Defensive Behaviors: Managing Fight-Flight-Freeze at Work (Part 1)

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Welcome back to the lab. Today we are reviewing an article in Harvard Business Review, the six defensive behaviors that show up at work and how psychological safety can help. This is by Ron Carucci. We'll probably only take a look at the three today and then we'll get in the next cast, we'll get the next three. So you've likely heard of fight, flight, and freeze, the body's instinctive responses to threats. But these aren't just survival reactions formed in childhood.

They actually show up in adult life, especially at work, where pressure, politics, and feedback can feel emotionally risky. These aren't flaws. They're protective responses to perceived danger. And here's how to spot them on your team and respond in a very constructive, supportive way. So the first one is fight. So arguing, interrupting, or dominating conversations often signal a fight response, right?

How should we respond? The easiest way, and the way that I have found actually that works really well, is to de-escalate with curiosity. So instead of powering up, sticking out your chest, slow down, ask, what's most important to you here? Reframe conflict as collaboration, and affirm moments of cooperation. So that's the first one. De-escalate the fight response with curiosity.

Okay, number two, what about the flight response? When someone withdraws or stays silent, they may be protecting themselves from judgment. What we want to do here is gently invite people into the conversation. Don't make a mistake that this is disengagement. Ask for their take without pressure. Highlight the value of their contributions and emphasize a team culture of curiosity. So the second one is flight, where we're gently inviting people in to the conversation without letting them get away.

And this kind of sinking into withdrawal or just sweeping things under the rug.

And the final one that we'll review today is called freeze. If someone gets stuck or can't make a decision, they may fear getting it wrong. So the idea here is for managers to make uncertainty safe. So normalize not knowing. Help them break the problem into smaller steps and ask guiding questions that builds clarity without adding the pressure. So the third one here is make uncertainty safe. When freeze, the inability to make decisions crops up on your team.

So that's it for today. We'll cover the next three in the next cast. And until next time we meet in the Manager Lab, do good work.