Lisa Virtue (00:01.676)

Roxana welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for staying up a little bit, you know, into your evening over there and joining me. I'm just really excited for this conversation because I think your message, a lot of people will be able to relate to it.

Roxana Tascu (00:16.884)

Lovely. Thank you so much for for the invitation and I'm looking forward to it as well.

Lisa Virtue (00:21.774)

Awesome. So why don't we just start by having you introduce yourself a little bit to the audience, and then we'll get into our great conversation about ADHD in the workplace and leadership.

Roxana Tascu (00:32.376)

So I'm Roxana Tascu I'm an ADHD coach, but prior to this I was a consultant in positive psychology and my background is in business psychology. So I combine everything plus my personal experience in being late diagnosed with ADHD.

Lisa Virtue (00:48.982)

Yeah, let's get into that. I can't wait for you to share your story because you started digging into looking into other people possibly in your life having a diagnosis.

Roxana Tascu (01:00.236)

It was at the same time as I was contemplating to leave the consultancy work and just open my own practice in in coaching and I was advised that I need to have like a niche. And I was explaining to my mentor at the time, like I can do anything. Like I've done leadership development, recruitment, trainings, right? Like my clients were DHL, HSBC, right? So I was like, I can do anything. And she was like, No, no, you really have to find a niche. And I think I was

Stuck like for three months because I was trying to find the right word for it. I was explaining, I want the misfits, I want the rebels, I want the ones that are have a fire inside of them. And at the same time, I was dating this guy that now is my husband, and he was showing signs of what I briefly remembered from my psychology degree of ADHD. And because I know that the way they give the message to a person.

matters the first thing that I googled were what are the ADHD advantages? And then I've seen that Richard Branson, Justin Timberlake, and like a lot of celebrities and like really successful people have ADHD. I was like, there you go, I found my niche. And yeah, I I started doing a qualification in this. I went to New York, I did the ADCA advanced course. And during my course I discovered I have ADHD. and actually in the beginning it was quite awkward.

Because I was the only one there not having ADHD. So I was thinking, how how is this going to go? And as I was learning about it, I kept interrupting my professor and I was saying, but doesn't everyone do this? Doesn't everyone have this? And I think it was about like the seventh time that I interrupted that she said, Roxana, I I think it's really time for you to go get tested for ADHD. I was I I I was shocked because I was a consultant, I was a psychologist working in the boardrooms with HR professionals.

speaking about neurodiversity and I didn't even suspect that I have ADHD. So I th this to me was such a strong message that we don't actually know what it means, especially how it looks in in in women.

Lisa Virtue (03:06.034)

Yeah, I have a lot of people. I shared this with you before in my world that have ADHD. And I definitely see the spectrum. And somebody that I work with who works with a lot of neurodivergent clients and she herself is neurodivergent. She's like, don't you, you know, have you ever been diagnosed? And I said, No, I haven't felt the need to. And I'm like, I'm sure I'm on the spectrum at some level, right? Because I have experienced a lot of things that

women like you have experienced later in life and you look back and you go, I didn't have to completely burn out in that moment. I didn't have to like overcompensate for whatever it was. so I can I can see that there's a wide range of different signs and symptoms, right?

Roxana Tascu (03:51.66)

Absolutely. And I think it it's it's a lot it has a lot to do with the environment because the symptoms become more apparent if you are in a in an environment that doesn't provide you with the stimulation. And I think that's when we hear people saying that they suffer with ADHD is when they have to do things that are not interesting because the executive functions don't get plugged in unless in the presence of interest. But if you love what you do

This is where you are able to find that balance. I don't suffer. Maybe like sometimes I'm chaotic or disorganized or I leave things until the very last minute, but I don't feel the need to go and get a label to g to to dig deeper. And I find that a lot of people that are entrepreneurs actually have ADHD but they don't care about the labels. They just want to work specifically on the challenges that they discovered. Mm-hmm.

Lisa Virtue (04:43.958)

Yeah, I see that too. And even in myself, where it's like, okay, I'm gonna take advice wherever it fits and suits me on whatever spectrum I'm on, right? Which makes a lot of sense. So I think that's one reason too, your message is going to resonate with so many people, whether they have a label or not, there is a lot to really think about. like in heart set, thinking about yourself first, be human. We're all human. We all have quirks and differences. And so if we can find

Advice that helps us, why not take advantage of that? Right? It doesn't have to have a label.

Roxana Tascu (05:18.58)

Difference. It makes such a difference. So as I mentioned, like I'm a psychologist. I'm a business psychologist. I build trainings. I worked in developing other people. And the things that I've learned in the ADHD coaching school really changed my perspective. Right. Like so it's above and beyond what I've learned in my masters in psychology and and and the degree and the experience that I had. So it it really gives you the right tools for you to be able to tackle the challenges that you have.

Lisa Virtue (05:48.832)

it okay let's dig in a little bit into some tips and advice or things people can really sit with for themselves. I know that so we've already talked about a lot of people that are high achieving get diagnosed later in life. Right. And I'm curious, especially for leaders after a diagnosis, what are some things that that you've noticed with your work in this and your training about strengths that leaders bring to the table.

who have an ADHD diagnosis or tendency.

Roxana Tascu (06:22.604)

Well, I d w we can't necessarily put everyone in the in in the same box, but there are some trends. So creative thinking, high empathy, which can also be a deficit if you don't know how to switch it off, right? Because you can feel everyone in the room and sometimes you're helping that person, that person, then that person, and then before you know it you don't have energy for yourself. it's nonlinear thinking, which again if you're forced to

work in a linear way and you don't have the the the tools can n not be an advantage, can be a disadvantage. It it's just about if you manage to get into the flow, into that into the hyper focus, I think the advantages are unlimited. it's it's it's pointless for me to give you a list of the advantages because they're very personal to every individual. Like us as ADHDers, we're n not

the same. Like even me and my husband, we have ADHD, it affects us both on the positive and the negative side in very different with the different ways. So the same methods, the same systems don't work for us.

Lisa Virtue (07:28.246)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'd love to hear about your personal story a little bit more in this space of you got a diagnosis kind of later in your career and your life, and you I'm sure went back and looked and said, that explains yeah, that explains so many things back here. What were those things? What were some of the trends for you that you noticed?

Roxana Tascu (07:48.738)

I think it's the overwhelm. So when I would have competing priorities, right? When DHL, HSBC, Deloitte, they all wanted something from me, like I didn't know how to deal with that. And obviously, not only do we have really high standards, like I don't want to say perfectionistic tendencies, but like that's what I'm hinting at. But we d also being in an organization, like they have that expectation from you. So

For me, when there was that type of pr until a certain level, it I would thrive under that pressure. And then from one point, I would get overwhelmed and I would get anxious. And it's the reason why I missed a lot of promotions. And the things that I kept hearing over and over again is why did you not say this sooner when I would see something coming? Because we we have this tendency of like time blindness, right? Where time is very relative to us and

We think, it's only gonna take half an hour, or I'm I'm sure I'm gonna figure it out. But we don't we we're very optimistic when it comes to that, right? So when you hit the bottleneck and you say it just before the the deadline, there's not much that they could do about that versus if you see it coming and if you're able to map things out, then you're able to bring other resources. So I think for me the overwhelm and the over aiming to achieve

was definitely a trend in my consultancy days. And and now I know that I need to translate the time because I can't see it. I need to make it visible so I can see when I have competing priorities, when there's things that maybe they're not gonna go to plan. I plan the buffer in and all those kind of things.

Lisa Virtue (09:31.96)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, mapping it out sounds like a tip you've got for people that have this time chat.

Roxana Tascu (09:37.166)

We don't see time. We don't see time. It's very relative to us. I like to say a very quick explanation, right? Like every activity has three stages. It's the preparation, it's the act itself, and the decompression. So for example, if you're cooking, you have to prepare the ingredients, you cook, and then you have to clean up. And if someone is asking us, like when when can you meet up? We look on Google Maps, it takes me 20 minutes to get to Oxford Street and and in London. I can be there in 20 minutes.

So from the beginning, we are starting on the wrong foot because we didn't account for getting dressed, taking the elevator, forgetting your keys, or w who knows what happens on on on that day. So you're putting yourself into that state of, my god, I need to rush, I need to rush, I need to rush. And let's not forget about the decompression. If I was deep in a report, for example, it's not like I switch off and I can just transition to the next task. So these are things that

I I see with my leaders especially, they make the biggest difference, right? So for example, just the other week I had an investor and the combined nonlinear thinking with the time blindness and the decompression after the the the the sessions, the difference that it made for him after he has a really good meeting with his client, although he doesn't need to send the documents right now.

For him to do a download of his thoughts into Voice Note or into Claude, like into AI, because in two days when he's gonna need to get into the flow and write that email and put the documents together, he's gonna need that warm-up, right? So almost like the decompression from the session itself becomes the warm-up in two days. We we we had a previous conversation how we have an interest-based neurosystem, right? So whenever we're able to stimulate that interest, we're unstoppable. And

If we don't find ways to stimulate the interest and the right interest, right, for the task that we're doing, that's when we really struggle. Right. So the example that I gave you is the the compression that he was having was actually working as a stimulation for him in putting together a long email that it's quite admin and we don't like those kind of things, right? So he was he was getting into the mood and before you know it, he was able to get his groove on and do what he's supposed to be doing.

Lisa Virtue (11:56.952)

Beautiful. Love that. One thing I'm so you just started leaning into this. And I want to go into this even more of like the superpowers that you've also seen and in yourself too, where you mentioned there are a lot of very successful people that have been vocal about having this diagnosis. And what are some of the there's I'll let you say it. I'm not going to say it myself. What are the the superpowers that this

Roxana Tascu (12:24.654)

Mm.

Lisa Virtue (12:25.176)

Mm, diagnosis. Yeah, condition. What are those that you see as themes and common things? Feel free to share stories here too.

Roxana Tascu (12:27.576)

Condition.

Roxana Tascu (12:37.272)

So I would be cautious in just calling it a s a superpower because ADHD is a paradox. It's both advantages and disadvantages. And in order for you to be able to access those, you have to get out of your own way. You have to have the system. right? I I I mentioned briefly before that we are nonlinear thinking. If you have a genius idea right now and you don't have where to put it, in two weeks when you're going to need it, it's gone, right?

So in order for you to be for me to be able to say, you're very creative and you were able to read the room and you were able to pick up on what people actually wanted in the in the meeting, that implies that you have a place where you're gonna be able to store that and access it when you're gonna need it. Not just like, mm, what was it that important thing that I wanted to put into this deck or like the angle? Like it it's irrelevant, right? But we do bring a unique way of looking at things. We connect the dots in a in a different

way. And I know even in my personal experience, when I was i initially in London, I looked for a society of other Romanians, right? Like I wanted I wanted to meet more Romanians in in London and there wasn't any. So I created one. And I've heard a lot of stories of

for from leaders that have ADHD where initially they look for it. They don't necessarily want to create it and then they see that nobody created it. my God, we really need this. And then they go and they make it happen. So in my case, I think now it's like almost like up to ten thousand people like in this society, Romanian professionals in in in London. And it all started from I wanted to get some Romanian friends in London. so I think this is a a perfect example of how like we see things, we need things and we we very much

Work with the feeling, with the with the heart. And then obviously, depending on the context that you're in, you're able to bring the rationale, you're able to bring the strategy, the connections. we're really good at making connections, right? Because we're very genuine. We talk before we think, we think out loud, we verbal process actually, which is quite refreshing, especially in a world where people are as very people are very

Roxana Tascu (14:49.322)

careful of what they're saying, right? We we s we we call out the pink elephant in the room and then we think maybe I should have not said that. But what that does, it creates a really strong relationships with the people because they know that they can trust you. Right. They know that you're gonna call it out. You're not just gonna be like, no, sure, sure, everything is fine. or other advantages, I'm I'm I'm trying to think like specific things as well. But I would say the connection with other people. So

I even on Zoom, I am able almost to get with subtitles what the people feel and what they think. They you might be saying something and definitely I'm gonna respond to the words they are saying with my words, but I feel if you're going up the emotional scale, down the emotional scale, if what I said actually makes a difference. And for example, when you're in a pitch, this is a superpower.

Because you're able to present something and if you feel that something is not landing, you also have like if you're in the flow, you also have the abil ability to change the pitch as you're there. and you're gonna be able to close that cell because you're gonna understand what they actually need versus what you had prepared. So on the fly, you're able to to adapt. So yes, we are very adaptable. And then again, it's about storing that idea.

Like fine, I can build this platform for you, I can do this and I can do that. The questions that can get in the way if you don't put them at the right time, do I have enough time? Do I have enough resources to do this? Because although you might have a genius idea and you promise this, if you're not going to deliver, they don't care how amazing this is, you had a deadline, you had to meet it. Right? And coulda, woulda, shoulda doesn't work, especially at certain levels with this. So it's really important to

To have the support, I keep saying this, that the the support system that is gonna be able to maximize the advantages that you bring to the table and maybe even more catch you when you are having a bad week, for example. right? Like you didn't see that coming or the children are falling sick and you didn't see that coming, right? Like you still had a promise, you still had something that you had to deliver. So how are your systems helping you in this case?

Roxana Tascu (17:12.265)

versus hindering you. And yes, I mean one of the challenges, I I I said that we had an interest based in your system. And interest can be positive or negative. And if nobody sh showed you how to activate based on your strengths, which is what I do, you are going to use unconventional, more less orthodox ways to to do that. So leaving things until the very last minute because urgency plugs you in or

Feeling guilty, feeling ashamed, feeling afraid. What if they're gonna find out that I'm a fraud or things like that? And yes, it activates you, you're able to deliver, but what it does, it borrows energy from the next day. And this is how we start talking about burnout. Because like you deliver, people get to see the results, brilliant, but then in the weekend you're a vegetable and you take energy from the relationships around you, or maybe from the relationship with yourself, depending on the context, right?

Lisa Virtue (18:07.468)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. that's a really good one. So when it comes to being a leader, I know personally I've seen this too, where in person there's very a lot of charisma, a lot of promises, like you just said. And this is when someone isn't managing their ADHD. and it can feel really energizing to the team and the people around you. And then, like you're saying, if there's nothing to help you with the follow through.

And actually delivering on those promises, then our trust breaks, right? In a group setting.

Roxana Tascu (18:40.204)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The emotions are contagious. And we have really high intensity of emotion, both higher ones and lower ones. So actually you can really fool people. Like in the interviews, we're the best. But then when you have to deliver on what you said, if you don't have the systems, this is where everything breaks. And it's the disappointment, and then you feel

And and to a certain point, depending on the complexity, the being afraid that you're going to disappoint or being ashamed that you're going to disappoint is going to plug you in. But depending on how close you were to reality and how much you went over and and beyond, and obviously the the the resources, obviously the more successful you are, the easier it gets because you have people working for you, right? And if you select the right people and you manage them in the in in the correct way, you're able to start and have those great ideas and they're able to pick it up and finish it.

But until you get to that point, if you don't have the the the the system, the ecosystem, this is where on one hand people say, they have so much potential, but but so the system and the people around you, if you're a leader, matter a lot.

Lisa Virtue (20:00.012)

Yeah. It sounds like also the the right fit in the right role, right? I know I've been in roles where I'm like, ugh, this is draining me. I cannot show up as my best self. I do not want to do the interest is not there. And so that's hard. It's really hard to continue to have motivation.

Roxana Tascu (20:18.934)

And that's when we start talking about compensating outside of work, maybe addictions, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sport, porn, social media, whatever. Because you still need that dopamine, that interest. And if you are not able to spend time at work to do things that are interesting, you still need that interest. Your executive functions don't get plugged in otherwise. And this is where you're gonna compensate.

in other places and s the majority of them are not very healthy for you.

Lisa Virtue (20:51.438)

Yeah. I've actually had a lot of clients for career coaching that have shared with me they have ADHD. And many of them talk about having just having someone with them, right? Like a buddy system of Yeah. Say that one more time. Accountability, yes. And having, even if I don't do anything, having someone present helps because then they can process out loud and get things done.

Roxana Tascu (21:05.014)

I think they'll see you.

Accountability.

Lisa Virtue (21:18.45)

yeah. So do you see that with your clients a lot too, that that really helps to have people that they trust around them while they're doing some of that work?

Roxana Tascu (21:27.104)

Again, there's not a one size fits all. Like what I can decode from what you're saying is the person wants to verbal process. So a lot of the times we don't hear our own thoughts until we talk. So having the space to talk so you can really understand what you want really makes a difference. Normally you get to see this even in university, you put your hand up to ask a question, and by the time that you finish the question, you have the answer, right?

So, like how this translates into to your career is if you're able to talk with someone out loud and you're not interrupted and and and things like that, you are able to access your genius ideas. And then if you do something that you don't like, the connection with another person, because we're so good at building connections and for the sake almost of the other person and I promised to them, right? Like maybe we're going a bit into the negative type of stimulation.

I'm getting enough fuel for me to be able to do what I want. But I kid you not, if you love what you do, you don't need another person next to you. So for example, I'm here in a podcast, right? It's it's later for me in the day. I don't need somebody else to be here in order for me to be fully present and to to to be who I am, because I am tapping into my strengths, the type of things that I enjoy doing. So the secret actually is if you could have eighty percent, okay, be it sixty, depending on your context.

of your day-to-day job being aligned to the type of activities that you enjoy doing, things become much more easier. Because it spills, it overspills, like both negative and and positive, right? So if you in your job that you were describing that you didn't like, I'm sure that you w you weren't the best version of yourself, not even when you got home. Mm-hmm. For sure. Like it so so if you're able to

Find maybe even volunteering opportunities like as I as I did in my beginning of my career where I didn't have that many options. If you're able to find a place to play to your strengths, it overspills in your work, in your relationships, in your in your family, everywhere. So it's really about engineering your environment if you have ADHD. So you can align it as much as possible.

Roxana Tascu (23:44.014)

to doing things that stimulate your interest. And then all of a sudden we don't have the ADHD challenges. We don't have a problem in getting organized, in sticking to the timelines, in managing our emotions, our impulsivity, making decisions and all the other things that normally are top liners in ADHD challenges.

Lisa Virtue (24:01.838)

Mm-hmm. Okay, so I have a question for you because that's a really good segue. Two questions actually. The first one is when you're a leader and you have team members that have a diagnosis that they've shared with you, or you're you're seeing some signs and things like, ooh, probably the structures and the environment, we could figure something out. How would a leader approach that? That's my first question. And my second question is when you are working for someone that

is maybe not setting up the environment in a way, how do you approach a leader to ask for what you need? So it's kind of twofold, like that interpersonal communication between leader and subordinate. What does that look like in a healthy conversation?

Roxana Tascu (24:44.686)

So I will take a step back and I will say that there's a lot of ADHD awareness at the moment, right? So even if we look at organizations, we start having the conversation: what is ADHD? What is autism? What is bipolar? But nobody really understand understands what that really means. So the responsibility for now remains on you, the person with ADHD, because everyone is being impacted in a different way. So first of all, you need to understand.

how you're being impacted. And then you need to communicate that in a way. I mean, in the UK we have reasonable adjustments and you're protected by the law. So once you know that you have ADHD, the government pays for ADHD coaching here in the UK. And in the process, a lot of the things that I do with my leaders is figuring out what do you need. Maybe it's going to be if you're in an open space office, it's going to be about working from a closed office or from home.

For certain tasks, or maybe it's about having noise cancelling headphones when you need to be in an environment that is very loud and you have a noise sensitivity, or maybe it's going to be w talking about rejection sensitivity, which is something very present for us. it's going to be around some extra preparation in terms of what is the agenda, what are we gonna talk about, how can I become prepared because I want to minimize the critique.

Because we take it very personal, right? And I mean, don't even get me started on this one. Like one thing that I notice with my leaders is that they don't ask the question of of clarifying what let let's say, like a a a marketing manager, he doesn't want to ask from the leadership board more clarifying questions. So he spends a lot of time in overthinking what is everyone going to want from him and how can he puzzle everything together.

But in fact, he doesn't have the full information. But because he discovers that quite late, because he left it, left it until the very last minute, because he's a bit afraid of the whole situation and maybe right rejection sensitivity. At that point, he's too embarrassed to say, actually have some clarifying questions. So a very simple change in this situation, whenever you're being asked to do something and you haven't done it before, ask clarifying questions. What do you mean by that? How would success look like, right? Like almost like coaching conversations.

Roxana Tascu (27:12.834)

To have enough information so you can later make decisions, right? So they can act like your criteria. Because we go when we make decisions, we very much go on our feeling. But your feeling, your feeling, your feeling, your feeling. So who's feeling and how do we blend them all together? And then something doesn't feel right, right? So we can get stuck in a swirl. And actually, if we translate what this is, we don't have really clear criteria of what success looks like. And sometimes if you put all the people that you're trying to please at the table.

They wouldn't be able to find an agreement. And somehow you put the pressure on yourself to be able to do that. And sure, we are able to do that. But you don't want to build a career out of this because it's exhausting. Like it's much better for you to get a process in taking the information that you need at the right time. So when you're gonna get into the zone, you're gonna have that full clarity and you're gonna be able to spend the full time in your creativity rather than second guessing, would they like that? Well, they said that, like would that work? Or da da da.

Lisa Virtue (28:11.566)

I love it. So that's wonderful. The UK is paying for ADHD coaching. That beautiful because like you said, it's so unique, these experiences that we have and like different structures different people need that will work for what?

Roxana Tascu (28:25.478)

It it's quite a smart system. Like if if I were to translate from the government what this means, so an unmanaged ADHD could mean you losing your job. So you're gonna be on job support. it could mean even violence, like the prisons are full with people with ADHD that is unmanaged. So it's actually costing them more for you to lose your job because of your ADHD. And if you're not managed and if you don't know how to do that, like that's where

where get where it gets to. And then if you get a person to get support for their ADHD, this is when it gets into their superpower. Meaning they're gonna get a promotion or if their entrepreneurs are gonna make more money, therefore they're gonna pay more tax. So for this reason alone, you don't even have to pay back the ADHD coaching. The only thing that you have to demonstrate is that you actually done the ADHD coaching and they're fine with that. And they have studies and data to support.

that indeed like the the the crime has gone down, like in and the unemployment and like they they study these kind of things. Obviously it depends what level you are. So if you're entry level or if you're a leader, like even the access to the coaches is is different based on the prices that you that you receive, but nevertheless, it's it's still a support that is so, so, so helpful.

Lisa Virtue (29:48.782)

Sounds like it. That's wonderful. I'm also curious what your thoughts are with this surge of AI. And I know it's a a bit different with regulation and what's going on in Europe versus the US, but we're all we're all being imposed with this technology and experimenting with it and using it. And when it comes to ADHD and the dopamine hits, and then also verbally processing, I'm curious where you're seeing it can be a helpful tool and where it can be

just another layer of distraction. What are your thoughts on all of that?

Roxana Tascu (30:24.024)

That's a really good question. And I think it comes back again to how you use the tool. And I that's why I I love the question. Like where where is it a pitfall and where is an advantage? I actually have a course on this, manage your ADHD using AI. And if you use AI to ask things, right? Like, mm, I don't know, how can I make my life better? Like what can I do not to be late or like how can I

better perform or how can I write this report? Like very general. Obviously it's detrimental to you. But if you're going to use it to verbal process as you said, it can actually play back to you some things that you are wanting, thinking, seeing, etc. Like the course itself, manage your ADHD using AI, was created with AI. But it went like this.

I it went in in stages and I was saying, this is what I'm trying to do. Like that that is the end goal. Like how would the structure need to look like? How many modules? How many lessons? Like how would it go to? Okay. We have we have the skeleton of like the structure, right? And then I said, You are gonna interview me. So ask me the questions so I can tell you everything that I know so we can start to organize it. And it

Not that I didn't know what I was talking about. It took me longer than it should, right? Because technically AI can do it for you. But it was actually a process of self-development. So in the process of me dictating things and then playing back, no, no, you don't understand. Let's go back. Like it was always my ideas. They were just structured like a trainer would, right? And keeping the skeleton and and and things like that. I was able to see this is not exactly what I meant. This is how it needs to be different.

And at the end, it was still me talking free flow, but I already had a skeleton, I had an opinion, and I don't know about you how you use AI, but sometimes I correct with the prompts so many times I get annoyed of the context and I start a new window and I say right by dictation. I I formed an opinion in the process, right? Because it doesn't really quite quite get that. But like this keeps me as the

Lisa Virtue (32:34.283)

Yeah.

Roxana Tascu (32:43.498)

expert so like I'm not going for AI to give me the opinion. I'm going for AI to structure my thoughts because right like we we don't think linear. We're all over the place. And when we communicate to people, we want to make a bit of an effort to make it a bit more more linear. So in the process of of doing that, maybe even with emails you get to spend more time with AI than you would have done by yourself. But the overwhelm it's not there. So we might spend more time, but I think

if we use it the right way, we're more satisfied with the result and it's almost like someone coached us in the process as well of what we're trying to say.

Lisa Virtue (33:19.85)

Yeah. Ooh, that was such a powerful statement. The overwhelm's not there. Cause it's easier to start. Like there's that blank page right in front of you and it can be so hard and daunting. and then that's why the push off of I'll do it when I have to later.

Roxana Tascu (33:35.894)

And and and the right question is there from the beginning. How does the end look like? Because if you don't give the right prompt, right, and you just give something general, of course it's gonna give you something mediocre. But in order for you to be able to really access the full support from AI, that means that you need to have some clarity about what you're trying to achieve. And if you don't have that clarity, it's a good point for you to use perplexity, for example.

to get clarity on the type of structure that you should be aiming for and then you start verb verbal processing.

Lisa Virtue (34:07.402)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So just really be clear on where you're actually stuck. Or do you not know what the end goal is? Yeah, like you just said. I love this. it's also that cautionary tale of it can take more time. So be careful with the time management. And it can be a powerful tool, like you said, to have a coach there when you're not with your regular coach or you're trying to get a task done and you're stuck for some reason.

Roxana Tascu (34:34.936)

I think it takes more time when you don't know what you want.

Because you're trying to figure out and you're trying to make a decision. But when you have a clear brief, just like in normal life, things become much more easier.

Lisa Virtue (34:47.949)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Roxana Tascu (34:50.658)

Love it. And a lot of the times I I think we're using AI to explore. So it does push the boundaries a bit more and we like because we're playing with it and we're exploring and it it's getting there faster and we get to see, no, I didn't want that. But before there would be 50 ideas that we never even had the chance to play with because we wouldn't have that luxury. So it gives us that kick of novelty, right? Like there's three main categories that stimulate us with ADHD. It's urgency, novelty, and interest.

So if you're not doing something interesting, if it's not something new and if it's not urgent, might as well not put it on your list. So a lot of the times I think AI helps you bridge that gap when you don't have anything urgent necessarily because it can be done next week as well. It's not necessarily that interesting. So all of a sudden, ooh, I wonder. Like

Lisa Virtue (35:43.722)

Mm, mm-hmm. Like a little playground.

Roxana Tascu (35:46.72)

Yes, yes, yes. And it gives us that stimulation that we very much need through the novelty of ideas that we have. And you can get stuck in it.

Lisa Virtue (35:57.942)

Mm-hmm.

Right. I can also see where it can on the flip side, like any good tool, it can also become addictive, right? If there is a lot of novelty going on. So those boundaries again, especially in the workplace, will be really important and knowing what tools to use when.

Roxana Tascu (36:23.284)

I think it's really about knowing how the end looks like. And this is a lot of the problems that I that I see with my leaders is that because I mentioned in the previous conversation, they don't really know what they're aiming because they didn't ask the question. They assume that they should have known. So the same problem goes with AI. Of course you're gonna be stuck in novelty and you're going to go down the rabbit holes.

But if you know that you want to create a presentation, a if you want to make it an education piece or inspiring piece, if you if you have those criteria, at one point like you are ready to move on from the playground into something more concrete, and guess what? You're gonna have the idea to transfer it. But if you never knew what you were going to do, of course you're gonna continue the the the search with it.

Lisa Virtue (37:15.182)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Good. I could talk to you all day. And I know it's your evening too. So I need to let you go. But Roxana, thank you so much. I love, I didn't even realize you had that course. Maybe we had talked about it at one point, but went out of my brain. So that's beautiful that there's even a course that you created for that. And I know you have so many tools and resources for people navigating this, especially in the workplace. So

Please share how can people get a hold of you? Anything else you want to mention about what you have to offer?

Roxana Tascu (37:47.092)

so you can find me on my website. It's ADHD Advantage with a dash. So adhd dash advantage.com or on Instagram Roxana Tashku is my handle or on LinkedIn you can find me. And if we have more time, I would love to share with you the story of the course if I can. Please. so one of the main relationship that I promote is the relationship between the CEO inside of you and the employee inside of you.

Lisa Virtue (38:02.904)

Please, yes, go ahead.

Roxana Tascu (38:15.82)

And I keep saying that you have these two people inside of you and it's really important for them to be friends. And in my case, I was invited at one of the biggest ADHD conferences in the world to speak. And I got to the point where I had to do the slides, right? I played with AI and then things like that. And then now I had to put the information into the slides. And I really didn't feel like it, right? We just spoke about that it needs to be interesting for us. So the Roxana employee went to the CEO, Roxana, and said, I don't feel like it.

And because the relationship is really important, the CEO said, if you don't want to do it, don't do it. But the slides are equally important. They have to be done. And I paid for someone to do the the slides. It was five hundred pounds. I think that's the equivalent of seven hundred dollars for eleven slides. Steep, right? But Roxana was happy, like both of them, right? We had the beautiful slides and the employee was okay, fine, I don't have to do things that I hate doing.

Lisa Virtue (39:04.974)

Mm-hmm.

Roxana Tascu (39:14.646)

And after the conference was done, then the CEO came to Roxana and said, Okay, how are you going to bring this money back into the business? Because technically this was in your job description, right? And having the good relationship, right? And I didn't want to disappoint my CEO, although it's still me, and being creative, I said, I'm just gonna create a course out of it. And I've done it on Udemy, like it's a free platform where you could put you can upload your your courses and it brought back 10 times the return.

Lisa Virtue (39:42.968)

Wow.

Roxana Tascu (39:44.108)

And I think this is a brilliant example of when you don't work against your brain, right? Like as I didn't go, well, you have to just try harder technically. There's no point for you to pay somebody to do the slides. You are you're able to do that. Like everyone wins. Like the business wins, the CEO wins, the employee wins, right? And everyone is happy. So I think I would challenge a lot of the behaviors that the leaders have when they think, Well, I just have to do this. Do you really? Or can we

really prioritize that relationship between the CEO inside of you and employee and ask better questions and and see how can we make how can we play on the same team and rather than be like, well, I know you have the potential, you should be doing this. And a lot of these like play in the background for us. And we don't know sometimes what we're losing because we're not giving ourselves the chance to think creatively, to think outside the box and all those type of things that you we have them as ADHD advantages again if we have the right environment around us to be able to do that.

Lisa Virtue (40:42.676)

Mm-hmm. Great example. I love this CEO and employee. Just in our heads. I now you're making me brainstorm and think like that would be a really good way to use AI too, right? Be like pretend you're my CEO and if you have a hard time figuring out that dialogue in your own head. Yeah, using a

Roxana Tascu (41:04.104)

that I have I have a Roxana GPT, so I have an AI that is trained by my methodology. And one of the the things is helping them in a CEO power hour in order for them to be able to have these questions. But actually, I mean it it's good there for crutches if it means like to get you started. But I think it it needs to go a bit deeper than just an AI training you to do this. But that conversation is so important and I encourage everyone to have it.

Lisa Virtue (41:30.934)

Yeah, lovely. I love it. Well, we'll definitely have all your contact info in the show notes. Thank you so much for your time again. And we'll be in touch because I feel like this is the first of hopefully many contact points and conversations because you have such a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for sharing.

Roxana Tascu (41:48.546)

Thank you so much for having me and I would love to continue this series if your viewers are are interested. I love talking about this subject. You could tell that I you can't stop me.

Lisa Virtue (41:58.028)

Yeah, it's great. I'm glad. Thank you for sharing. Okay, have a good evening.

Roxana Tascu (42:04.184)

Thank you, and you bye.