The Secret Addiction Of Leadership & 3 Ways To Kick It with Will Van Der Hart
In the latest episode of Extra-Ordinary Leaders, I sat down with Will Van Der Hart, author, executive coach, and founder of The Mind And Soul Foundation, which aims to equip, educate, and encourage leaders with regards to wellbeing and mental health.
If you’re finding you’re burning out (or getting bored!) repeatedly, keep reading because Will has fascinating insight into the adrenaline addiction that is so common in leaders, and how we can avoid burnout in our quest to be extra-ordinary.
Will has spent his life concerned with the wellbeing of others, from his days as Angelican Pastor in London through to today in the work he does with leaders to nurture and promote confidence, wellbeing, and purpose.
The full conversation with Will is available here.
Adrenaline addiction and leadership
Adrenal addiction in the workplace is more than just being a “workaholic”. Many entrepreneurs have similar personality types – we’re confident, we’re driven, and we’re risk takers. We can thrive in the face of uncertainty in a way that many people can’t, because we see it as opportunity.
But as we keep scaling our successes, our measurement of what feels like a risk and what feels like an exciting opportunity changes. We become easily bored, always looking for how we can reach the next bigger and better goal. As these metrics increase, so too does the amount of adrenaline needed for us to feel a “rush”.
Will: “What happens to us in leadership is those small moments when we felt a real high from extending ourselves and doing something extra-ordinary are overwhelmed by the next extra-ordinary experience. The trouble is, we can't keep scaling higher and higher mountains.”
Are you an adrenaline junkie?
Adrenaline is a hormone that prepares the body for a fight or flight reaction and is released in response to perceived stressors.
The collective term for the symptoms caused by a fight or flight reaction is an “adrenaline rush”. During an adrenaline rush, the body releases dopamine, otherwise known as the “feel good hormone”. It is this process that we can become addicted to.
Many people might struggle to understand the gravity of the term “addiction” when applied to adrenaline since it doesn’t manifest the way more obvious addictions do, such as drug or alcohol addictions. But adrenaline addiction is classed as a behavioural addiction, much the same as gambling, shopping, or exercise addictions.
You might be a business adrenaline junkie if:
You struggle to take breaks and are constantly checking your emails
You have created or thrive in a highly competitive, high-stakes work environment
You change your mind a lot and struggle to commit to one path
You over-promise and then rush at the last minute
Will: “The ‘adrenalisation’ of leadership is actually really important. We enter into something called adrenal burnout where burnout is increasingly prevalent. I think people disassociate the very physical part of burnout to the psychological part of burnout too quickly.”
Adrenal fatigue
The problem with constantly striving for bigger, better, and more, is that eventually the road runs out – or our energy does – and we crash and burn. It is simply not sustainable to live or lead in a heightened state of adrenaline. It can lead to stress-related health problems that make it even more difficult to perform well at work.
Adrenal fatigue, otherwise known as burnout, is thought to occur when the adrenal glands have been overworked by excessive cortisol release, often as a result of prolonged emotional distress – or stress – and no longer function normally.
Symptoms include:
Sleeplessness
Depression & anxiety
Loss of appetite
Headaches / chronic pain
Feeling overwhelmed and struggling to think clearly
If you have experienced a period of prolonged stress – or perhaps you’re reading this thinking “I can’t remember when I wasn’t stressed!” – you may be at risk of burnout if habits don’t change.
Will was kind enough to share his burnout story on the podcast:
Will: “I was a highly motivated, driven, adrenalised leader. In 2005, I ended up getting caught in the London Bombings at Edgware Station, and I ended up hosting the emergency service response in a little hall I was responsible for. And over that 24 hours it was… a huge amount of adrenaline. The outcome of this was that three months later I had an anxiety-based breakdown. I suffered so much adrenaline I was shaking through the night, I was having multiple panic attacks, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep.”
Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, said in an article titled The Painful Reality Of Adrenaline Addiction:
“There is something particularly insidious about adrenaline addiction that makes it hard for many leaders to kick the habit. Unlike other addicts whose behaviours are socially frowned-upon, adrenaline addicts are often praised for their frantic activity, even promoted for it during their careers. And so they often wear their problem like a badge of honour, failing to see it as an addiction at all.”
Don’t let your adrenal addiction go unchecked and unchanged before it manifests into burnout. Let’s explore ways we can manage it as extra-ordinary leaders.
How to heal from adrenaline addiction & burnout
Know thyself
Will believes that many of the issues related to the topic of adrenaline addiction and burnout are perpetuated by a lack of self-awareness and self-appraisal.
Related: Extra-Ordinary Leaders episode 2 – Self-Awareness & Extra-Ordinary Leaders: The Simple Truth with Steve Cockram.
It’s up to us to identify our bad habits and put measures in place to ensure they don’t negatively impact our work, the people around us, and our own wellbeing. To better understand your personality type, there are a number of assessments you can carry out, such as 16 Personalities from Myers & Briggs. Of course, this is just an indicator from which you can build more awareness.
If you’d benefit from some assistance identifying and understanding your personality type, get in touch or drop me a message on LinkedIn.
2. Set boundaries
Set strict boundaries about when you are going to work and what work you are going to do. Is it profitable? Is it draining your energy with no return?
If you’re staring at a blank screen and finding that after many hours you have accomplished nothing, it might be worth thinking about which tasks can be done in two minutes, which can be delegated, and which can be deleted from your to-do list entirely.
3. Know how to relax
Despite what many wellbeing books say, relaxation doesn’t always have to be meditation, yoga, and breathwork. For some people, relaxation is physical activity – just be careful your adrenal addiction isn’t sneakily manifesting itself elsewhere.
You might find Will’s book, which he co-authored with Bear Grylls, helpful. It’s aimed at people who want to engage with the wellbeing narrative but aren’t interested in the typical self-help formula.
The book, Mindfuel: Simple Ways To Build Mental Resilience Everyday, epitomises the junction between the propensity for adrenaline-seeking behaviours and rest and recovery, marrying real-world survival stories with lessons relating to wellbeing, patience, and resilience.
Will sums it up nicely when he says, “Good business practise and good wellbeing practise can go hand in hand.”
**
The full conversation with Will Van Der Hart is available here.
For more information on Will, head over to LinkedIn, check out his website, or visit The Mind And Soul Foundation.
Will’s books are available on Amazon.
Extra-Ordinary Leaders releases new episodes every week. Follow along on LinkedIn to be kept up to date.
