The Dual Calling of Leadership

There’s a quiet power in solving a problem.

And an even quieter one in preventing it from happening in the first place.

Albert Einstein’s quote draws a clean line between the intellectual and the genius.

But if you’ve spent any time leading teams, fixing broken processes, or trying to keep the wheels on a runaway project, you know real life isn’t that simple.

Sometimes, you’re the firefighter.

Sometimes, the architect.

And occasionally, if you’ve lived enough, you become both.

The Problem Solver’s Path…

In the early stages of my career, I made a living being the fixer.

Broken delivery systems.

Toxic cultures.

Warehouses where morale and metrics were both tanking.

I walked into chaos and walked out with a plan.

And I loved it.

That’s how “GetDoolen” was born!

There’s something deeply fulfilling about being the one people call when things fall apart.

You learn fast.

You sharpen instincts.

You become resilient, resourceful, and creative, not because you want to be, but because you have to be.

That’s the life of the intellectual in Einstein’s quote: making sense out of nonsense, making order out of mess.

But eventually, you start to wonder, could this have been avoided in the first place?

Becoming a Builder…

Somewhere along the way, through trial, error, and way too many lessons learned the hard way, I began to see the patterns before the problems.

I started writing the playbook before someone asked for it.

I started coaching the new hires before their mistakes became costly.

I started leading meetings that prevented confusion, rather than cleaning it up later.

And for a brief moment here and there, I crossed over into that rare genius space, building things that didn’t break.

That’s the dream, isn’t it?

To not just fix, but to prevent the fire.

Both Paths Matter!

But here’s the truth I’ve learned after some decades: the world needs both.

We need the intellectuals, the problem solvers, the system restorers, the chaos managers.

And we need the geniuses, the quiet planners, the big-picture thinkers, the architects of prevention.

One is not better than the other.

One isn’t “behind” the other.

They are both critical, both valuable, both noble.

Improvement Is Constant…

Perfection?

Rare.

But improvement?

That’s available every day.

My journey hasn’t been a straight line, it’s been a series of refinements, pivots, and self-corrections.

I’ve learned through failure, through feedback, through moments of doubt, and seasons of relentless learning.

And that’s what I try to teach others now: you don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to keep growing.

Leadership is less about brilliance and more about progress.

Your Call to Action…

So, which are you today?

A fixer or a builder?

Either way, you’re needed.

Whether you’re mopping up messes or mapping out systems, don’t stop.

Keep learning.

Keep leading.

Keep improving.

If you need help, guidance, or a new perspective…

I’m not hard to find!

That’s why I built GetDoolen.com

To help those in the field, fixers and foreseers alike, gain the tools, mindset, and confidence to rise to the next level.

Because whether you’re solving the problem or preventing it, you’re making the world better.

And that’s genius.