Each week on my podcast, I get to speak with the best founders across the globe. Through these conversations, I’ve spotted clear patterns of what it takes to be a visionary leader and to build a truly transformational business.

On occasion, a founder shares a simple idea so eloquently that it sticks in my head. Recently, Vikram Kapoor of Lacework (valued at over $8 billion) talked about the importance of running toward challenges.

In his view, the harder the challenge you must solve in your work, the better the challenge is. Why? When you figure out the solution to a tricky problem, you’ve actually created unique IP that adds value to your business.

We all face hurdles in our work—and especially so as we become leaders in our organizations. I always say that as a founder, you are solving the toughest problems day after day, because the ones that make it to your desk are the ones others in your company have struggled to solve. Vikram’s perspective is such a helpful one, so I wanted to breakdown a few ways to tackle challenges head-on in your own day-to-day.

ADJUST YOUR MINDSET

If you think about your to-do list right now, I bet there is one thing on it that’s nagging at you. You know it’s going to be hard to solve and you’re not quite sure how you want to handle it. It causes dread—not motivation. Take a page out of Vikram’s book. In his own words, his response to a really hard problem is “Awesome, there is value to be created here. Let’s go solve this. This is solvable.”

Give yourself the space to jump in headfirst. For me, that means clearing some quiet thinking time on my calendar. It helps to have a clear workspace that feels calm, so I can put my entire attention and energy into whatever I need to untangle. Think about when and where you work best, and put yourself in those conditions to be most effective.

OUTLINE YOUR OPTIONS

Solving a problem means getting to an answer. If you think about it that way, all you’re doing is making a choice about the best next step to take. You won’t always get it right, but being decisive is half the battle. The task ahead is outlining every possible solution, weighing the pros and cons, and going for it. Remember that there are few decisions in business that are entirely irreversible.

As Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy puts it, “The simple rule is never making a decision that can cause unfixable harm, but within that, make decisions confidently, because you can usually make the most of almost any situation. If something works or it doesn’t, you can build from there.”

As you think about the solution, this is the perfect moment to “phone a friend.” You don’t have to wade through a challenge solo. Think about your trusted peers, mentors, and teammates, who have the right “been-there done-that” experience or unique way of viewing the world that will get you to the best possible outcome.

CAPTURE VALUE

If we view challenges as value, we have to do the work of thinking back on what we learned. Retrospectives are critical. Ask yourself key questions, like: Could we have avoided this challenging situation in the first place? Did I make the right decisions at all points in fixing the problem? What will I do differently next time? And, what takeaways can I share with my team, so that we save time down the road?

We create value in our businesses in myriad ways—acquiring more customers, building a best-in-class product, raising capital to win the market. But don’t underestimate the fact that some of the greatest value you can unearth will come from diving headfirst into the hardest challenges you can think of. If your competitor has not yet solved something, it’s all the more important that you do, because that’s where your unique competitive advantage can come from.