You’re not unsafe - You’re just uncomfortable

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
- John Assaraf - Canadian entrepreneur and mindset coach

Let’s clear something up.

Discomfort is not danger. Challenge is not harm. Feedback is not a threat.

Yet in many workplaces right now, those lines are being blurred. Sometimes unintentionally. Sometimes deliberately.

At Proteus, we’ve championed psychological safety for years. Long before ‘psychosocial hazards’ became a legislative requirement. We believe deeply in environments where people can speak up, challenge ideas, admit mistakes and then learn without fear of retribution.

But somewhere along the way, something has shifted or worse… it has completely inverted!

In some teams, feeling uncomfortable has become synonymous with being unsafe. Hard conversations are avoided. Accountability is softened. Clear expectations are delayed. All in the name of not upsetting someone.

Claiming to feel “psychologically unsafe” has become the ultimate conversation-stopper. Not because anyone is at risk. Rather because challenge, feedback and accountability now feel inconvenient.

And this comes with some very real costs:

Culture weakens. Standards slip. Leaders hesitate. Teams stall. Service standards drop.

Now here’s the clarification and distinction that we must get right:

• Unsafe means someone’s wellbeing (psychological or physical) is genuinely at risk
• Uncomfortable means you’re being stretched beyond what’s familiar to you

They are not the same.

Growth lives in stretch. Learning lives in tension. And leadership lives just outside the comfort zone.

Avoiding discomfort doesn’t create safety. It creates fragility. When leaders walk on eggshells, then silence replaces honesty. And when honesty disappears, trust will soon follow.

Calling this out doesn’t require harshness. It requires courage, clarity and care.

As Brené Brown reminds us, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” Protecting people from every uncomfortable moment doesn’t build strong and resilient teams. It builds dependent and then dysfunctional cultures.

The best cultures don’t avoid tension. They leverage it and then use it to progress forward.

They understand that psychological safety isn’t about being shielded from challenge. It’s about having the resilience, relationships and respect to move through it together.

So, here’s some leadership questions that are worth asking;

• Are you unclear or indeed, scared in this space?
• Are you helping people grow, or helping them stay comfortable?

Because the job of leadership isn’t to remove all discomfort. It certainly must make it safe enough to stay in, but not so safe that nothing will ever change.

Wishing you a wonderful week of playing in ‘the uncomfortable’ without being distressed.

Richard Dore
Co-CEO - Director of Partnerships
Proteus Leadership