One of our newer managers suddenly disappeared last week. He took with him some $500 of company cash, but nothing else. He didn't even take his clothes or personal belongings.

We're never shocked when managers leave suddenly and take TLC money with them. However, this man's departure was sort of a surprise to us all. He was one of our up and coming new managers. He was energetic, always spending time improving the house. There was rarely a time when we visited when he wasn't supervising a painting project or doing something with the landscaping. He attended meetings and seemed to apply program principles in his daily life.

However, nobody's perfect. And this manager had his flaws, as do all of our managers. But we felt we were able to work with this man’s issues. A major defect was his huge ego. It didn't make any difference if he were dealing with a client or a probation officer, he sometimes let his ego take charge and the communication would end poorly. On more than one occasion we had to send him back to apologize, to make amends for his behavior. This aspect of his character was the topic of several counseling sessions. In fact, he was required – after one incident – to write a daily paragraph about his ego. After a week of writing he was required to write a final paper about his ego, an exercise to help him examine this aspect of his personality.

When he finally called for help, from a crack hotel in the area, we agreed to help him again. We sent a driver to bring him to one of our intake facilities. At intake he told the coordinator he’d relapsed because I’d made him write about his ego.

His remark didn't surprise me at all. Until I was ready to get sober my ego told me that everyone else was the problem. Me? I was just a poor, misunderstood, addict and alcoholic. And the world had it in for me. Fortunately, our former manager made it back alive. And we're willing to help him once more.