Comfortable or Challenged?
By Steve Gahagen
One of Gallup’s Seven Demands of Leadership is “Challenging Experience.” It reminds us that great leaders raise the bar—for themselves and for those they lead. By continually presenting new and greater challenges aligned with the organization’s mission and values, they communicate belief. Belief in the vision. Belief in the team. Belief in the future.
Through challenge, leaders take people to places they never imagined possible.
Yet, we live in a world that often prioritizes safety and comfort. We dream of zero gravity—but astronauts remind us of a deeper truth: without resistance, we grow weak. In space, the lack of gravity causes muscle loss, bone density decline, and increased heart rates. Strength comes not from stillness, but from struggle. Growth requires weight to push against.
I know a family who takes this seriously. Each year, every member commits to doing something hard—intentionally. They’ve discovered that choosing discomfort can build confidence, character, and resilience.
Looking back at my own life, especially during college and graduate school, I often chose comfort when I could. But the professors who impacted me most weren’t the ones who made things easy. They were the ones who challenged me. Stretched me. Frustrated me. They didn’t let me settle for surface-level thinking. And while they sometimes made me angry in the moment, they ultimately shaped me into someone I never thought I could become.
Their challenge was a gift.
Obstacles create challenges none of us would choose. Comfort is no longer an option. But here’s the good news: these hard moments also offer us a rare opportunity to stretch and grow. Scaling the mountains creates the greatest moments of life.
The best leaders will not only survive this season—they will help their organizations climb to new levels of courage, creativity, and commitment.
Because real leadership doesn’t run from the challenge. It leans into it. And lifts others in the process.
Questions to Consider:
What are 2-3 wins you or your organization have accomplished that would have been unimaginable at some point?
What challenging things are you doing now in your personal life and organization?
How will you have to grow, what will you have to learn, or what risks must you be willing to take in order to lead your organization to scale mountain peeks you never imagined?