You hit the nail on the head - at many places, the hiring process seems to be great at blocking people who are great at solving real world problems that aren't

You hit the nail on the head - at many places, the hiring process seems to be great at blocking people who are great at solving real world problems that aren't as good at whiteboard leet-coding. If you truly enjoy this part of the job, you can go for a freelance career - build a network and reputation as the person you call to solve the hard stuff, and do mostly that, no leetcode interviews required...