After taking a week off to tend to personal matters, Lauren returns to the series on leading under pressure with a focus on navigating conflict without escalation. She reframes conflict as a nervous system event rather than simply a communication issue, explaining how stress activates threat responses around control, safety, and belonging. When leaders become dysregulated, they lose access to clarity and often default to avoidance, control, or appeasement.

She also explores what it looks like to stay grounded in tense moments through steady tone, clear boundaries, defined next steps, and meaningful repair when needed. Conflict is inevitable, but escalation is not when leaders choose regulation over urgency.

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Resources: 

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.

Other related resources from Five Ives: 

Blog Post: 

• Why Traditional Employee Wellness Programs Fail (And What Works Instead)
• Survive Mode: Recognizing When Your Organization is in Crisis
• What are the Five Ives?

Podcast:

• A Fresh Look at the Five Ives Framework in the Workplace
• Clarity as a Safety Cue
• When Leaders Become the Stressor
• Episode 2: Authority Without Fear
• Episode 1: What Stress Does to Decision Making
• The Pause Between Now and Next
• Leading From a Regulated Core
• When Culture Dysregulates
• Growth & Feedback Without Fear
• Onboarding as Co-Regulation
• Policy as a Nervous System
• The Regulated Organization: What it Means to be a Regulated Organization

Our Online Programs: 

• Behavior Breakthrough
• Policing Under Pressure
• Board Governance Training
• University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course

Subscribe to our mailing list and find out more about Stress, Trauma, Behavior and the Brain!

• Check out our Facebook Group – Five Ives!
• Five Ives Website
• The Behavior Hub blog

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