Does dyslexia come with hidden advantages?
It's counterintuitive — dyslexia is, after all, classified as a learning disability — but it's a central question in Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "David and Goliath."
Gladwell proposes that some of the world's most accomplished people succeeded precisely because of this disability. "Dyslexia — in the best of cases — forces you to develop skills that might otherwise have lain dormant," he writes. "It also forces you to do things you might otherwise never have considered."
His claims aren't unfounded. These 17 famous founders, CEOs, and business leaders have one thing in common: dyslexia.
They certainly didn't let it hold them back.
Richard Branson
The wealthy head of the Virgin Group dropped out of school when he was 16, in large part because of his dyslexia. "My teachers thought I was just lazy," he wrote of the experience. But the condition that hurt him in academics helped him as he was building his business. He would ask that all marketing materials be read aloud to him, and assessed them by simplicity and how easy they were to understand. "Over the years, my different way of thinking helped me to build the Virgin Group and contributed greatly to our success,"Branson reflects. "My dyslexia guided the way we communicated with customers."
Charles Schwab
The founder, chairman, and former CEO of Charles Schwab & Co. was always an out-of-the-box thinker. Yet in school he struggled to take notes and flunked English twice. Only when his son was diagnosed with dyslexia years later did Schwab realize he himself had the same condition. The moment inspired him and his wife to start a foundation that helped the parents of children diagnosed with dyslexia.
Ted Turner
A well-known dyslexic, the founder of CNN and founder and chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc., surrounds himself with talented people who specialize in different areas — that way, he can tackle any problem. That strategy has worked well: he's worth roughly $2 billion, according to Forbes.
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