Bravery, Commitment & Work

June 9, 2025
|In Article
|By Jess Webb

Last week, I introduced you to tech executive and coach David Greer, a friend and client I worked with for many years, as he talked about how he came to ask for help for his alcoholism. In the second of this three-part series, we cover the early days of his recovery and a new, lifelong commitment.

David Greer’s story is not uncommon in the world of high-performing entrepreneurs.

It’s easy to be caught on the treadmill of constantly striving for success, and to turn to coping mechanisms that may serve us, in the short term. Long term is another story. And facing reality and stepping onto a different path is a brave story.

And a commitment. A friend who taught me a lot about the disease of alcoholism told me there are two types of people who go into recovery through AA: those who attend a couple of sessions and think they’re cured, and those, like David, who are committed to do the work regularly, over the long term.

AA isn’t the only path—but it’s the one David chose.

The First Step

“When you asked me to commit to go to a meeting,” David said to me. “I knew I was going downtown to a technology networking event which finished at 8. I (saw) there was going to be a meeting at 8:30…located 1/4 of a block off the road I was driving down to go home…so it was hard to make an excuse. I was really scared, you know? How would I have dinner without wine? It was literally unimaginable.

“I sat on the edge of one of the rows so I could escape if I needed to…and sat on my hands (until) the last possible second. Then I stood up and said, ‘I’m David and I’m an alcoholic’.

“At that time, I don’t think I knew really what I was admitting to, but it was the right thing to do, and it turned out it was very true.”

David had found his home group to which, sixteen years later, he still goes to every week, along with two other AA meetings a week. The alcoholic part of his brain, he says, still wants to forget that he’s in recovery and he wants to remind himself of his truth. More here about finding his home group.

 

Listen to David discuss continuing to work the steps.

 

A Sacred Space

Being in the room, at an AA meeting, is powerful. There are very few experiences I’ve had – in the business community and in other parts of my life – where people are listened to, are vulnerable and share so deeply and authentically.

It’s a sacred space. Space held for each other that needs to be strong enough to fight what David calls the most powerful drug on the planet, and that happens to be legal and socially acceptable. Listen to David describe this sacred space below.

 

“It’s a gift to them and a gift to yourself at the same time,” he says. “And yes, if I have to go to three meetings a week for the rest of my life, it’s pretty good medicine.”

The Number One Thing

A coach for others, today, David and I talk to our clients about what’s the number one thing to achieve this quarter, this year. For David, it’s easy. It’s continuing to do the work to stay sober.

“I know, every day, what it is my north star. If I go back out (and drink again), I will have an early death. Drugs were not part of my story the first time but now I’ve been to enough meetings I’m pretty certain my alcoholic brain would want to experiment there.

“I do honestly, deeply, in my heart of hearts, treat this as a life-and-death decision every day.”

“The steps are easy. It’s the work that’s hard.”

                      • David Greer

“Getting sober is the single biggest achievement in my life”, he says. “Now, I only have to achieve it for today. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. I don’t have to worry about yesterday.”

Asking for Help

A high-performing life is stressful, and most executives are addicted to something. I’ve seen it in boardrooms and when we go out for dinners. Whether it’s alcohol or adrenaline or work itself, we all have triggers that can become a problem.

To those people, David says two things:

    • “No matter how dark it is, there is light. There is a solution to your darkness even though you may easily feel like there is none. There is some way out.
    • “The mind that got us into that, can’t get us out. Ask for help.

“For 20 years, I was a daily drinker. It’s only when I reached out my hand for help, through 12-step recovery, that I was able to overcome and achieve my biggest achievement in my life.” David’s advice for others who struggle is here.

 

A Lifelong Commitment

I recently went to an AA meeting with David, as he received his 16-year cake (the celebration for 16 years of sobriety). And, after all this time, you’d think he was cured. But he helped me to understand how tenuous recovery can be, even after all the counselling, healing and support.

“If I ever pick up one drink, all bets are off. When people go back, (their drinking) usually gets worse within one or two weeks. I still have drinking nightmares that are so real that for the first one or two seconds when I wake up, I’m 100% convinced that I took a drink.  The alcoholic part of my brain tries to get me when I’m unconscious.

“It’s real. Alcohol can own you.” David talks about doing the work below.

 

Sometimes, he explains, you need to take medication for an ailment that’s a bridge to get you to the other side. Sometimes, it’s required for life, to be part of the life you really want.

That, and service to others, which we’ll talk about next week.

Below is the full interview and to David’s website https://coachdjgreer.com/.

 

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