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Should being a drunken, coke-head be the cornerstone of your plan to achieve greatness?  Well, not exactly.  But neuroscientists like Dr. David Linden at Johns Hopkins Medical School are finding that addicts and overachieving leaders are often wired the same way.

In a New York Times article, Linden argues that successful leaders ranging from Alexander the Great to Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs have the same psychological profile as drug addicts.  They are all compulsive risk-takers with a strong need for novelty and stimulation.  That’s because these people–who I call Potential Seekers–lack normal amounts of dopamine in their brain.  That means their pleasure sensors are dulled compared to everyone else.

The average person gets their kicks chatting it up with a good friend, watching reruns of CSI: Des Moines, or maybe digging into the latest John Grisham installment.  Unfortunately, those activities don’t cut the mustard for a Potential Seeker.  For them, these benign activities are about as enjoyable as an insurance seminar.  To feel the same amount of pleasure as everyone else, potential seekers have to live a lot closer to the edge…pretty much all the time.

So the conclusion here is obvious: Lindsay Lohan or Charlie Sheen should have been hired to run General Motors.  (Of course, I’m kidding.  They would have driven the company to bankruptcy…er, wait….)

From Addict to Achiever

So how does one make the leap from addict to achiever?  The difference–and here’s the kicker–is where these folks choose to get the lion’s share of their stimulation.  For example, when Alexander the Great wasn’t getting wasted, he kept himself stimulated by conquering the known world.

It’s not the use and/or abuse of alcohol and drugs that make these people successful.  It is, however, the same brain mechanisms that cause them to crave drugs and alcohol that also drive them to crave stimulation in their work. Unfortunately, if they choose to satisfy their craving for stimulation with drugs and alcohol too often, they just become run-of-the-mill junkies.

In his new book, The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good, Dr. Linden reveals the research showing that it isn’t the intensity of the craving that matters.  If you look inside their brains, you won’t find any discernible differences between addicts and addict-prone overachievers.  The achievers are just would-be addicts who find other forms of stimulation to supplement their craving.  Although I don’t know from personal experience, I would imagine that conquering the world provides a buzz every bit as good as anything you’ll find at a nightclub.

The really fascinating and somewhat ironic thing, however, is that Potential Seekers are ultimately less satisfied by their successes than other people would be.  They crave success more, but feel less enjoyment when they eventually succeed.  While that is kind of a bummer for the Potential Seeker, it can actually be really good for their business, or for others (employees, family members, friends) who prosper from their successes.  It is often that perpetual dissatisfaction that keeps Potential Seeking leaders driving toward bigger and better achievements.

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