What do Winston Churchill, Michael Heseltine, Steven Hawking, Richard Branson, Keira Knightley, John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, Albert Einstein, Muhammad Ali, Bill Gates, Will Smith and Leonardo da Vinci have in common?
They're dyslexic.
I joined the FCO over 15 years ago. Shortly afterwards I asked a senior leader for advice on what jobs I might do next. I mentioned I was dyslexic so learning a foreign language was difficult for me. The person advised me not to tell others that I was dyslexic because it could negatively impact my progress and career in the FCO. They were trying to support me by making sure it didn't – but the comment revealed a lot about FCO culture and attitudes at the time.
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One in 10 people in the UK are dyslexic. It occurs in people of all races, backgrounds and abilities. Dyslexia isn't related to intelligence. And it isn't only about literacy. It affects the way information is processed, stored and retrieved. It impacts different people in different ways. It can create issues around memory, processing, sequencing or organisation. It can also see strengths around thinking differently, problem solving and creativity. Dyslexia is covered by the Equalities Act. Some people require reasonable adjustments for it, some don't.
The main downside for me is around spelling. I'm fine with a spell check – although it's annoying if even Google can't guess what you mean! It also means I'm not very good at learning foreign languages, which limits my FCO overseas posting and career opportunities.
I hope attitudes within the FCO and civil service towards dyslexia are changing compared to when I joined (if not this article is a mistake!). I sense they are. I've had supportive line managers. Simon McDonald’s recent commitment to using Arial 12 font size to help dyslexic colleagues shows how far attitudes have changed. The FCO Board's recent decision to set targets for staff with disabilities – such as the new year target of 7% disabled officers in the senior civil service by 2019 – is an important step forward. With 10% of the UK population being dyslexic, I hope we'll see similar representation in the FCO.
But we should keep challenging ourselves to do better. When people hear I'm dyslexic at work I've had reactions from "I'm sorry" to a perplexed "but you're really good at your job". (The second comment would be great without the “but”.) People can criticise a spelling or grammar mistake as poor education or showing a lack of attention to detail when that’s not the case.
As the list of names at the top of this article shows, there are lots of people with dyslexia at the very top of politics, business, science and entertainment. I couldn't name someone with dyslexia at the very top of the FCO or the wider civil service. I hope that changes. If we're to see a diverse and high performing civil service – and diplomatic service – it's important we attract, develop and promote the best talent from the 10% of the UK population with dyslexia as well as the 90% without it. As with other under-represented groups, providing support, celebrating diversity and having visible senior role models will be important in achieving this. That's why I've written this article.