Introducing Lexxic's New CEO
Nicola James, Lexxic Founder
On the 28th of August this year, Lexxic celebrated its 13th birthday. Over the last 13 years, we have grown from just me doing assessments into a team of 23 people.
At this very exciting stage of our journey, I am announcing that I will be moving to a new role as Lexxic’s Founder. And I am also delighted to announce Aidan Healy as Lexxic’s new CEO.
Never in a million years, when I was trying so hard to achieve my GCSE’s and degree, did I think that I would be here thinking back to how far I have come and how many people’s lives myself and the team would have touched.
Back then, before my dyslexia diagnosis, I would often get upset and frustrated when trying to read and retain information for an exam. I would read the same thing over and over again, often asking myself why it took so long to take in the information in comparison to my classmates. Why could I verbally describe topics in great depth but find it so hard to structure them on the page…. I know now that if an essay submission were a mind-map I would have had a completely different experience.
I knew I wanted to be a psychologist, but I nearly gave up on academia after scraping through my undergraduate psychology degree. I was always taught in school “effort = results”. But for me this equation was not working, I felt like a failure.
It was a late dyslexia diagnosis at university, which enabled me to gain a place on a Master in Occupational Psychology, where I received the most amazing dyslexia coaching from Margaret Herrington. This enabled me to learn strategies that helped get the best out of how I think and learn, suddenly “effort + the right study tools = results”. It was such an amazing feeling to see my grades go up. The world started to work for me rather than against me. And I believe once people start seeing the world as working with them instead of against them, they start to see things differently. They learn to accept themselves. They are more self-empowered, because of increased self-awareness. As a result, they start to see opportunities instead of obstacles and they have a toolkit of strategies that work for them rather than against them.
Had I not received the support that I did, I am certain I would be doing a different role and Lexxic would not exist today. Looking back, it was what I went through that drove my success and passion to help others. Our team knows how much people with a neurodifference can struggle in a work environment that often does not understand them. And we are grateful every day to be able to make a difference.
At its heart, Lexxic is not about offering assessments, or providing coaching, or providing consulting services to organisations. We feel like we change lives. We feel like we help people shift their mindset from “can’t do” to “can do”. I do not assess as much as I used to today, but when people come up to me explaining the differences we have made, it is so heart-warming. People go on to establish their own organisations, setup their own neurodiversity groups in their organisations or go on to work with others in many ways. The catalyst effect of helping one person to go on to help others continues to amaze me.
I always thought it would be rewarding to help other people with neurodifferences but I never realised how touched I would be to feel part of such a supportive team. I feel so lucky to have found people who care so much and work so hard. Lexxic has only gotten this far and continues to be successful because of them. I know when people get in contact with Lexxic they are in very good hands.
So, what does a Founder do? Well, it has been clear to me for some time now that I have an entrepreneurial brain. But it is challenging to find the time to nurture new ideas with all the responsibilities that come with running an organisation.
I will be just as involved as before in the organisation I feel so passionate about, but in this new role, more of my focus will be on new projects in Lexxic and less about our day-to-day operations. I will be able to share about those projects in the coming months and for those that know me, I am always just a phone call or email away.
As for our new CEO, I am so fortunate to have found a person who has the passion, care and skill to take Lexxic forward on the next stage of our journey. Aidan initially served as a consultant in Lexxic for two years, before taking over the position of Chief Operating Officer in June 2019. He has a background in psychology, consulting, leadership development and coaching. He has managed psychological services in larger organisations and built his own psychological consultancy from the ground up. Which is a great fit in understanding what Lexxic, our team and our clients need.
Aidan has also made a huge impact on Lexxic in his short time here. He was instrumental in bringing in several new faces to the team, as well as redesigning Lexxic to grow and function more effectively in the future. Those of us that work with Aidan knows that he is just getting started. And I have full confidence he will continue to develop Lexxic to help more and more people in the future.
Nicola James, Lexxic Founder