The ADHD professional's guide to LinkedIn authenticity

How to show up as yourself on a platform built for performance

LinkedIn is a strange stage. It's where we’re told to be authentic but also impressive. Vulnerable, but not messy. Personal, but only if it's professionally inspiring. For those of us with ADHD, that tightrope can feel especially precarious.

After sharing a post on LinkedIn theatre, I received a question that stuck with me: "How do you actually be authentic on here when you have ADHD? Everything feels performative, but I still need to network and build my career."

Fair question. ADHD brains often feel like they don’t fit into LinkedIn’s tidy templates. But maybe that’s not a liability. Maybe it’s a signal to do things differently.

Here’s what I’ve learned about navigating LinkedIn authentically with an ADHD brain.

the masking trap

Most professional platforms reward masking. You know the drill: smooth out the rough edges, package your chaos into neat bullet points, translate your hyperfocus rabbit holes into "strategic deep dives."

But here’s the problem with professional masking on LinkedIn - it's exhausting, and it doesn't actually connect you with the right people or opportunities.

When you present a sanitized version of how you work, you attract opportunities that expect that sanitized version. Then you're stuck trying to deliver on promises your masked self made, using systems your actual brain can't sustain.

That's not sustainable, and it's definitely not strategic.

what ADHD authenticity actually looks like

Authentic doesn’t mean oversharing about your diagnosis or turning LinkedIn into therapy. It means showing up in ways that reflect how you actually think and work.

Instead of: "Excited to share key learnings from our strategic planning session"
Try: "Spent three hours in what was supposed to be a one-hour strategy meeting because we went down the most fascinating rabbit hole about user behavior. Came out with insights I never would have found in a structured agenda."

Instead of: "Grateful for the opportunity to lead this cross-functional initiative"
Try: "Leading projects with multiple stakeholders feeds my brain's need for complexity and variety. The constant context switching that exhausts some people actually energizes me."

Instead of: "Proud to present our findings to the executive team"
Try: "Nothing beats that moment when you're presenting research and suddenly see connections you hadn't noticed before. My brain does its best work when I'm explaining complex ideas to other people."

the power of ADHD language

We have our own vocabulary for how we work, and it’s often more precise than generic professional speak:

• "I hyper-focused on this problem" is more honest than "I dedicated significant resources."

• "This project scratched my dopamine itch" explains motivation better than "I was passionate about the opportunity."

• "I need to brain-dump before I can organize my thoughts" is clearer than "I prefer a collaborative ideation process."

Using ADHD language doesn’t make you sound unprofessional, it makes you sound self-aware. It communicates how you work, what you need, and what lights you up. That’s useful to collaborators, teams, and potential employers.

the vulnerability Olympics problem

LinkedIn has a weird relationship with vulnerability. Everyone talks about "authentic sharing," but there’s an unspoken formula: struggle + lesson learned + humble brag = engagement.

With ADHD, this gets complicated because our struggles don’t always have neat resolutions. Sometimes you have a terrible focus day and get nothing done. Sometimes your rejection sensitivity gets triggered by feedback that was actually neutral. Sometimes you start five projects and finish none of them.

The key is sharing what’s useful, not what’s performative.

Useful: "Anyone else find that traditional project management tools make their ADHD brain shut down? I've been experimenting with visual systems that actually work with how I think."

Performative: "My ADHD used to be my biggest weakness, but now I see it as my superpower. Here are five ways neurodivergence makes me a better leader..."

networking when small talk feels impossible

ADHD brains often struggle with the surface-level networking that LinkedIn seems designed for. We want to dive deep into ideas, not exchange pleasantries about industry trends.

But here’s the secret: a lot of other people are bored by small talk too. When you lead with genuine curiosity about someone’s work- the kind of specific, detailed questions that ADHD brains naturally ask, you often end up having much more interesting conversations.

Instead of: "Love your thoughts on digital transformation!"
Try: "I'm curious about the decision to prioritise user testing over speed in your product development. What signals told you that was the right trade-off?"

The people who respond well to deeper questions are usually the people worth connecting with anyway.

when to share your ADHD (and when not to)

You don’t owe anyone disclosure, but there are strategic times when sharing helps:

Share when:

• You're discussing work styles or team dynamics

• You're explaining unconventional approaches that work for you

• You're building community with other neurodivergent professionals

• You're advocating for better workplace practices

Don't feel pressured to share when:

• You're job hunting and worried about discrimination

• You're dealing with unsupportive leadership

• You're not ready to field questions or "advice"

• It's not relevant to the conversation

the content that actually works

ADHD professionals often create the most engaging content because we think differently. We see patterns others miss, we ask questions others don’t think to ask, and we explain complex ideas in accessible ways.

What works:

• Real-time problem-solving

• Connecting seemingly unrelated ideas

• Breaking down complex systems

• Questioning conventional wisdom

• Sharing specific tactics (not generic advice)

the long game

Here’s what I wish someone had told me earlier: authentic professional networking with ADHD is a long game, but it’s worth it.

When you show up authentically, you attract people who value how you actually think and work. You build relationships based on genuine compatibility, not performance. You create opportunities that energise rather than drain you.

Yes, you might get fewer connections than someone posting generic motivational content. But the connections you do make are more likely to lead to work that actually fits your brain.

As I said before your ADHD brain isn’t a bug. It’s a different operating system. The right people will get it. And the rest? They were never your audience anyway.

Finally…

How do you navigate professional authenticity with ADHD? What’s worked for you, and what hasn’t? I’m always curious to hear how other fast brains handle the slow burn of professional networking.