It’s great to have heroes in your life that can swoop in when there’s a problem and save the day. It’s even better to be the hero of your own story. But do you know what’s the best? To be in a situation that doesn’t require a hero in the first place. Sure, the hero can be on standby, but instead of reacting to circumstances, let’s be proactive in not letting the situation escalate to where a hero is needed. It’s the boring answer, but it’s true.
I understand that not all situations that require heroes to step up are a result of mismanagement. But if you find that there are recurring issues at work or in life (“fires” that continually have to be put out), you are probably lacking effective processes.
Try to think proactively, not reactively. After you’re done putting a fire out, think about how the fire got so big in the first place. Ask yourself, “what could we have done differently to avoid letting this happen?” and then work to solve those issues.
Don’t have problem blindness. Sometimes, when you are in an industry for so long, you think, “Well, that’s just the way it is. We can’t do anything about that in this business.” But is that really true? Is that the way it always has to be or is that the way it is right now because of how you are approaching the situation? Can you do something different to achieve a different outcome? Think outside of the box. Diverge from the status quo. To be revolutionary/innovative, you have to do things differently. To do things differently, you have to think differently.
Do yourself a favor and work hard to avoid needing a hero now, otherwise you’ll have to battle the stress of needing/being a hero later.
