This is Why You Exist

Leaders are needed when it goes bad. Anybody can lead when it’s going great. True leadership shows up when things fall apart.

This is Why You Exist

My dad once told me something that didn’t land at first. I called him after a rough week at work, venting about a situation I felt unprepared for. He paused, then said, “Tough times? This is why you exist. Leaders are needed when it goes bad. Anybody can lead when it’s going great. True leadership shows up when things fall apart.”

It sounded simple. Almost too obvious. But I’ve come to learn something about advice: the best kind often is. You nod your head when you hear it. You understand it after a few hard years. I’ve studied a lot of leaders. Read their stories, watched their interviews, and worked with them up close. Nearly all of them went through a phase when it seemed like everything was breaking at once. Markets collapsing. Key people quitting. Competitors outmaneuvering them. Public failure. Private doubt. What set them apart wasn’t that they avoided those moments. It’s that they expected them. They didn’t see adversity as an interruption. They saw it as part of the job.

Leadership is like medicine. When you’re healthy and feeling good, you don’t go to a doctor. You need one when things get messy, when the symptoms don’t make sense, and when the stakes are high. You’re not tested when everything is stable. You’re tested when you’re forced to make decisions with limited information and no perfect outcomes. A lot of people think leadership is a prize you earn when things go right. The reality is that leadership is what you carry when things go wrong. Not because you can prevent failure, but because you’re the one expected to face it, manage it, and keep moving.

That realization shifts your mindset. When I was younger, every setback felt like a personal attack. Like the universe had singled me out. But over time, you realize the chaos is the job. You stop asking, “Why me?” and start asking, “What now?”

If nothing ever went off track, we wouldn’t need leaders. We’d rely on checklists, templates, and forecasts. But the world doesn’t work that way. Uncertainty isn’t the exception. It’s the default. That’s why people are hired, to bring judgment and adaptability where plans fall short.

And here’s the strange part: once you really internalize this, the job doesn’t get easier, but it feels lighter. You stop trying to control everything. You stop blaming yourself for every hard day. You accept that this is what you signed up for. You lean in. Eventually, you realize that your hardest days didn’t mean you were failing. They meant you were finally doing the real work. Most people can manage when things go well. But leadership? Leadership exists for everything else.