I Came for the Workout and Stayed for the Leadership Lesson

Most days, I exercise at home and choose a workout that fits my mood. It’s a routine I enjoy—consistent, flexible, and entirely on my terms. Today, I felt ready for a challenge. I logged into Danielle Pascente’s DPFit app and selected one of her more intense strength sessions. Her workouts are never easy, but this one was on a different level.

Ten minutes in, I was already sweating and questioning my choices. At the halfway point, I did something I almost never do: I considered quitting.

Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. My husband was working out beside me, and that camaraderie helped. Still, what truly kept me going was Danielle’s coaching. Her voice was equal parts grit and grace. She encouraged us to push through “just one more set,” to pick up heavier weights, and to stay with the discomfort a little longer.

At the same time, she showed vulnerability. She took breaks when she needed them and adopted her own modifications without hesitation. It was clear that the workout was challenging for her, too, and that’s exactly what made her coaching so effective. Her leadership felt real, grounded, and human.

That workout didn’t just test my physical endurance. It reminded me what strong leadership looks like.

This experience isn’t so different from how great leaders guide teams through difficult, high-stakes work. Talented, motivated people can absolutely do good work on their own. They’re driven, capable, and full of potential. But even the strongest team members hit moments of fatigue or doubt. They perform best when they’re supported by a leader who knows how to balance pressure with presence.

The best leaders understand when to challenge and when to collaborate. They know how to stretch people just beyond their comfort zones without pushing them past the breaking point. They model resilience not by pretending things are easy, but by staying engaged through the hard parts and encouraging others to do the same.

In the workplace, leadership is often framed in terms of vision and direction. Those things matter, of course, but in the day-to-day, what really shapes a team’s experience is how leadership shows up in the moments that test endurance—when timelines are tight, stakes are high, or goals feel just out of reach.

True leadership happens beside people, not above them.

Danielle didn’t shout instructions from the sidelines. She was in the workout with us. Her voice helped me push past what I thought I could do, not by pretending it was easy, but by proving it was possible.

That’s what the best leaders do. They walk alongside their team, nudging them forward, creating momentum, and helping them discover new capacity. They make it easier to stay in the work—even when it’s hard—and they remind us that we’re not alone.

Because a great team is more than the sum of its parts. And a great leader helps make that possible.