The Pain of Change: The Inevitable Price of Growth

Change hurts. There's no way to sugarcoat it. It makes us uncomfortable, challenges us, pushes us out of our comfort zone, and forces us to question what we once took for granted. And yet, it is the only path to growth. Growth is neither linear nor constant; it is full of ups and downs, moments of progress and stagnation. And it is during those periods of stagnation that leaders face one of their greatest trials: the need to change.

Many business leaders encounter plateaus in their growth. They reach points where they don't know how to break free from their current state or what they must do to achieve more. What got them to where they are is no longer enough to take them to the next level. They have mastered their current stage, but that very mastery becomes their barrier. That is when they start searching for what it takes to go further, and the answer is clear: they cannot advance without changing, improving, and adapting. But that process is painful because it requires letting go of habits, structures, and mindsets that once worked but now limit them.

Ichak Adizes puts it bluntly: "The only place in the life  cycle curve where there are no problems is the place where there are no changes, which is death." As we accept that life is in constant evolution, we realize that change is not a threat but an opportunity. Resistance is futile: the question is not whether we will change but whether we will do so consciously and intentionally or be forced into it by circumstances. Many business leaders go through this process resisting it, making it more difficult and prolonged, failing to see that companies have only two paths: grow or die. As Adizes said, the only place where there are no changes is death; thus, all they are doing is leading their organization toward a slow or fast decline, depending on how much they resist change.

The real problem is not external change but our internal resistance. As John Maxwell said, "To become something more than we are, we must first stop being what we are." The biggest barrier to growth is not the market, competition, or the team, it is the leader's mindset clinging to the familiar. Having worked with many leaders in their business scaling processes, I am often asked what determines success, and the answer is always the same: the leader's ability to adapt to change. A leader who fears change not only stalls their own development but also that of their entire organization.

Leading an organization to its next stage requires making unpopular decisions, demanding change, and challenging the status quo. Adizes warns us that true leadership is not about being adored by employees but about doing what is right for the organization. This becomes a demanding and even lonely process, which is why so few great leaders are capable of inspiring their organizations to greatness. It is a high price to pay, but it is the only way to evolve and remain competitive in a world that never stops changing.

Many believe that resistance to change is a personality trait, but in reality, it is deeply rooted in our biology. The human brain is wired to resist change. Our brain is designed to minimize energy expenditure and effort; thus, we develop systematic and unconscious tendencies in our thinking that act as mental shortcuts to quickly process information, commonly known as biases. The status quo bias leads us to prefer the familiar, even if it is suboptimal, rather than face the uncertainty of something new. We cling to processes, models, and structures simply because "that's how it has always been done." This only reinforces the difficulty of navigating change. My intention in highlighting this is to offer comfort and guidance to leaders who find themselves in a state of stagnation and feel overwhelmed by the choices of change before them.

The parable "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson perfectly illustrates this: those who cling to their comfort zone end up with no "cheese," watching their world collapse without being able to stop it. In contrast, those who accept change as a natural part of life venture into new paths and ultimately find greater opportunities and growth. We can decide how to respond to circumstances by becoming creators of situations rather than creatures of them. The key to adopting this new perspective on change and overcoming the pain it brings is to have a larger vision that aligns everyone. Friedrich Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." When we can envision something greater than ourselves, something that moves us from within, something we pursue as an organization — when the team understands that change is not a whim but a necessity, not just for survival but for the impact it can have on themselves and others — the adjustment process becomes more manageable.

In times of crisis or transformation, what sustains us is precisely that vision. A leader who knows where they are going and why can motivate their team even in the midst of uncertainty. The key is not to avoid the pain of change but to learn to manage it, to go through it with the conviction that there is something better on the other side. History shows us that companies and individuals who have reinvented themselves are the ones that have endured over time.

The leader who dares to change, even when it hurts, is the one who builds something that transcends. Because staying in the same place is the surest way to become irrelevant. And if the price of growth is the discomfort of change, then it is a price well worth paying. Because, at the end of the day, the most painful thing is not changing, but watching others move forward while we stay behind.