you need is not accommodations that breed resentment. You need systems that work for variable brains. That is the work I do, on both sides.

The story behind the work

I did not go looking for an ADHD diagnosis. It found me through my son.

His struggles at school led to a discovery about both of us, and it changed how I think about leadership, productivity and culture. Permanently.

I had spent years assuming everyone else found parts of the job easier than I did. They did not. They just had different challenges, invisible in structures built for a neurotypical brain.

I was late-diagnosed at 49, in October 2022. One client put it better than I could: "the mask pays the bills." This is the work of taking the mask off and still winning, and of building organisations where nobody has to wear one.

→ 2007

NetRank

Client Services Director at one of the UK's earliest SEO agencies. Clients including RBS, NatWest, Audi and VW Commercial Vehicles. Acquired by LBi in 2007.

2021–2024

Yard Digital · CEO

Grew the business by £1M in year one and £1.5M in year two. Sold the Analytics division in 2024.

2024 →

Coach, author & speaker

Accredited with the Association for Coaching. APMG-accredited Neuroscience for Change Management Practitioner. Author of The ADHD Tribunal Files. Speaker, "Aren't We All A Little Bit ADHD?", BrightonSEO Spring 2026.

Connect on LinkedIn →
Loops · The app

The coaching, channelled into an app.

Loops has been created by a team of people who professionally coach people with ADHD, have ADHD themselves, and are experts in goal setting and achievement. This expertise and passion to help people with ADHD has been channelled into an app.

Loops is built of layers, each to ensure you succeed at what matters most right now, and in the future.

It allows you to break your goals down into small, doable commitments, each working towards bigger goals. Once you have these, being accountable to people who matter (healthy pressure and encouragement) further increases your chances of success; frequent rewards that mean something add the final layer because they work for the ADHD mind.

Then the part of the app that appears magical. AI you can talk to that not only gets ADHD but has been trained to give you Loop ideas and support as well.

Loops Work App →
In their words

What stays with people.

"Your session changed the way I think about collaboration. Not just how individuals communicate, but how we adapt to support different working styles."

Workshop attendee

"The most impactful thing I have seen at any conference for a long, long time."

BrightonSEO attendee

"Someone came over afterwards and said your talk made her feel seen."

BrightonSEO attendee

"You were absolutely brilliant. It gave me a lot to think about in my own work. I have two ADHD clients and you gave me real clarity."

Consultant

"I really resonated with your story. It is a classic golden-handcuff situation. The mask pays the bills."

Agency leader

"The best talk I sat through. Out of the box, and full of actionable ways to improve my workflow."

BrightonSEO attendee
The next step

Let's start with a conversation.

Whether you run on this wiring or employ people who do, tell me a little about your situation. We will work out together whether this is the right fit. If it is not, I will tell you.

Running or want to attend an ADHD event? This calendar has every event in one place. You can also subscribe to it.

See ADHD Event Calendar →