4 Ways to ruin your reputation in the Addiction and Behavioral Health Industry.
1. Ego: Helping people is why you got into this industry, but then the fame and admiration can go to your head. You help someone get sober and they thank you, repeatedly. Then you help someone else and they thank you as well. People interview you, your face is on your website. You become a local celebrity. You get addicted to the fame of the industry and love that your phone rings at 3 am. Then you get cocky and people start to see it, they know that you are in this for your own gain. You have people following you, wanting to be just like you, and you love it. You throw events where you become the center of attention. You are addicted to the admiration and your ego will ruin you.
2. Greed: The money in this industry can be alluring. It is fast, quick and plentiful. You find yourself chasing the dollar, ‘putting heads in beds’, skirting the law to make a few extra bucks. You might sell a lead (patient broker), or bill the insurance company extra for a drug screen. Maybe you are running a sober house and billing through an IOP insurance. You get a reputation as a ‘dirty or unethical person’ fairly quickly and people shy away from doing business with you.
3. Lying about your credentials: In addiction we lie and it is considered part of the ‘disease or issue of addiction’. In sobriety, the lying is supposed to stop, but because you are not using drugs or alcohol anymore, you think that you are recovered. You fabricate your story, clean time or credentials. You tell people you have been doing this for years, yet you have 6 months sober. Instead of investing time in classes and certifications you simply advertise you have them. People know when they research you that you are fabricating your life. They do not want to do business with you.
4. Burning Bridges: You step on people to get to the top, once there you treat others poorly. You never know whom you will need in this industry or when you may need them. Rudely reacting to your competition when you see them, talking bad about someone else or throwing a temper tantrum and screaming at them will come back to haunt you. At some point you will need them and when you do, they will turn their back on you.
In this industry it is paramount that you check your baggage at the door and stop taking everyone’s inventory. Take your own. Water your lawn and it will grow, help your neighbor water his and your entire block will be beautiful.
At The Addictions Coach and The Addictions Academy and Rehab Rescue we are looking for LIKE-MINDED individuals to network with, share ideas and grow all of our businesses. We believe that there is plenty of business to go around, and plenty of people need our help. Call us today and ask us about our VIP CLUB and VIP Symposium
www.theaddictionsacademy.com 1.800.706.0318
