You are part of a group of people who meets professionally to further yourself in the world of business. Sometimes you talk about personal things like the problems at home or the debt that you’re dealing with but for the most part what’s discussed inside of your meetings is the work topic that you meet about. The line between professional and personal stays fairly clear cut. But that all changes when someone in the group has a drug addiction.

Because of the high number of people who have a problem with addiction, it is not uncommon for professional groups to see this issue arise. However, since it isn’t talked about openly, many groups don’t know how to deal with it. They try to ignore their concerns or dance around the issue. The most common reason for this is that they feel it is not their place to say something about it. Make it your business.

An addiction, whether it’s too alcohol or crystal meth, wreaks havoc on an individual’s life. When it does, it affects everything in that person’s life. That includes your professional group. Deal with the problem head on by planning an intervention as soon as it appears to be necessary. The individual may be angry at first but bringing this personal issue to the table will ultimately make the whole group stronger.

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