The Sober Executive: Thriving Amidst a Boozy Corporate Culture

My last intercontinental business trip was to South America in January and February of 2020. I remember the ritual of it all, including the two glasses of champagne just before takeoff for the long journey. A boozy dinner during the layover. And, of course, the self-driven mandate to enjoy a caipirinha at the hotel lobby bar.

Shortly after that trip – and about a month before the lockdown hit – I quit drinking forever. And it wasn’t until recently, when things began to “return to normal,” that I started to pay more attention to how much corporate culture is commingled with alcohol. It’s the hotel lobby party at a trade show. The bottle of wine at a client dinner. The team-building happy hour.

Some might question why companies that thrive on productivity are reinforcing corporate booze culture. After all, our drinking habits as a society overall during the pandemic lowered productivity, exacerbated mental health problems, and contributed significantly to workplace absenteeism. It may even have reduced our average life expectancy by nearly a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

Alcohol seems to be as integral to the corporate experience as a P&L report or PowerPoint. And we’re not going to change that. What we can change, however, is our role as individuals and how we relate to alcohol within this environment. As a certified coach using This Naked Mind’s framework, I help clients forever change their relationships with alcohol. The approach is different from more commonplace approaches to sobriety. 

Since launching Obsidian Coaching, I’ve been asked several times what the common thread is among the three areas I specialize in – speaking and media training, job and career transition, and sobriety. A friend even suggested they have as much in common as “peanut butter, jelly, and a chainsaw.” But here’s the thing: our success in each of these areas is intrinsically linked with the stories we tell ourselves about how we can’t do things. 

Notice the energetic similarities:

• “That reporter won’t be interested in my story.”
• “There’s no way they’d consider me for that job.”
• “I couldn’t possibly not drink in front of the client. What would they think?”
• Usually within a six-week program, I work with my clients to address their relationships with alcohol. 
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My clients (and I) don’t hesitate to take a client out to dinner, to attend a company happy hour, or join in on a lobby party at the hotel bar. They have universally found themselves to have changed their relationships with, and to, work – seizing upon it with more energy and resilience while finding new, innovative ways to succeed and thrive. All while still retaining the ability to swim in the high-proof corporate waters.

It’s about changing our mindset. It’s about playing by a new set of rules. And it’s about thriving amidst a corporate culture that tells us to be our best, then turns the volume up on a “work hard, play hard” mentality.

I, for one, regard my commitment to being alcohol free as a superpower. And as the legion of similarly minded executives grows, so, too, might the trend away from it as a corporate necessity.  

Curious about changing your relationship with alcohol? Visit ObsidianCoaching.com to schedule a free intake call.