Leadership is all about operating out of your comfort zone. If you think about those we most admire as leaders, and why, we can usually relate it to qualities and traits that allowed them to lead in a difficult or confronting environment. Within business, in community groups, sport and in our own families, displays of leadership arise from taking on something we would not normally do: that is, being taken out of our comfort zone. Most of us never have an opportunity to test how we would cope in difficult environments. We suddenly find ourselves having to manage a complex project, or a team of people, or a difficult change process and question whether we can deliver what is expected of us. HR managers and line managers are often placed in difficult circumstances where they have to balance a range of competing needs, challenge senior management, deliver bad news to an employee's family, implement a restructure or downsizing, relocate staff, negotiate with unions, counsel or discipline staff,and so on. Each of these events will be lead according to the particular circumstances and what is required at the time. Some things cannot be taught. However, we can prepare for taking on these responsibilities. We can challenge ourselves to be excellent in what we do. Through a series of games and exercises, each of us can learn more about our own approach to leadership and look at extending our comfort zone.