“In the midst of all the chaos swirling through your brain, all the disorganization and impulsiveness, this condition (ADD) also seems to trigger a certain kind of creativity.”
David Neeleman
David G. Neeleman — chairman and CEO of JetBlue Airways has Attention Deficit Disorder and he has made it no secret. As a matter of fact, this man is a role model of what ADD ADHD can be for a person. I have often said ADD ADHD can be a gift and reading about David really brings home how true this statement really is!
David G. Neeleman is the chairman and CEO of JetBlue, yes, but let’s not forget that this man is the father and supporter of 9 children! That’s right 9 children!
JetBlue
was created and launched by David Neeleman in January of 2000. He revolutionized the low fare air market by bringing luxury leather seats and direct TV. And this is with consideration to the fact JetBlue was created to be all economy class with low fares. Clearly, Neeleman’s ADD was having more influence than simply in drive alone. Creativity and Inventiveness are obvious in David’s behavior and are part of the gift of ADD ADHD.
Something very interesting and perhaps counterpointing the fact that many Adders have difficulty with the educational system David Neeleman dropped out of the University of Utah. Remember though, that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates also dropped out. We are talking about 3 of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time! But no, I do not recommend dropping out—just a very interesting coincidence –don’t you think?
From Inc.com:
-Instead he (David Neeleman) chose to walk up and down the aisle talking to as many customers as he could. That takes commitment. I know from my own experience how hard it is to maintain direct contact with your customers as your company grows. Then again, look what he gets out of it–all of those wonderful ideas, to begin with. He told the guy across the aisle from me that JetBlue would soon be implementing one of them, Wi-Fi in its airport lounges, and that it was working on providing another, high-speed Internet connections on flights. “There are a lot of things we want to do,” Neeleman said.-
You can read the full article to the above excerpt here. It is a very insightful article and considering David and what ADD offers, I can’t say that I am overly surprised, but rather very impressed that David Neeleman is using his ADD to bring betterment to the world and reaches out and touches the people he meets! Who really does that these days? He does.
“Look at the positives and don’t get discouraged. Just keep thinking about the good side of ADD, the creativity and the originality it can stimulate.”
“ Believe me, if I could take a magic pill to get rid of my ADD, I wouldn’t do it.”David Neeleman
Spoken like a true Adder!
~Bryan
