Thriving as a Neurodiverse professional: challenges and success in the workplace

Scott Pacifico, Senior Associate for the Content Acquisition Team at S&P Global, spoke to myGwork about his experiences as a neurodiverse person navigating challenges in the workplace. Scott's journey sheds light on the trials and triumphs he has encountered throughout his career, as he shares advice to those who want to be better allies to neurodiverse people.

Please introduce yourself and describe your role at your workplace. 

I’m Scott Pacifico I have been at S&P Global for nearly 9 years in the London office, working previously as a team lead for the Ratings Operations team and more recently as a senior associate for the Content Acquisition team (CARM).

Can you share your experiences as a neurodiverse person in the workplace, particularly any challenges you have faced and how you have overcome them?

The UK has been quite slow in accepting and diagnosing ADHD and it only recently became classed as a non-visible disability. This meant I spent 40 years of my life tackling something my GPs said didn’t exist.  This meant in both education and work I struggled as the conventional way of learning and working at times did not suit me.

The term masking is still a reasonably new word to me and one I struggle with as I have come to discover just how much I have done this throughout my life. The need to fit in and hide what is your true authentic self at work has historically been a challenge, this can be mirroring teammates to blend in, monitoring how much I am speaking or not speaking, keeping my focus on the task in hand and working to what is the norm.

It has taken working at S&P Global and feeling both secure in my role and teams that I am now able to be both myself in personality and in the way I work.

In what ways do you believe being neurodiverse impacts your experiences in the workplace, and how do you navigate any unique challenges that arise?

Two days are never the same, and I say this as someone who both takes ADHD medication and has coaching/therapy to help maintain and cope with my ADHD. I can say with true honesty the jealously and envy I have of Neurotypical people who experience a consistency of mood, attention span and general wellbeing.

With this inbuilt inconsistency I must constantly monitor myself professionally and personally to make sure I am working at a good standard whilst accepting the ebbs and flows of ADHD, which can at times mean I can complete projects in record times one day but struggle with motivation the next day.

Tools I use to keep myself consistent is planning, planning and more planning. I am rarely seen without a note pad and sticky notes, this is so I can plan my day and set targets to keep myself on track. This is to keep myself both, so I achieve my goals, but also to I limit myself to avoid the dreaded “ADHD Burnout”.

I have been fortunate in my time in Ratings that my role was set to daily targets and goals, and in my new role working within CARM where I have set goals and objectives to help keep me on track. I have also been very lucky that I have had and continue to have supportive management. 

Could you share with us a personal story or experience where you felt empowered and embraced as a neurodiverse person in the workplace, especially during the celebration of Neurodiversity Week.

I spent a lot of time in education being  told to not shout out answers, think things through and generally work slower. This was always a frustration for me as I could see an answer or solution to a question or problem and wanted to solve it. This lack of control meant censoring myself at school which then lead to work, this meant I would fight the urge to come up with solutions or problems as I feared being told I was butting in or not thinking the problem through correctly.

The analogy of an ADHD brain being like a Ferrari with pedal bike brakes is a great example if you look at the brain as the engine and the poor brakes being impulse control. It took a lot of time and confidence in my abilities to be able to speak up and offer solutions to problems. This confidence has grown at S&P Global as during my time in Ratings working on Rating releases, we would constantly have to work on high priority issues and technical issues where having a different way of thinking helped find solutions to issues. This helped ensuring we released Ratings on time and to the expectation of our analytical community and to the business in general. 

Learning to accept a different way of thinking which can at times be a massive frustration, can also be a huge positive and benefit to you.

Have you encountered any specific barriers or biases as a neurodiverse person in the workplace? How have you navigated those, and what advice would you give to others facing similar challenges?

Learning to accept ADHD is a juggling act or contradictions, we need structure and routine to function but at the same time hate them. The ebbs and flows of consistency  in motivation and mental health is a daily issue which is largely unseen and most Neurodiverse people are good at hiding/masking this to people around them.

Understanding the normal of a 9 to 5 at your desk may not be the most productive environment and the distractions of an office can sometimes be very counterproductive due to not being able to focus on what task is at hand due to distraction can give the appearance of laziness or awkwardness which is a misconception to how that person really is.

I focus whilst in the office by using loop ear plugs when I need to focus or using a quiet space so I can complete a task, I am quite open and honest with people around me and state I need to “zone out with headphones on” and explain I am not being rude but my ADHD buddy will lead me to distraction if given the chance. My advice would be to find what works best for you. S&P Global has a great approach to helping staff and resources like the Reach PRG are amazing for all colleagues and not just our community.

How has being a neurodiverse person shaped your leadership style and ability to mentor and support others in the workplace?

ADHD is both a blessing and curse at times but this lovely Neurodiverse brain that has encountered a lot of negative comments and has had to learn a lot of life lessons the hard way it has given me a broader sense of understanding people. 

Sometime my way of learning is visual, sometime its being shown a task and other times its reading instructions or process guides. This has given me a good approach at being able to teach and adapt my way to mentoring and teaching to the person I am showing a task too. ADHD as also given me a good understanding of you can’t see by looking at someone how they are and what they need from you. I have an open and honest approach to people and will admit to my flaws quite openly and will always offer to help and support where needed and wanted.