Mark Goulston--

What is it that Mark Sanford, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Elliott Spitzer AND Bernie Madoff have in common?

It's not that they all cheated on someone; it's that they're all "Adrenaline Junkies." Adrenaline is like "power" junk food. When you're in the middle of an adrenaline rush, you feel invincible, powerful, above the rules and above all, special. But one thing all these power junkies don't reckon on until it's too late is that "the thrill of an adrenaline rush is only exceeded by the utter angst of an adrenaline crash."

In essence these people are hooked on natural cocaine and like most cocaine addicts, they can become desperate to do and take anything to prevent the adrenaline crash. It's in that moment of desperation that concern for consequences is thrown to the wind.

"When you're on an adrenaline high, smoke gets in your mind;
and when that high begins to fall,
and your judgment becomes cloudy
you will do anything to keep it going,
and I mean anything."

That is why many people engage in extreme sports, are addicted to World of Warcraft, cocaine, scary movies, pornography AND hookers and affairs. The more dangerous and/or forbidden the activity the greater the chance to keep your adrenaline rush going. A couple of movies, Crank and Crank 2, we're almost a comic book caricature of exactly this phenomenon.

What is truly frightening about powerful people -- and usually men -- who are adrenaline junkies is wondering if and how it affects their judgment outside of the forbidden activity. Ironically and thankfully, a man's area of incompetence is usually the last to go when they hooked on adrenaline. They'll still be able to function competently long after they have destroyed their marriage or their finances, but there are occasions when it crosses over into behavior that can affect thousands, i.e. Bernie Madoff, or possibly an entire country, if in fact it played a role in the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney taking us to war with Iraq.

What's the take home from this? If all that glitters isn't gold, all that glows can turn out to be fool's gold.

Dr. Mark Goulston is a former UCLA professor who helps high performing leaders, senior management and sales people reach their full potential using skills he learned training FBI and police hostage negotiators. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches and writes the weekly Tribune syndicated career advice column, "Solve Anything with Dr. Mark" and columns on leadership for FAST COMPANY and Directors Monthly and is an expert at People Jam. He is frequently called upon to share his expertise with regard to contemporary business, national and world news by television, radio and print media including: Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, Los Angeles Times, ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox/CNN/BBC News, Oprah, and Today. Mark Goulston is the author of The 6 Secrets of a Lasting Relationship, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, Get Out of Your Own Way at Work, PTSD for Dummies, and Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone (AMACOM/Sep 2009). For more information visit: www.markgoulston.com.

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