Adapt or Die — All Episodes /feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCnK_N8aKzD7N53wEeVcrlRg
Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min · 1 segments
In this episode, Hayden opens up about how being adopted and early insecurities turned into workaholism and a persistent fear of abandonment. He shares stories of turning around struggling divisions…
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Where I resonate with that is, you know, the same thing.
The, the, the trauma, the insecurity I had being, uh, adopted, I really channeled it into, um, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, some workaholism.
And, um, that's where it manifested itself.
I always felt I had to prove myself.
I always felt I had to work harder.
Never worked hard enough, um, because I was-- I had a fear of being abandoned.
In, in careers, a couple of companies that I worked with, I had a major impact on some, some turnarounds, and, uh, one company wanted to, um...
I turned around the poorest-performing division in the company and then was off to a new project within that company, and so had a fairly substantial amount of, of stock, stock options.
And, um, [chuckles] two week...
Or two weeks.
About two years before they, um, they sold the company and, you know, this stock would've, would've come in for me, I thought, "Well, you know, I've had some success, but they'll find out who I am and, you know, maybe they'll fire me, and I don't know if they'll ever make it." And with, um...
I've worked and advised over 140 companies, and a lot of it is I just, um, that fear of abandonment has translated into the workplace.
And I, I come in and out of organizations quickly.
I can identify patterns and, and give them recommendations and get them on the right track, but, um, staying around for a longer period of time has been a challenge for me.
And it, it goes back to, um, some of the things, some of the things I went through in my life or the way I saw, um, those securities or those insecurities
Where I resonate with that is, you know, the same thing.
The, the, the trauma, the insecurity I had being, uh, adopted, I really channeled it into, um, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, some workaholism.
And, um, that's where it manifested itself.
I always felt I had to prove myself.
I always felt I had to work harder.
Never worked hard enough, um, because I was-- I had a fear of being abandoned.
In, in careers, a couple of companies that I worked with, I had a major impact on some, some turnarounds, and, uh, one company wanted to, um...
I turned around the poorest-performing division in the company and then was off to a new project within that company, and so had a fairly substantial amount of, of stock, stock options.
And, um, [chuckles] two week...
Or two weeks.
About two years before they, um, they sold the company and, you know, this stock would've, would've come in for me, I thought, "Well, you know, I've had some success, but they'll find out who I am and, you know, maybe they'll fire me, and I don't know if they'll ever make it." And with, um...
I've worked and advised over 140 companies, and a lot of it is I just, um, that fear of abandonment has translated into the workplace.
And I, I come in and out of organizations quickly.
I can identify patterns and, and give them recommendations and get them on the right track, but, um, staying around for a longer period of time has been a challenge for me.
And it, it goes back to, um, some of the things, some of the things I went through in my life or the way I saw, um, those securities or those insecurities