“I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was someone else to do it, I would let them do it. But there’s not, so I’m doing it. That’s what makes you that guy.”

- John McClane, Live Free or Die Hard

I often wonder how it is that I find myself doing so many things, having so many people ask me to step into leadership roles, or find myself in meetings serving as either mediator, translator or synthesizer. I don’t seek out these situations, and I am not always comfortable putting myself out there, it’s a vulnerable position. There are far more capable and intelligent people than I who would be better suited to this.

And yet, I’ve come to understand that situations don’t wait for the best person, they take the best person at that moment. It just turns out that I’m often “that guy.” I am no action hero, I don’t enjoy politics, I don’t desire power, nor do I seek it. What I believe is that when there is a job to do, someone needs to step up and do it. That is who I am; I am that guy who people have come to know will step up when no else will.

This is also what I hope to build in others through my work. That they too can be “that guy”. That they have skills, talents and passions that can and should be applied to improving not only their lives but the lives of those within their own personal communities and spheres of influence. It is this application of our humanity that will improve our world, not sitting back and hoping someone else will do it for us. It’s time for us to take our lives back.