After admitting to pushing people “too far” in a workplace culture dispute where he was accused of inappropriate behavior and power abuse, the CEO of the craft beer company BrewDog claimed he is seeking an autistic diagnosis.
James Watt, 38, the CEO of Britain’s largest craft brewer, has been the target of numerous allegations of misbehavior in recent years after being charged with acting inappropriately toward female coworkers.
On the Diary of a CEO podcast, when discussing his management of the company, Steven Bartlett disclosed that he may have “light-level autism” and that his doctor believes it is “possible” that he has.
Autism is characterized by difficulties with communication, speech, repetitive behavior, and social skills.
‘I think I might have some kind of light-level autism in the mix,’ he said, “which would explain part of the social cue thing, some of the attitude issue, and some of the discomfort as well.”
Because of that precise phrase, my doctor said, “I’ve thought that for a while, James, very likely,” when I was talking to her. In order to determine whether a diagnosis may be made, I’m currently working with a professional.
The CEO also revealed that he had a severe speech impediment when he was younger and avoided speaking to others out of fear of being teased for it.
He claimed, “When I was growing up, I had such a serious speech impediment. That kind of always made me feel like an outsider and made me uncomfortable in social situations.
All the children enjoyed making fun of the speech problem. There were several words and letters that I simply couldn’t say when I was four, five, six, seven, or eight years old. With a speech therapist, I put a lot of effort into it.
As a result, I simply avoided speaking to people out of fear that they would discover that I had a speech impediment. I was really reserved and quiet.
Because of his “high standards,” Mr. Watt said in the interview that he was “very severe and demanding” as a supervisor.
The CEO, whose business has been criticized for having a “rotten culture,” insisted that his activities were carried out with “100% good intentions.”
Father-of-two It’s entirely reasonable to argue that at points during the journey, I was too passionate, said Mr. Watt.
I’ve established expectations for the team that are unreachable for many of the members since I’ve been too demanding in the past.
Because I was so focused on “let’s construct the thing, let’s create more employment, let’s give more value for our consumers,” I just pushed for such high standards and ridiculous timeframes.
“The aim was absolutely excellent, but I did push them too far because I was so committed to and focused on that.”