A Person’s History Should Not Be Mistaken for Their Potential

When I was trying to find my way back into the workplace, I was recruited by a CEO who told me, “I know all about you.” I assumed he meant my previous business success and professional experience. He didn’t.

He knew about my addiction and recovery.

Then he told me about his father, who was also in recovery. From his father, he had learned not to view recovery as a weakness or a reason to question someone’s ability. His father had taught him that recovery can give people a kind of strength, self-awareness, and resilience that cannot be learned in a classroom or developed through an ordinary career path.

He shared a lesson from his father that I have never forgotten:

“If you have the opportunity to hire a good businessperson who is in recovery, do it. Their lived experience and resilience can make them some of your best employees.”

At that point in my life, I thought my history was something an employer would have to overlook. This CEO saw it differently. Because of what his father had taught him, he understood that my recovery was not simply something in my past. It was part of the value I could bring to the future.

He saw an opportunity in me while I was still trying to find my way back.

Years later, I was surprised—and encouraged—to discover that research supports much of what he and his father already understood. People in recovery can become highly dependable, engaged, and valuable employees. Recovery can be accompanied by improved attendance, stronger job performance, professional advancement, and lower healthcare costs.

For more than three decades, I have intentionally shared my story and worked to educate employers about addiction, treatment, and recovery. Because of stigma and deeply rooted myths, progress has often felt painfully slow.

That is why I am so encouraged by what is happening now.

Employers, health plans, and other organizations are beginning to see substance use disorder differently. They are recognizing an opportunity to help people reach treatment, rebuild their lives, and return to the workplace healthier and better able to contribute.

Employers are in a uniquely powerful position. Employer-sponsored insurance is the largest source of health coverage for Americans under age 65. The decisions employers make about benefits can affect not only an employee, but also spouses, children, families, and entire communities.

This is about far more than controlling healthcare costs. Drug overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and excessive alcohol use is also a leading preventable cause of death. Helping someone reach effective care can improve attendance, engagement, retention, and workplace performance.

It can also save a life.

One example of this progress is Carrum Health’s decision to create a substance use disorder treatment program.

For me, this is especially meaningful.

Carrum took a bold leap. It chose to see substance use disorder as more than a source of cost and risk. It saw an opportunity to give people a clearer path to treatment, recovery, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Carrum’s program represents something larger than another employee benefit. It reflects the same belief that CEO shared with me years ago: people in recovery are worth believing in, worth investing in, and worth giving an opportunity to succeed.

This is part of a broader and hopeful change. Employers, health plans, treatment providers, and recovery-ready workplace initiatives are moving beyond simply covering treatment. They are creating clearer, more trustworthy paths that help people receive the right care when they are ready.

As I mentioned, supporting recovery makes good business sense—but those outcomes are not the ultimate bottom line. The ultimate bottom line is that people get the opportunity to recover, rebuild their lives, and show us what they are capable of becoming.

After more than three decades of telling my story, I am encouraged to see organizations beginning to understand what one CEO—and his father before him—understood years ago:

Recovery is not a reason to count someone out.

About the Author

Bob Poznanovich is a nationally recognized behavioral health leader, speaker, author, and advocate with more than three decades of experience. As Principal Advisor at Poznanovich.Health, he works with payers, employers, healthcare organizations, technology companies, and industry leaders to expand access to high-quality substance use treatment and recovery support.

Bob also serves as an advisor to Carrum Health on substance use disorder treatment.