Being Your Own Hero: Grab Problems No One Else Wants

Every hero's journey has its dragons…

…those problems everyone else runs from. For years, I was the runner. But life has a way of teaching us that the very things we avoid often hold the keys to our transformation.

This lesson crystallized during…

…my corporate career where I developed an unwanted specialty: fixing broken divisions. Year after year, as the CEO shuffled the organizational deck, I'd find myself inheriting the company's most troubled units.

Failed financials. Toxic culture. Crumbling market share. These weren't just problems—they were opportunities in disguise, though I couldn't see it then.

One year I was meeting with the…

…CEO and told him it seemed I always got the troubled ones while other managers were seemingly getting divisions that had the golden eggs.

I asked that during the upcoming reorganization cycle if I could just be left alone and not handed any trouble spots. He gave me a sly smile and changed the subject.

Sure enough, my next assignment was…

…a division in full meltdown a toxic culture where employee satisfaction had hit rock bottom and talent was fleeing like rats from a sinking ship.

The division manager was universally despised, productivity had flat-lined, and morale was a distant memory. It was exactly what I'd asked not to receive. It was also exactly what I needed.

This wasn't just about fixing a broken division…

…it was about facing the dragon. Each challenge was a test, each solution a piece of earned wisdom.

Over months of difficult conversations, strategic rebuilding, and relentless focus, we didn't just fix problems—we transformed them into strengths.

Later, when a Board member…

…thanked me for the turnaround I realized something profound: the problems we're most reluctant to face often become our greatest teachers.

Just as the military brat life had forced me to develop resilience, these corporate crucibles were forging something equally valuable—the ability to see opportunity in chaos.

This is perhaps the most…

…counter-intuitive part of becoming your own hero: learning to run toward the fire, not away from it.

The problems nobody wants to touch? They're often where the real magic happens.

They're where we discover capabilities we never knew we had, where we learn to trust our instincts, where we transform from problem-avoiders into problem-solvers.

There are times, however, the fire comes at you.

Imagine a wild grass fire moving directly at you. No need to run at it, it's coming directly for you. This was the case when we won the contract to start up the mental health program for military dependents living overseas.

The irony wasn't lost on me, the military brat who'd lived this life was now responsible for supporting the next generation.

Within 60 days of winning, the team was served a cure notice: 30 days to correct or face termination. We were a subcontractor on the team and had no program management role, but at the cure notice meeting in the Pentagon, the Army office director had other ideas. 

"I want you to be the Program Manager,"

she said, fixing me with the kind of direct stare I'd grown up with in military circles.

"As a subcontractor, that would be hard to do," I responded, falling back on the precise language my military upbringing had taught me.

She cut through the protocol with military directness: "I don't care. I have worked with you before and trust you. You're it. Fix it."

She recognized something I hadn't yet fully appreciated…

…my background wasn't just experience, it was expertise. I understood military family life from the inside out. I knew firsthand the challenges these kids faced with each move, each new school, each parent deployment.

I was actually looking to leave the company at the time. But was handed this and sent to Germany for weeks on end to get the program operating correctly. That didn't leave much time to interview.

Eventually, with a lot of work…

…and drawing deeply on my own experiences as a military dependent—the program found its footing.

We weren't just providing mental health services; we were creating the support system I wished I'd had growing up. As the program expanded worldwide, it helped thousands of military kids navigate the same challenges I'd faced decades earlier.

My childhood "training" in adaptability, crisis management, and military protocol had prepared me perfectly for this moment, though I hadn't known it at the time.

The lesson learned was that the hero's journey…

…at times comes at you fast and without notice. The key is recognizing that your past challenges—even those you didn't choose—are actually preparing you for future opportunities to make a difference.