The Hidden Threat That is Hurting Your Organization
In the workplace, the psychological safety conversation has traditionally focused on people in underserved groups. What most people don’t realize is that in today’s workplaces there are so many triggers that nobody feels safe. From the CEO who is afraid of being canceled, to the mid-level employee who lives in fear of making errors, to the tech leader who is afraid she doesn’t fit in, triggering situations are everywhere.
Chances are, right now, a large portion of your workforce is experiencing a triggered state of body threat and they don’t even know it. Regardless of the threat’s validity, when we are triggered, our body’s innate fight, flight, or freeze responses kick in, as if we are being chased by a saber tooth tiger. Real or imagined, a perceived threat shifts our bodies (rapid heart beats, breathing, stress hormones, and more). Once triggered, if our bodies are not given a chance to recover, a state of body threat remains, even after the perceived threat has passed. Here are three of the most common ways feeling unsafe compromises how we show up in the workplace:
1. Decision Making Suffers
Individuals in a state of body threat can’t see the big picture. Neurobiologically, when our body gets flooded with adrenaline and cortisol to help us fight or flee, the rational part of our brain, our prefrontal cortex, disengages either partially or fully. People often make decisions based on what feels more inherently safe, in the moment. Without the cognitive brain being actively involved, even the most “level-headed” leaders tend to lean into fear-based decision making without fully considering the impact on their business.
For example, my client Mark, believed that he had created an environment of open communication within his team. Mark’s boss, the CEO, had a tendency to get riled up and have aggressive outbursts. Mark felt that the CEO was going around him to make decisions that impacted his team. When we delved deeper, we discovered that as a conflict avoider, Mark had been self-protecting by avoiding 1:1 interaction with the CEO and skirting around conversations in leadership team meetings that might be flashpoints for the CEO. Mark’s lack of awareness about the company’s changing priorities and subsequently giving conflicting marching orders, led his team members to be very confused. When we addressed Mark's underlying body threat, he became more resilient and able to communicate effectively with the CEO, his team, and the leadership team. They gained more clarity and performance improved. Over time, Mark became more comfortable having crucial conversations with his boss, and he (and his team) thrived.
2. Creativity and Innovation Can’t Coexist with Fear
It is well known that creativity correlates to business performance. Yet being in a state of body threat shuts down creativity. Creativity and innovation require the curiosity, space, open-mindedness, and imagination that are only possible when we feel psychologically safe.
Many of us can relate to what my client Marie experienced. Marie had been a very successful senior leader, known for her creativity and ability to see outside of the box. After an organizational change, she felt that others on her leadership team were questioning her competency. She became defensive and her work suffered. Struggling to find big ideas, she started playing it safe. It wasn’t until we addressed her state of body threat, that she felt confident enough to speak up, own her value, advocate for herself, and make bold, innovative decisions again. When she brought up the underlying issues that diminished the team’s psychological safety, she was surprised that several of her team members felt similarly.
3. Experiencing Constant “Body Threat” Leads to Slow Quitting
When exposed to multiple threat triggers, work often begins to feel like death by 1000 cuts. Our organizations invest a lot of time and money in our people, especially our senior leaders. Yet, without tools and practices to metabolize their stress hormones, people who were once self-motivated top performers like Mark and Marie burn out. Inevitably they find themselves questioning “why am I here?” “Is this the right company / role for me?” Without addressing body threat, we set it up for our people to walk out the door, or even worse, check out but stay put.
My client Leslie is a prime example of someone who didn’t realize how body threat was impacting her. After recently leaving an executive role at a major healthcare company, Leslie was beginning to question if she should stay with her new company. The toxic politics at her prior organization had led her to a state of body threat and burnout. Recently, she was retriggered when one of her new coworkers chose to circumvent protocol and shut down her big initiative. Fortunately, addressing her body threat was a game changer. While Leslie and I were doing an exercise to help her process her situation, she paused and said, “I just felt my shoulders drop 2 inches”. By the end of the session, she looked visibly more relaxed in her body and she had a new perspective about how to address the current situation.
What Can We Do About Body Threat
We all want our people to be engaged, innovative, and make great decisions. Yet, people everywhere are unknowingly walking around in a triggered state of body threat. Here are three things we can do to help alleviate this complex issue:
Develop awareness of what’s going on in your environment, and more importantly of yourself and how you are responding.
Build deep psychological safety into your organization’s culture. Commit to a journey of meaningful change. Don’t just look for a cookie cutter psychological safety program.
Support yourself and your people in moving beyond their current state of body threat. Use tools and breathing techniques to relax your body immediately after being triggered. Take the time to explore how your beliefs and subconscious programming contribute to your reactive responses and be open to using body processes to help facilitate a shift.
With awareness, psychological safety, and self-development, we can cultivate resilience, avoid getting stuck in a state of body threat, and perform at our best, even when similar triggers are present.
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[As an executive coach, Julie Allen helps her clients integrate their head, heart, and body wisdom, shed fear-based thinking, and leverage authenticity as a superpower to transform the way they show up, make decisions, and deliver meaningful results in their workplace. boldauthenticity.com]