Tackling Substance Abuse, Mental Health, And Managing Career Stress and Adversity,with Cliff Mcdonald

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth", I had the plasure of talking with Cliff McDonald, co-managing partner of BrainHeart Growth and Chief Growth Officer of RehabPath.

Cliff shares his personal journey with addiction and recovery, and how this led him to his role at RehabPath. We discuss the importance of managing career stress, aligning personal values with one's work, the significance of emotional intelligence in team dynamics, and the necessity of psychological safety in the workplace. Cliff dives into insights on evaluating a company's culture and the importance of authentic core values.

Cliff Macdonalds Linkedin Profile

The journey to Rehab Path (00:01:08) Cliff McDonald discusses his transition from BrainHeart Growth to becoming the Chief Growth Officer at RehabPath.

Working in behavioral health (00:03:11) Cliff shares his personal experience with substance use disorder and his passion for working in the behavioral health industry.

Discovering Rehab Path (00:07:04) Cliff explains how he came across Rehab Path and his initial involvement with the company before joining as a formal team member.

The importance of having a guide in recovery (00:11:22) Cliff discusses how having a platform like RehabPath can match individuals with treatment providers.

The pressure of being revenue responsible (00:12:25) Cliff reflects on the pressure of being revenue responsible and shares a story about Shaquille O'Neal's perspective on pressure in comparison to his own experience.

The importance of finding meaning and mission in work (00:16:54) Cliff talks about the significance of finding meaning and purpose in one's career, and how being tied to the mission of an organization contributes to overall well-being and prevents burnout.

The importance of engagement and relationships (00:21:53) Discussion on the significance of engagement and relationships in finding the next opportunity and experiencing positive emotions and achievement.

The value of core values and team dynamics (00:24:56) Exploration of the importance of core values and team dynamics in creating a positive work environment and successful teams.

Challenging toxic cultures in sports and business (00:30:16) Conversation about the need to challenge toxic cultures in sports and business, promoting psychological safety and creating a safe environment for individuals to perform their best.

The culture of an organization (00:31:11) Discussion on how to evaluate the culture of an organization during the interview process and how to uncover if it is authentic or just lip service.

Authentic core values (00:33:01) Importance of authentic core values in a company and how they are proven or disproven through stories shared by leaders.

The spiritual life and past life exploration (00:41:44) Cliff discusses his experience of feeling free in nature and speculates about being an explorer in a past life.

The story of the two wolves (00:42:27) Cliff shares an old Native American tale about the two wolves that exist within each person, one representing negative emotions and the other representing positive emotions.

Reflections on fatherhood and future lives (00:43:24) Cliff and Jay discuss the idea of coming back in a future life, with Cliff expressing a desire to come back as a wolf and Jay jokingly suggesting he wants to come back as his own children.