November 4, 2025 • 27 mins
You're really good at solving problems. And that's exactly why your business is still chaos.
Every time you swoop in and fix something, every time you're the hero who saves the day, you're building a dependency instead of a business. In this episode, I'm breaking down why your problem-solving superpower is secretly your kryptonite—and what to do about it.
We're talking about the identity trap that keeps capable entrepreneurs stuck in firefighter mode, why being needed feels so good (even when it's destroying you), and the three specific steps you can take this week to shift from solving problems to preventing them.
This one's going to challenge you. But if you're ready to stop being everyone's emergency contact and start being an actual CEO, let's dig in.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:
✅ Why being good at solving problems keeps your business dependent on you
✅ The identity trap that makes letting go feel like losing your value
✅ The difference between firefighter mode and CEO mode (and which one you're actually in)
✅ How to shift from reactive problem-solving to strategic problem prevention
✅ Three practical steps to break the addiction to being needed
✅ Why your team will never develop judgment if you keep giving them answers
✅ How to build systems that scale instead of staying the bottleneck
WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
This episode is perfect for you if:
- You're constantly solving the same problems over and over
- Your team asks permission for everything
- You can't take a day off without everything falling apart
- You know you should delegate but you're faster at doing it yourself
- You feel guilty when you're not solving problems
- Your business growth is stuck because you're the bottleneck
- You're working 50+ hours a week but revenue isn't growing
- You want to build a business that runs without you
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
After listening, ask yourself:
- When was the last time I solved a problem that someone else could have handled?
- What am I afraid will happen if I stop being the person who fixes everything?
- If I'm honest with myself, am I a firefighter or a CEO?
- What's one recurring problem I could build a system for this month?
- Am I solving this problem, or am I feeding my need to be needed?
SHARE THIS EPISODE
Know an entrepreneur who's amazing at solving problems but stuck in their business? Send them this episode. Sometimes we all need permission to stop being the hero.
Thanks for listening!
Connect With Me:
📩 Join my email list: https://www.jenncodysolutons.com/subscribe
📱 DM me on Instagram: @solutonsbyjenncody
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend who needs to hear this message!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Hi there, welcome to the Create Your Day podcast.
I'm your host, Jen Cody, andthank you so much for being
here.
I have to say something rightoff the bat, and that is I
listened to last week's episode,and I was like, Am I trying to
make people fall asleep?
And was I drugged?
Was I falling asleep?
I listen, I have been told that,you know, people said my voice
(00:41):
can be soothing.
Love it, happy to hear it.
And I don't want to be puttingpeople to sleep.
If I'm doing a meditation, it'sone thing, but my last episode
really did sound super likemeditative.
So um this week we're gonna trysomething a little bit
different.
So we are jumping in right away.
(01:01):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Like I said, this is a createyour day podcast.
My name is Jen Cody.
I am your host, and thank youfor being here.
I know that you have a lot ofplaces that you can choose to
spend your time.
So it is not lost on me that Iam lucky and blessed that you
are choosing to spend some timewith me.
If you love this podcast, I willsay right now, please rate it.
(01:23):
Leave a review for it.
It is the only way the podcastgrows.
It is the best way for us toreach new people.
That being said, let's jump intowhat we're speaking about this
week, which is the problem ofbeing a problem solver.
And I know most of the peoplewho are listening to this right
now love to solve problems.
It's why you are a businessowner or an entrepreneur, it's
(01:47):
why you are a leader.
Um, we're good at solvingproblems.
And guess what?
We think that that's why we'resuccessful.
And what really is the problemis that it's actually why we're
in chaos most of the time.
So every time you swoop in tofix something, every time you
are the hero who saves the day,every time you hear someone say
(02:08):
to you, I don't know what wewould do without you.
So good to hear, right?
Okay, but you're guessing you'reactually making the problem
worse because you're notbuilding a business, you're
building a dependency.
Remember, we spoke about makingyourself the commodity.
If you're the one every personis dependent on, that is an
issue, right?
(02:29):
It's a really big deal.
And the whole reason that thispodcast exists, that my company
exists, and the processes thatI've developed exist is to help
people stop spinning theirwheels so they can actually
build businesses that workwithout them, that have systems
in place.
So I created this process calledthe clear process.
(02:50):
And essentially, it came out ofbeing annoyed with myself and
being tired of watching myselfbe run into the ground.
And then also being really tiredof watching the brilliant people
that I get to work with drivethemselves into the ground as
well.
Their businesses hold themhostage, their calendar holds
them hostage.
(03:11):
And let's fix it, right?
We're problem solvers.
But this one is about not beingthe problem solver, not being
the problem solver.
So I know it's personal becauseyou want to be.
And I've also been the personthat cannot let go.
I have been the one who thoughtthat my value came from being
(03:31):
indispensable.
Does that sound familiar?
Because it's really not a goodthing.
Um, I've watched so many of youdo this and I want to dig into
this.
I want to start by thinkingabout um, let's just go through
a scenario and let me know if itsounds familiar to you.
So if you're listening to thisthe day it comes out, it's a
(03:52):
Tuesday.
That's when the podcast isreleased.
So let's say it's Tuesdayafternoon and you're finally
sitting down, you're going towork on a strategic project,
you're going to spend some timedoing something that you think
is really going to move yourbusiness forward.
You're excited about the time,it's blocked out on your
calendar, you're ready to go.
And then all of a sudden yourphone buzzes and it's maybe a
(04:14):
text from a client, it's um amessage from a vendor, it's
something.
Something has gone wrongsomewhere, and it's not huge,
but it needs attention.
It needs your attention.
So, what do you do?
You could let the person figureit out, you could ask some
questions, you can coach themthrough it, you can maybe even
(04:37):
build a system so that thisdoesn't happen again.
But do you do those things?
Chances are you don't.
What you do is you say toyourself, I know how to do this.
It's only going to take me fiveminutes.
So let me just jump in and cleanup this mess.
And honestly, to be reallyhonest, you kind of like being
(04:58):
the person who knows how to fixit.
I know, I I know, I've beenthere myself.
So you jump in, you solve it,you get that boom hit of
dopamine that's like, I'm sogood at what I do.
And then you go back to yourdesk.
Except now hours have gone bybecause it never takes five
minutes, and that strategic workyou were going to do, that focus
time did not happen once again.
(05:21):
This happens very often.
So let's be honest, like I said,it feels really good to be the
person who can solve theproblem.
And that dopamine hit, it feelslike value, it feels like proof.
People like me.
I'm smart, I'm capable, I amessential.
(05:42):
We want to feel that way.
When someone says, I don't knowwhat I'd do without you, come
on.
That's like a little surge ofpride.
When you're the one everyonecomes to, it does feel like six
like success.
But here's the thing (05:56):
it's not success, it's ego.
And I don't mean that in a judgyway at all.
I am not being judgmental.
I mean it as a way to diagnosethe problem.
Just funny that that's whatwe're talking about.
Diagnose the problem that we aretrying to solve here today about
being problem solvers and it'sidentity, right?
(06:18):
Because what's your identity?
You are the problem solver, youare the fixer, you are the
person that steps in when thingsfall apart.
And every time you do it, youget the hit of dopamine that
says, you're valuable, we loveyou, we need you, you matter.
Which means that every time youdon't solve the problem, what is
(06:39):
that telling you?
Every single time you letsomeone else figure it out,
every time you build a system,instead of being a hero, it kind
of feels like you're losing yourvalue.
And that is the feeling that webecome addicted to.
And this is why really smartpeople, really capable people,
um, really capable smartentrepreneurs and business
(07:02):
owners, we stay stuck in thisfixer mode, this firefighting
mode, because um, even though weknow better, we just love that
feeling.
It's easy to be addicted to.
And it certainly isn't becauseyou don't know about delegation.
I'm not, you know, a pioneer inthis industry when it comes to
we should delegate.
(07:22):
You've read the books, you'veheard the advice, you've
listened to the podcasts, andyou know we are supposed to work
on our business, not in ourbusiness.
But knowing it and doing it aredefinitely two different things.
When we let go of problemsolving, it means that we're
letting go of being needed inthat specific way.
It means that our team mightsolve things differently than we
(07:44):
would, which requires us to letgo of some of that control,
right?
Because there will be a learningcurve when we have to sit back
and let things happen and watchthem not happen the way we would
do them.
And the worst part of all ofthat for some of us is that it
means we have to find a new wayto prove our value.
(08:07):
But do we do we really have toprove our value?
Can't we just build ourbusinesses and let our value
speak for itself?
So I said, remember, this is anidentity problem.
So if you are the person who issolving all the problems, you're
the fixer.
If you're not the person solvingall the problems, who are you?
(08:30):
How do you break that addiction?
How do you understand what'sreally going on?
Because we have to see it ifwe're going to change it.
This is not about timemanagement.
This is not about delegation.
This is about identity.
And you cannot fix identity witha productivity hack.
That's just not how that works.
(08:51):
So I want you to picture twodifferent people.
Person one, always busy, alwaysmoving, always handling the next
urgent thing.
That person is fast, they'reefficient, they're really good
at putting out fires.
Everyone knows they can count onthis person when something goes
wrong.
This person is invaluable.
Guess what?
They're also exhausted.
(09:13):
Person two seems to work less,but somehow is getting more
done.
They're spending their timethinking, they're planning,
they're building systems.
So when a problem comes up, theydon't have to rush to fix it.
They're asking questions.
Why did this happen?
What would prevent it fromhappening again?
(09:34):
And maybe who else could handlethis?
Person one is a firefighter, afixer.
Person two is a CEO.
They are in control and they areon top of their shit.
Nope.
Sorry for my French.
If you're being honest withyourself, you already know which
one you are, and that's whyyou're listening to this.
(09:55):
This shift that we're going todo, though, it's not, I want you
to work differently.
It's not about working less.
It's not about abandoning thingsthat are important to you.
It's about learning to workdifferently and seeing your job
as building the business, notrunning the business.
You see that there's adifference there, right?
Because we spend a lot of ourtime thinking that our job is to
(10:19):
run the business.
But if I'm running my businessall the time, I can't build it.
And then I'm stuck.
There's nowhere for me to go.
I'm never going to scale.
And that's what I want for youis to scale, is to get control,
is to build your business.
And you cannot do that when youare stuck always in running the
business mode.
So, what I want to do is startto break that identity cycle by
(10:43):
talking about what does actuallymake you valuable.
Because it's not solving thesame problem over and over.
That's expensive labor.
You can hire someone to do that.
Your value is actually in whatdo you see that other people
miss?
What are the systems that youcan build that prevent those
(11:05):
problems from happening to beginwith?
And then what are the decisionsthat you make strategically
about where your business goesor is going?
What kind of clarity can youcreate for your team so that
they can act without you?
They can go about their day andnot have to lean on you for
every single thing.
(11:26):
And how can you think threemoves ahead so that you're
always in proactive mode insteadof constantly reacting to what's
in front of you and being inreactive mode?
These are CEO skills and we needto develop them if we're
spending all of our time beinglike the emergency call number.
(11:48):
We can't be 911 for everything.
So you might be really amazingat client delivery, like world's
class.
And every time there's a clientfire, are you jumping in to
handle it?
And your team, I bet they loveyou for that.
Your clients love you for it,but your business is not
growing, right?
Your revenue is stuck.
(12:08):
Maybe you're working 60 hours aweek and you can't figure out
why nothing changed.
Why has nothing changed?
So I want you to ask yourself,what would happen if you didn't
solve that problem?
And I know some of you right noware looking at me like, I can't
do that.
I might as well just set thewhole business on fire.
(12:28):
I have to solve the problem.
But do you if you don't jump in,will a team member step up and
solve it?
Even if they don't do it the wayyou would do it, even if they
don't do it perfectly, do theydo it?
Do they take the initiative todo it?
So that the next time somethingsimilar comes up, they don't
(12:49):
have to ask you.
So that one moment where youdecide not to solve the problem,
that actually creates space fora few things.
A, it creates space for someoneelse to grow.
It creates space for someoneelse to level up their own
skills.
And that is what scales.
It also creates space for you tofocus on what you need to focus
(13:13):
on.
And when those two things arehappening, when you're focusing
in your lane and you're allowingthe people that are supporting
you and supporting your businessto have some autonomy and to
solve problems, that is howbusinesses scale.
So we need to make the decisionto stop being addicted to
(13:34):
solving problems so we can startpreventing the problems from
happening.
And that is actually where theshift happens.
This is where your thinking isgoing to change.
You start thinking more like asystems builder instead of that
firefighter, right?
So when every problem that landson your desk used to be seen as
(13:55):
a sign for you to jump and dosomething about it, now that's
information, it's data.
It's telling you something aboutyour business that's not
working.
But if you just solve it andmove on, you're going to miss
like the lesson that's in themiddle of all this.
So here's some things I want youto start asking yourself.
Why did this problem reach yourdesk in the first place or come
(14:18):
through your email or the textmessage, whatever it is?
Why did it actually happen tobegin with?
And what would have to be inplace for this to be handled
without me?
Is it a specific team member?
Is it a specific team memberthat exists already, just
knowing different information?
Like what has to be in place forthe team to handle it or for the
(14:42):
problem to be handled withoutyou being in it?
And if this happens again, whatis a system that could prevent
it from happening?
Because I'm going to be honestwith you, a lot of people, a lot
of business owners, I shouldsay, entrepreneurs, we're
solving the same five problemsover and over and over again.
(15:02):
We don't realize it becausewe're too busy with solving
problems to see that thereactually is a pattern there.
There is something that we'redoing over and over and over
again.
So if we step back, and that'swhere clarity is, right?
We need to step back, allowourselves to see the bigger
picture.
When we have that clarity, wecan actually build a system.
(15:22):
Is it a checklist?
Is it some sort of, you know,decision-making tree, um, uh an
SOP or a documented process thatyou have?
You solve it once by doing that.
And then that is the permanentway that thing gets done or gets
solved every single time.
This is what people in controldo.
(15:44):
This is how they eliminateentire categories of problems.
It's really true.
So there's the shift, but how dowe make the shift happen?
How do we go from being thisaddict, right?
I'm addicted to solvingproblems.
How do I now become someone whoprevents them?
(16:04):
So I'm gonna give you a coupleof things that you can start
doing.
The first thing I want you to dois name your pattern.
What does that look like?
You need to be able to see whatyou're doing, right?
Because how can you name it?
How can you change it?
How can you shift it if younever even see it?
So for the next week, every timeyou solve a problem, and let's
(16:28):
be honest, you're gonna besolving a lot of them because
it's your nature to jump in,jump, you know, like I'm the one
that's gonna do it.
So you're not gonna be able tobreak that habit overnight.
So for the next week, every timeyou do that, can you write down
the problem?
Just a quick note, like what wasthe problem?
Why did it need you?
And at the end of the week, youlook at that list, and I bet
(16:49):
you're going to be able to seesome patterns.
Is it always around clientcommunication?
Is it the same operationalbreakdown that keeps happening
over and over?
Is it the decision paralysisthat is preventing people from
moving forward, whether it's youor your team members, whatever
it is, now you can see it.
And once you see it, you canbuild for it.
(17:12):
So I have a process, right?
It's called the clear process.
And the L in the word clearstands for locate.
That's what we're talking aboutright now.
This is the locate phase.
We're mapping out where thechaos actually lives because
everybody thinks that the wholething is just chaos, right?
(17:32):
So that we see what's happeningas this giant bowl of chaos, but
we need to track it.
We have to locate in that chaosand find out is it three or four
recurring issues that you justkeep solving manually?
So now we're going to name themand then we can fix them.
So, next thing we're going to dois something that may not come
(17:55):
that naturally to you.
The next time somebody bringsyou a problem, this is what I
want you to do.
Do not jump to solve it.
I want you to ask them somequestions.
Okay.
I just had a conversation with aclient about this yesterday.
They were talking about umsomeone in their business always
(18:16):
coming to them and asking themfor something really simple.
Okay.
So there it's a company thatuses insurance companies.
And there's a person on theirteam that always comes to them
and says, I can't find thisinsurance information.
And my client was expressing herfrustration over, I just, why
(18:37):
can't they find it?
Why can't they take theinitiative to try to find it?
So I said, well, when they cometo you and say, I can't find X,
Y, and Z, what is your response?
Are you doing it because youknow how easy it is and you can
find it in two minutes?
Or have you tried asking them,what have you tried to do to
(18:58):
find it?
What do you think we should doto find it?
If I wasn't here right now, howwould you handle this?
And yes, this is going to take alittle bit longer than you just
solving the problem.
And yes, it might feel a littlebit uncomfortable.
And you are going to want tojump in, right?
It's like when you, for those ofyou who have children, it's like
(19:18):
when they're learning to ride abike or they're learning to tie
their shoes, and it's somethingthat just takes 20 minutes when
it could take two minutes, andwe're watching them and we're
like itching to just jump in andtie the shoe for them or push
them on the swing, you know,whatever it is.
Help them ride the bike, likewhatever we want it to be
easier.
And easier usually means we'recontrolling it.
(19:40):
So you are going to want to jumpin.
And I'm telling you right now,don't do it because every time
you answer the question, you aretraining them that they don't
need to think.
All they have to do is ask you.
And you're reinforcing your ownaddiction to being needed.
But when you ask them questionsinstead of answering for them,
(20:03):
there will be some magichappening.
They will start figuring thingsout, they're going to develop
better judgment.
Slowly, slowly but surely, fewerproblems are going to land on
your desk.
I'm going to be really honestwith you.
This is hard.
It's going to go against everyinstinct you have as someone who
(20:24):
is good at what you do.
But this is the work that'snecessary.
This is how you move from beingthat expensive employee in your
business to being the CEO ofyour business.
So, what I want you to do ispick one problem.
Remember, you wrote down theproblems that you're going
through.
Write them down, find thatpattern.
(20:46):
Now just pick one.
Pick one client, one client, oneproblem, and we're going to
build a system for it.
Not someday, not next week, thismonth.
We're going to do it now.
We're going to do it together.
Maybe it is going to be adecision-making framework.
Amazing.
That is something so valuable.
You want to have frameworks inplace for your team.
(21:07):
So this way they stop askingpermission for everything, for
things that are routine.
Maybe it's a checklist.
Do you have a business thatregularly onboards clients?
Well, what's the onboardingchecklist so that they don't,
your team doesn't have toconsistently ask the same
questions about what comes next?
Is it a system for communicationso that you are not the problem,
(21:32):
you are not the bottleneck forevery single update.
People can get information fromother places.
Whatever the system is, make ityours.
But I want you to document itand I want you to make it
repeatable.
It should be a system that if itbelongs to you, if it belongs to
your um VA, if it belongs toyour COO or whoever is on your
(21:59):
team, if they're not there, cansomebody just pick this system
up and do it?
That makes it repeatable.
And then we're going to enforceit because this is actually
where it's going to fall throughthe cracks.
And it's going to feel naturalfor it to fall through the
cracks because you build thesystem, but then your instinct
(22:20):
is still going to be, I'm goingto solve the problem the way I
always do, which is just blindlythe way that I want to do it.
Because at first the system isgoing to feel clunky because
it's easier to do it yourselfinstead of following this step
by step by step.
So it will feel a little bitclunky, but if you want a
business that can run withoutyou and that can solve problems
(22:42):
without you, you have to let thesystems work, even when they're
not perfect.
It's when they're not perfectthat we learn how to perfect
them, right?
And this is the A in the wordclear.
This is the align phase.
You are aligning your resources,your time, your team, your
energy.
You're aligning all of that withsystems that are going to help
(23:06):
grow your business, not run yourbusiness.
You do not need to be the hero.
You just need to be present andfocused on growing, growing,
growing.
So I understand it's not goingto be easy.
I understand that being good atsolving problems is why you're
here.
It's how you built yourbusiness.
(23:28):
And that's why a lot of peopleget stuck in this specific
problem because you wouldn't berunning a successful business.
You wouldn't be an entrepreneurif solving problems didn't come
easily to you.
It's why we do what we do.
And it's how we proved toourselves that we're worthy and
(23:48):
that we're valuable.
And now that you have thissuccessful business and you need
to scale it and grow it, youneed to step out of that
identity.
Because if you want a businessthat's actually going to not
consume your life, it's probablynot the right way to say that,
but if you want a business thatdoesn't consume your life, you
(24:10):
have to let go of being theperson that solves everything.
You have to be be really willingto put the systems in place and
allow them to be, like I said,clunky and imperfect and still
running in the backgroundbecause they will get better and
they will refine and they willget stronger every single time
until eventually, how amazingwould it be to have a new person
(24:32):
that you're hiring and you justhand them the system.
Here you go, here's the GoogleDoc that how outlines all the
steps.
So when you get to thiscrossroads, here's everything
you need to do.
And that just is running withoutyou having to put out the fires.
So you have to believe that yourvalue comes from what you build,
(24:54):
not how busy you are.
That is really how you shiftthis identity because your value
to this point, like I said, isshowing in the success of your
business and you're tying it tothe fact that you're the one
doing everything.
That's not what it's about.
Your value is in that you builtthat business.
(25:14):
So now, you know, the phrase,what got you here isn't going to
get you there.
That's where we are.
What got you here is actuallygonna keep you away from here.
We need you to shift thatidentity, get out of
problem-solving mode.
It will be uncomfortable andit's going to feel weird not to
jump in.
It's going to feel vulnerable tolet other people uh figure
(25:38):
things out.
And you know what's gonna be theworst thing?
It's going to feel like you'relosing control.
But here's another secret (25:44):
real control has nothing to do with
solving every problem.
You're not losing control,you're building it.
Real control is creating abusiness that most of those
problems don't reach you becauseeverything is running on such a
great system in the in thebackground.
(26:05):
So, okay, you're going to payattention to what problems
you're solving, notice whenyou're about to swoop in, ask
yourself, am I solving thisproblem or am I feeding my need
to be needed?
And ask your team, what have youdone to find this out already?
Right?
Like ask them what what can youdo to solve this problem without
(26:28):
me?
What if I wasn't here?
So we're gonna shift thisidentity slowly but surely,
because once you see it, you canchange it.
And until you see it, you can'tchange it.
So I hope all of this wasvaluable to you.
If it was, I would love to haveyou join my weekly email.
Comes out every Monday.
All you have to do is go togencody solutions.com.
(26:49):
Sign up for the emails rightthere.
And um, if you're interested inmy clear process, you can get
that on there too.
The program is coming out in2026.
It's really going to be prettyincredible, self-led program,
super easy to access and umpretty life-changing when it
comes to your business.
So if you want to go deeper,let's talk about it.
(27:11):
Until next time, I hope that youtake this information, go out
there, create your day in thebest way possible, create the
business that you deserve.
And um, yeah, until next time,take care of yourself, take care
of each other.
And I will see you here nextweek.
Thank you so much, everyone.
Have a good one.
Hi there, welcome to the Create Your Day podcast.
I'm your host, Jen Cody, andthank you so much for being
here.
I have to say something rightoff the bat, and that is I
listened to last week's episode,and I was like, Am I trying to
make people fall asleep?
And was I drugged?
Was I falling asleep?
I listen, I have been told that,you know, people said my voice
(00:41):
can be soothing.
Love it, happy to hear it.
And I don't want to be puttingpeople to sleep.
If I'm doing a meditation, it'sone thing, but my last episode
really did sound super likemeditative.
So um this week we're gonna trysomething a little bit
different.
So we are jumping in right away.
(01:01):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Like I said, this is a createyour day podcast.
My name is Jen Cody.
I am your host, and thank youfor being here.
I know that you have a lot ofplaces that you can choose to
spend your time.
So it is not lost on me that Iam lucky and blessed that you
are choosing to spend some timewith me.
If you love this podcast, I willsay right now, please rate it.
(01:23):
Leave a review for it.
It is the only way the podcastgrows.
It is the best way for us toreach new people.
That being said, let's jump intowhat we're speaking about this
week, which is the problem ofbeing a problem solver.
And I know most of the peoplewho are listening to this right
now love to solve problems.
It's why you are a businessowner or an entrepreneur, it's
(01:47):
why you are a leader.
Um, we're good at solvingproblems.
And guess what?
We think that that's why we'resuccessful.
And what really is the problemis that it's actually why we're
in chaos most of the time.
So every time you swoop in tofix something, every time you
are the hero who saves the day,every time you hear someone say
(02:08):
to you, I don't know what wewould do without you.
So good to hear, right?
Okay, but you're guessing you'reactually making the problem
worse because you're notbuilding a business, you're
building a dependency.
Remember, we spoke about makingyourself the commodity.
If you're the one every personis dependent on, that is an
issue, right?
(02:29):
It's a really big deal.
And the whole reason that thispodcast exists, that my company
exists, and the processes thatI've developed exist is to help
people stop spinning theirwheels so they can actually
build businesses that workwithout them, that have systems
in place.
So I created this process calledthe clear process.
(02:50):
And essentially, it came out ofbeing annoyed with myself and
being tired of watching myselfbe run into the ground.
And then also being really tiredof watching the brilliant people
that I get to work with drivethemselves into the ground as
well.
Their businesses hold themhostage, their calendar holds
them hostage.
(03:11):
And let's fix it, right?
We're problem solvers.
But this one is about not beingthe problem solver, not being
the problem solver.
So I know it's personal becauseyou want to be.
And I've also been the personthat cannot let go.
I have been the one who thoughtthat my value came from being
(03:31):
indispensable.
Does that sound familiar?
Because it's really not a goodthing.
Um, I've watched so many of youdo this and I want to dig into
this.
I want to start by thinkingabout um, let's just go through
a scenario and let me know if itsounds familiar to you.
So if you're listening to thisthe day it comes out, it's a
(03:52):
Tuesday.
That's when the podcast isreleased.
So let's say it's Tuesdayafternoon and you're finally
sitting down, you're going towork on a strategic project,
you're going to spend some timedoing something that you think
is really going to move yourbusiness forward.
You're excited about the time,it's blocked out on your
calendar, you're ready to go.
And then all of a sudden yourphone buzzes and it's maybe a
(04:14):
text from a client, it's um amessage from a vendor, it's
something.
Something has gone wrongsomewhere, and it's not huge,
but it needs attention.
It needs your attention.
So, what do you do?
You could let the person figureit out, you could ask some
questions, you can coach themthrough it, you can maybe even
(04:37):
build a system so that thisdoesn't happen again.
But do you do those things?
Chances are you don't.
What you do is you say toyourself, I know how to do this.
It's only going to take me fiveminutes.
So let me just jump in and cleanup this mess.
And honestly, to be reallyhonest, you kind of like being
(04:58):
the person who knows how to fixit.
I know, I I know, I've beenthere myself.
So you jump in, you solve it,you get that boom hit of
dopamine that's like, I'm sogood at what I do.
And then you go back to yourdesk.
Except now hours have gone bybecause it never takes five
minutes, and that strategic workyou were going to do, that focus
time did not happen once again.
(05:21):
This happens very often.
So let's be honest, like I said,it feels really good to be the
person who can solve theproblem.
And that dopamine hit, it feelslike value, it feels like proof.
People like me.
I'm smart, I'm capable, I amessential.
(05:42):
We want to feel that way.
When someone says, I don't knowwhat I'd do without you, come
on.
That's like a little surge ofpride.
When you're the one everyonecomes to, it does feel like six
like success.
But here's the thing (05:56):
it's not success, it's ego.
And I don't mean that in a judgyway at all.
I am not being judgmental.
I mean it as a way to diagnosethe problem.
Just funny that that's whatwe're talking about.
Diagnose the problem that we aretrying to solve here today about
being problem solvers and it'sidentity, right?
(06:18):
Because what's your identity?
You are the problem solver, youare the fixer, you are the
person that steps in when thingsfall apart.
And every time you do it, youget the hit of dopamine that
says, you're valuable, we loveyou, we need you, you matter.
Which means that every time youdon't solve the problem, what is
(06:39):
that telling you?
Every single time you letsomeone else figure it out,
every time you build a system,instead of being a hero, it kind
of feels like you're losing yourvalue.
And that is the feeling that webecome addicted to.
And this is why really smartpeople, really capable people,
um, really capable smartentrepreneurs and business
(07:02):
owners, we stay stuck in thisfixer mode, this firefighting
mode, because um, even though weknow better, we just love that
feeling.
It's easy to be addicted to.
And it certainly isn't becauseyou don't know about delegation.
I'm not, you know, a pioneer inthis industry when it comes to
we should delegate.
(07:22):
You've read the books, you'veheard the advice, you've
listened to the podcasts, andyou know we are supposed to work
on our business, not in ourbusiness.
But knowing it and doing it aredefinitely two different things.
When we let go of problemsolving, it means that we're
letting go of being needed inthat specific way.
It means that our team mightsolve things differently than we
(07:44):
would, which requires us to letgo of some of that control,
right?
Because there will be a learningcurve when we have to sit back
and let things happen and watchthem not happen the way we would
do them.
And the worst part of all ofthat for some of us is that it
means we have to find a new wayto prove our value.
(08:07):
But do we do we really have toprove our value?
Can't we just build ourbusinesses and let our value
speak for itself?
So I said, remember, this is anidentity problem.
So if you are the person who issolving all the problems, you're
the fixer.
If you're not the person solvingall the problems, who are you?
(08:30):
How do you break that addiction?
How do you understand what'sreally going on?
Because we have to see it ifwe're going to change it.
This is not about timemanagement.
This is not about delegation.
This is about identity.
And you cannot fix identity witha productivity hack.
That's just not how that works.
(08:51):
So I want you to picture twodifferent people.
Person one, always busy, alwaysmoving, always handling the next
urgent thing.
That person is fast, they'reefficient, they're really good
at putting out fires.
Everyone knows they can count onthis person when something goes
wrong.
This person is invaluable.
Guess what?
They're also exhausted.
(09:13):
Person two seems to work less,but somehow is getting more
done.
They're spending their timethinking, they're planning,
they're building systems.
So when a problem comes up, theydon't have to rush to fix it.
They're asking questions.
Why did this happen?
What would prevent it fromhappening again?
(09:34):
And maybe who else could handlethis?
Person one is a firefighter, afixer.
Person two is a CEO.
They are in control and they areon top of their shit.
Nope.
Sorry for my French.
If you're being honest withyourself, you already know which
one you are, and that's whyyou're listening to this.
(09:55):
This shift that we're going todo, though, it's not, I want you
to work differently.
It's not about working less.
It's not about abandoning thingsthat are important to you.
It's about learning to workdifferently and seeing your job
as building the business, notrunning the business.
You see that there's adifference there, right?
Because we spend a lot of ourtime thinking that our job is to
(10:19):
run the business.
But if I'm running my businessall the time, I can't build it.
And then I'm stuck.
There's nowhere for me to go.
I'm never going to scale.
And that's what I want for youis to scale, is to get control,
is to build your business.
And you cannot do that when youare stuck always in running the
business mode.
So, what I want to do is startto break that identity cycle by
(10:43):
talking about what does actuallymake you valuable.
Because it's not solving thesame problem over and over.
That's expensive labor.
You can hire someone to do that.
Your value is actually in whatdo you see that other people
miss?
What are the systems that youcan build that prevent those
(11:05):
problems from happening to beginwith?
And then what are the decisionsthat you make strategically
about where your business goesor is going?
What kind of clarity can youcreate for your team so that
they can act without you?
They can go about their day andnot have to lean on you for
every single thing.
(11:26):
And how can you think threemoves ahead so that you're
always in proactive mode insteadof constantly reacting to what's
in front of you and being inreactive mode?
These are CEO skills and we needto develop them if we're
spending all of our time beinglike the emergency call number.
(11:48):
We can't be 911 for everything.
So you might be really amazingat client delivery, like world's
class.
And every time there's a clientfire, are you jumping in to
handle it?
And your team, I bet they loveyou for that.
Your clients love you for it,but your business is not
growing, right?
Your revenue is stuck.
(12:08):
Maybe you're working 60 hours aweek and you can't figure out
why nothing changed.
Why has nothing changed?
So I want you to ask yourself,what would happen if you didn't
solve that problem?
And I know some of you right noware looking at me like, I can't
do that.
I might as well just set thewhole business on fire.
(12:28):
I have to solve the problem.
But do you if you don't jump in,will a team member step up and
solve it?
Even if they don't do it the wayyou would do it, even if they
don't do it perfectly, do theydo it?
Do they take the initiative todo it?
So that the next time somethingsimilar comes up, they don't
(12:49):
have to ask you.
So that one moment where youdecide not to solve the problem,
that actually creates space fora few things.
A, it creates space for someoneelse to grow.
It creates space for someoneelse to level up their own
skills.
And that is what scales.
It also creates space for you tofocus on what you need to focus
(13:13):
on.
And when those two things arehappening, when you're focusing
in your lane and you're allowingthe people that are supporting
you and supporting your businessto have some autonomy and to
solve problems, that is howbusinesses scale.
So we need to make the decisionto stop being addicted to
(13:34):
solving problems so we can startpreventing the problems from
happening.
And that is actually where theshift happens.
This is where your thinking isgoing to change.
You start thinking more like asystems builder instead of that
firefighter, right?
So when every problem that landson your desk used to be seen as
(13:55):
a sign for you to jump and dosomething about it, now that's
information, it's data.
It's telling you something aboutyour business that's not
working.
But if you just solve it andmove on, you're going to miss
like the lesson that's in themiddle of all this.
So here's some things I want youto start asking yourself.
Why did this problem reach yourdesk in the first place or come
(14:18):
through your email or the textmessage, whatever it is?
Why did it actually happen tobegin with?
And what would have to be inplace for this to be handled
without me?
Is it a specific team member?
Is it a specific team memberthat exists already, just
knowing different information?
Like what has to be in place forthe team to handle it or for the
(14:42):
problem to be handled withoutyou being in it?
And if this happens again, whatis a system that could prevent
it from happening?
Because I'm going to be honestwith you, a lot of people, a lot
of business owners, I shouldsay, entrepreneurs, we're
solving the same five problemsover and over and over again.
(15:02):
We don't realize it becausewe're too busy with solving
problems to see that thereactually is a pattern there.
There is something that we'redoing over and over and over
again.
So if we step back, and that'swhere clarity is, right?
We need to step back, allowourselves to see the bigger
picture.
When we have that clarity, wecan actually build a system.
(15:22):
Is it a checklist?
Is it some sort of, you know,decision-making tree, um, uh an
SOP or a documented process thatyou have?
You solve it once by doing that.
And then that is the permanentway that thing gets done or gets
solved every single time.
This is what people in controldo.
(15:44):
This is how they eliminateentire categories of problems.
It's really true.
So there's the shift, but how dowe make the shift happen?
How do we go from being thisaddict, right?
I'm addicted to solvingproblems.
How do I now become someone whoprevents them?
(16:04):
So I'm gonna give you a coupleof things that you can start
doing.
The first thing I want you to dois name your pattern.
What does that look like?
You need to be able to see whatyou're doing, right?
Because how can you name it?
How can you change it?
How can you shift it if younever even see it?
So for the next week, every timeyou solve a problem, and let's
(16:28):
be honest, you're gonna besolving a lot of them because
it's your nature to jump in,jump, you know, like I'm the one
that's gonna do it.
So you're not gonna be able tobreak that habit overnight.
So for the next week, every timeyou do that, can you write down
the problem?
Just a quick note, like what wasthe problem?
Why did it need you?
And at the end of the week, youlook at that list, and I bet
(16:49):
you're going to be able to seesome patterns.
Is it always around clientcommunication?
Is it the same operationalbreakdown that keeps happening
over and over?
Is it the decision paralysisthat is preventing people from
moving forward, whether it's youor your team members, whatever
it is, now you can see it.
And once you see it, you canbuild for it.
(17:12):
So I have a process, right?
It's called the clear process.
And the L in the word clearstands for locate.
That's what we're talking aboutright now.
This is the locate phase.
We're mapping out where thechaos actually lives because
everybody thinks that the wholething is just chaos, right?
(17:32):
So that we see what's happeningas this giant bowl of chaos, but
we need to track it.
We have to locate in that chaosand find out is it three or four
recurring issues that you justkeep solving manually?
So now we're going to name themand then we can fix them.
So, next thing we're going to dois something that may not come
(17:55):
that naturally to you.
The next time somebody bringsyou a problem, this is what I
want you to do.
Do not jump to solve it.
I want you to ask them somequestions.
Okay.
I just had a conversation with aclient about this yesterday.
They were talking about umsomeone in their business always
(18:16):
coming to them and asking themfor something really simple.
Okay.
So there it's a company thatuses insurance companies.
And there's a person on theirteam that always comes to them
and says, I can't find thisinsurance information.
And my client was expressing herfrustration over, I just, why
(18:37):
can't they find it?
Why can't they take theinitiative to try to find it?
So I said, well, when they cometo you and say, I can't find X,
Y, and Z, what is your response?
Are you doing it because youknow how easy it is and you can
find it in two minutes?
Or have you tried asking them,what have you tried to do to
(18:58):
find it?
What do you think we should doto find it?
If I wasn't here right now, howwould you handle this?
And yes, this is going to take alittle bit longer than you just
solving the problem.
And yes, it might feel a littlebit uncomfortable.
And you are going to want tojump in, right?
It's like when you, for those ofyou who have children, it's like
(19:18):
when they're learning to ride abike or they're learning to tie
their shoes, and it's somethingthat just takes 20 minutes when
it could take two minutes, andwe're watching them and we're
like itching to just jump in andtie the shoe for them or push
them on the swing, you know,whatever it is.
Help them ride the bike, likewhatever we want it to be
easier.
And easier usually means we'recontrolling it.
(19:40):
So you are going to want to jumpin.
And I'm telling you right now,don't do it because every time
you answer the question, you aretraining them that they don't
need to think.
All they have to do is ask you.
And you're reinforcing your ownaddiction to being needed.
But when you ask them questionsinstead of answering for them,
(20:03):
there will be some magichappening.
They will start figuring thingsout, they're going to develop
better judgment.
Slowly, slowly but surely, fewerproblems are going to land on
your desk.
I'm going to be really honestwith you.
This is hard.
It's going to go against everyinstinct you have as someone who
(20:24):
is good at what you do.
But this is the work that'snecessary.
This is how you move from beingthat expensive employee in your
business to being the CEO ofyour business.
So, what I want you to do ispick one problem.
Remember, you wrote down theproblems that you're going
through.
Write them down, find thatpattern.
(20:46):
Now just pick one.
Pick one client, one client, oneproblem, and we're going to
build a system for it.
Not someday, not next week, thismonth.
We're going to do it now.
We're going to do it together.
Maybe it is going to be adecision-making framework.
Amazing.
That is something so valuable.
You want to have frameworks inplace for your team.
(21:07):
So this way they stop askingpermission for everything, for
things that are routine.
Maybe it's a checklist.
Do you have a business thatregularly onboards clients?
Well, what's the onboardingchecklist so that they don't,
your team doesn't have toconsistently ask the same
questions about what comes next?
Is it a system for communicationso that you are not the problem,
(21:32):
you are not the bottleneck forevery single update.
People can get information fromother places.
Whatever the system is, make ityours.
But I want you to document itand I want you to make it
repeatable.
It should be a system that if itbelongs to you, if it belongs to
your um VA, if it belongs toyour COO or whoever is on your
(21:59):
team, if they're not there, cansomebody just pick this system
up and do it?
That makes it repeatable.
And then we're going to enforceit because this is actually
where it's going to fall throughthe cracks.
And it's going to feel naturalfor it to fall through the
cracks because you build thesystem, but then your instinct
(22:20):
is still going to be, I'm goingto solve the problem the way I
always do, which is just blindlythe way that I want to do it.
Because at first the system isgoing to feel clunky because
it's easier to do it yourselfinstead of following this step
by step by step.
So it will feel a little bitclunky, but if you want a
business that can run withoutyou and that can solve problems
(22:42):
without you, you have to let thesystems work, even when they're
not perfect.
It's when they're not perfectthat we learn how to perfect
them, right?
And this is the A in the wordclear.
This is the align phase.
You are aligning your resources,your time, your team, your
energy.
You're aligning all of that withsystems that are going to help
(23:06):
grow your business, not run yourbusiness.
You do not need to be the hero.
You just need to be present andfocused on growing, growing,
growing.
So I understand it's not goingto be easy.
I understand that being good atsolving problems is why you're
here.
It's how you built yourbusiness.
(23:28):
And that's why a lot of peopleget stuck in this specific
problem because you wouldn't berunning a successful business.
You wouldn't be an entrepreneurif solving problems didn't come
easily to you.
It's why we do what we do.
And it's how we proved toourselves that we're worthy and
(23:48):
that we're valuable.
And now that you have thissuccessful business and you need
to scale it and grow it, youneed to step out of that
identity.
Because if you want a businessthat's actually going to not
consume your life, it's probablynot the right way to say that,
but if you want a business thatdoesn't consume your life, you
(24:10):
have to let go of being theperson that solves everything.
You have to be be really willingto put the systems in place and
allow them to be, like I said,clunky and imperfect and still
running in the backgroundbecause they will get better and
they will refine and they willget stronger every single time
until eventually, how amazingwould it be to have a new person
(24:32):
that you're hiring and you justhand them the system.
Here you go, here's the GoogleDoc that how outlines all the
steps.
So when you get to thiscrossroads, here's everything
you need to do.
And that just is running withoutyou having to put out the fires.
So you have to believe that yourvalue comes from what you build,
(24:54):
not how busy you are.
That is really how you shiftthis identity because your value
to this point, like I said, isshowing in the success of your
business and you're tying it tothe fact that you're the one
doing everything.
That's not what it's about.
Your value is in that you builtthat business.
(25:14):
So now, you know, the phrase,what got you here isn't going to
get you there.
That's where we are.
What got you here is actuallygonna keep you away from here.
We need you to shift thatidentity, get out of
problem-solving mode.
It will be uncomfortable andit's going to feel weird not to
jump in.
It's going to feel vulnerable tolet other people uh figure
(25:38):
things out.
And you know what's gonna be theworst thing?
It's going to feel like you'relosing control.
But here's another secret (25:44):
real control has nothing to do with
solving every problem.
You're not losing control,you're building it.
Real control is creating abusiness that most of those
problems don't reach you becauseeverything is running on such a
great system in the in thebackground.
(26:05):
So, okay, you're going to payattention to what problems
you're solving, notice whenyou're about to swoop in, ask
yourself, am I solving thisproblem or am I feeding my need
to be needed?
And ask your team, what have youdone to find this out already?
Right?
Like ask them what what can youdo to solve this problem without
(26:28):
me?
What if I wasn't here?
So we're gonna shift thisidentity slowly but surely,
because once you see it, you canchange it.
And until you see it, you can'tchange it.
So I hope all of this wasvaluable to you.
If it was, I would love to haveyou join my weekly email.
Comes out every Monday.
All you have to do is go togencody solutions.com.
(26:49):
Sign up for the emails rightthere.
And um, if you're interested inmy clear process, you can get
that on there too.
The program is coming out in2026.
It's really going to be prettyincredible, self-led program,
super easy to access and umpretty life-changing when it
comes to your business.
So if you want to go deeper,let's talk about it.
(27:11):
Until next time, I hope that youtake this information, go out
there, create your day in thebest way possible, create the
business that you deserve.
And um, yeah, until next time,take care of yourself, take care
of each other.
And I will see you here nextweek.
Thank you so much, everyone.
Have a good one.
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