You walked into what you thought would be a routine conversation—and suddenly you're facing unexpected defensiveness. Your heart races. Your mind scrambles. Fight, flight, or freeze kicks in.

Sound familiar?

What if there was another way to respond that actually de-escalates the situation instead of making it worse?

In this episode, discover how to override your automatic survival response and replace it with a powerful tool that builds trust, reduces conflict, and transforms tough conversations: curiosity.

You'll learn:

• Why your fight, flight, freeze response is working against you in leadership conversations
• The critical shift: communication is for the receiver—it's about what THEY'RE processing, not you
• How to identify the hidden fear driving defensive responses
• Why your steady, reliable team players often catch you off guard with unexpected defensiveness
• The simple "press pause and get curious" strategy that changes everything
• How curiosity builds the trust your team desperately needs

Timeline:

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:32 Episode Intro: From "Fight, Flight and Freeze" to a new strategy
• 5:00 Purpose of "Fight, Flight and Freeze"
• 5:50 Press pause and try this instead
• 6:25 Consider how fear is motivating the responder
• 7:15 Common fear responses
• 10:12 Your next best step—a simple strategy to address complex problems
• 12:29 Curiosity builds trust

Stop letting your survival instincts sabotage your leadership. Start responding with curiosity and watch conflict transform into connection.

When you understand the fear behind the defensiveness, you hold the key to unlocking authentic communication and stronger team dynamics.