The times when we feel lost or on a detour in life can be the most productive of all, as Penelope Trunk describes.

I started tap dance lessons when I was three. When I was eleven I still did not know what to do when the teacher said, 'Turn left.' The teacher said to my mum, 'Penelope's always a beat behind.'

It wasn't until recently that I realised I was dyslexic. But now I know, and it's a relief to understand myself a little better.

In high school, I was in honours English, honours history, honours French and honours German. I was in remedial maths and my teacher told me, 'When you grow up, don't go into finance.'

People thought I was kidding when I couldn't tell left from right. Everyone has a trick. 'Make an L with your thumb and finger.' 'The blue wall is on the left.' Nothing helped. People said, 'Penelope, stop joking around. You're too old.'

In college, I took a car trip from Chicago to Detroit and went up the wrong side of Lake Michigan. I shocked even myself when I ended up in Milwaukee and couldn't figure out how I got there. My father told me not to go into sales because I'd get lost going to clients.

I started to keep track of recurring problem situations to find ways to avoid them. Now I don't take classes where the teacher calls out instructions for left and right. I am an ace with Excel so I don't have to do maths in my head. I can't read a map so I don't even try. Once I knew my limits I was able to keep my life more stable.

And I got a job. I got many jobs, and even flourished in corporate America. Today I don't worry that the dyslexia will hold me back professionally. Now the dyslexia is just sort of interesting to me. I like watching how my brain works, and I like having a better understanding of why I did what I did when I was younger.

In fact, my experience with dyslexia has made me more open to facing other difficulties. Now I see most problems as surmountable. For example, I told myself if I could understand why I had no patience then I would be able to avoid situations where I blew up at people. That worked, and I became a better manager because when I understood myself better, I could better regulate my emotions.

Today dyslexia is fashionable among business people. It was the cover story of a recent issue of Fortune magazine (May 13, 2002). The article reported that dyslexia is common in people who are uncommonly gifted in other areas of the brain. Now I am not scared to say I'm dyslexic. Heck, John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, is dyslexic. Everyone should be so lucky to have a brain so similar to his.

But there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of problems that people hide - the problems that do not grace the covers of business magazines. Most of us have problems we hide from our business associates. For example, I was hospitalised for an eating disorder. That is not fashionable among CEOs on the cover of Fortune magazine, so I am not as likely to say it when I'm networking. And no one wants to hear it in an interview.

I know I took an unconventional path through life. After all, I didn't just take a detour to Milwaukee, I took a detour to the mental ward. But detours make us who we are; otherwise everyone would have the same experiences from the same path. Think about your own detours. In fact, you might be taking one now. Or you might have taken one in the past but never took time to appreciate it. Even if your detours are not as hip as Dyslexia, your detours make you more able to succeed at work because they make you stronger in life.

Penelope Trunk writes a weekly career column. To receive this column send an email to penelope@penelopetrunk.com. Website: www.penelopetrunk.com.

From the Summer 2003 edition of Speaking Out.