Great, transformational leaders are a lot of things. They are believers, and connectors. They are visionaries with values. They are “doers” that get the right stuff done, the right ways. AND, they are cause and effect experts.
Today let’s take a peek at the cause and effect piece.
Today, I find a number of “titans of industry” that more resemble the “TITANIC.” They have trouble below the water line and are filling up fast with that oh too familiar feeling.
The sinking one.
There is however, one industry that, even today, is enjoying an easy breeze at their back and smooth waters on their horizon. In fact, they are projected by countless experts to have one of the absolute best decades ahead of them. These titans have got a good thing going. They have more clients than they have product to serve. They have more need, in their marketplace, than resource with which to meet it. As they say, this is a good problem to have.
What is the industry, you might inquire.
Here it is. Do NOT miss this. This is HUGE.
The place you want to be, today, and tomorrow and for quite awhile it would seem, is…
In rehab.
The business end, that is. Seems that in America, the one place we continue to see good multiples, high revenue growth, new product development, long backlogs, increasing demand, and high margins is in America’s Addiction marketplace. If you want the next big thing, you will find it here. Addiction Rehabilitation is one of America’s growth engines.
This falls under the category of a very sad truth.
Now for your homework.
What is the root cause?
Why are we no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave but instead are now more known as the home of the addict and the nation of rehabs?
Why can’t we just stop?
Why doesn’t the economy drive down this market like it’s driven down the auto, the insurance, the banking, the chemical, the sports, the food, the entertainment, the technology, the retail, the commercial building, the residential, and countless other markets that appear to need some bailing from his highness, “Obama la Presidential?”
Why can’t we just stop?
Why are lawyers the highest in per capita income and also enjoy the highest probability of requiring rehab?
Why, Why, Why?
Tell me more, my friend.
Tell me more…
BUILT TO LEAD 
Because it’s impossible to fill the Grand Canyon by throwing marbles in it?
The only “effect” that results from that root “cause” is that you lose all your marbles.
hummmm …. my experience and reading tells me that substance abuse is a disease, not a choice. The question is .. Is America any different than any other “developed nation” when it comes to the problem ? (probably not) … the root causes of the disease lies waiting in all mankind … the trigger events that cause the disease to manifest itself are well documented …. stress, trauma, loss of job, history of illness, poor health choices, lack of sleep, broken relationships, etc. America hasn’t corner the market on these social ills .. in the end we are all the same. We just maybe farther down the path to these social (and sad) ills …… James Hollister
Dear Hollister,
many thanks for your comment! (This is Jim, Chet’s fellow Builder). Here’s what I think:
The proper question might be re-set to compare America not against other “developed” nations, but to compare it to itself before the epidemic of depression and addiction began to run amok about 50 years ago.
Exhaustive research has found that happiness, presumably an opposite of depression/anxiety disorder and an antidote to addiction, is a function of a person’s set point (genetic predisposition to happiness), life circumstances, and factors under one’s voluntary control. Martin Seligman, Ph.D., in his book Authentic Happiness, expresses this as a formula: H = S + C + V.
The evidence is in and it indicates that humans have not become more genetically predisposed to unhappiness (S) over the last 50 years, as the rates per capita of addiction and depression have skyrocketed. Therefore, the root cause must lie in our life circumstances (C) and factors (F) within our control.
By most economic indicators, Americans are much better off, on average and in total, than they were 50 years ago. Actually, based on the exhaustive studies, these types of factors are not associated with happiness or unhappiness or depression anyway, above a certain minimum threshold of income and possessions. So, the answer must lie within factors (F) within our control…
What are they? Seligman says that, in order to live a happy life (and one presumably addiction- and depression-free), a person should:
1. Live in a wealthy democracy, not a poor dictatorship. Check.
2. Get and stay married. Uh, no check, given the rise of divorce and single-parent families in the last 50 years…
3. Avoid negative events and emotions. Uh, no check, given the growth of TV and media in general over the last 50 years, and 24-hour cable news more recently, and associated depicted violence. In fact, TV viewing has been proven to create moderate depression in the viewer.
4. Acquire a robust social circle of friends. No check. The average American male has 0.8 friends and community bonds are largely a shadow of their former selves 50 years ago.
5. Get religion (specifically, get a hopeful religion). No check. While most Americans claim to be spiritual, active churchgoing and participation are down dramatically in the last 50 years.
All of us are “wired” to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Some of us are particularly wired for addiction. Most of us are seeking happiness in the wrong things and end up depressed and more prone to substance abuse, which, science indicates, rewires and retrains the brain’s pleasure centers to crave pleasure at lower set points. This is not so much a clinical disease as it is a national habit, or way of life. The pursuit of unhappiness has replaced the pursuit of happiness.
The way out? Read Seligman’s book. In fact, let’s all read more and that’d be a good start on the road to recovery!
Thanks again for your interest in BUILT TO LEAD!