Harvard Business Review

Most people are familiar with the language of fight, flight, or freeze to describe the body’s instinctive survival responses to perceived threats. There are three additional, less-known threat responses: please/appease (sometimes called fawning), attach/cry for help, and collapse. We unconsciously carry our survival strategies into adult life—including work. The responses can result in disruptive behaviors, which could signal that psychological safety is lacking. Your task as a leader is to read these behaviors as valuable data about how someone may be experiencing your team’s climate. When you respond with curiosity, consistency, and compassion, you create the psychological safety needed to unlock untapped, authentic contribution hiding behind unhelpful patterns of self-protection.

After covering for open roles for a long time, leaders may struggle to adjust their schedules and responsibilities once new hires have filled the positions. While they should have more time on their calendar to focus on their individual responsibilities and objectives, they might find themselves still controlling details of projects, having meeting-filled days, and dealing with overpacked schedules, despite having more hands on deck. Intentionally reevaluating and letting go of old habits is essential to reclaim your time, so you can focus on your own role in an organization. First, review your calendar and remove yourself from meetings that new hires can handle. Second, hand off tasks and projects to new hires quickly. Third, identify key areas where your impact is greatest and schedule focused time for strategic activities. Finally, consciously take breaks and engage in restorative activities to prevent burnout.

The most effective leaders know how and when to ask for executive backing. Some leaders wait too long, asking only after opposition has already set in. Others ask too soon, or when they don’t truly need it, unintentionally signaling dependence. Here is a practical framework for leaders in this situation: how to diagnose when air cover is truly necessary, how to time the ask, how to secure it without looking weak—and how to lead effectively with or without visible backing from above.

Anxiety about the rapid rise of generative AI is not irrational. In fact, it is deeply logical. Our nervous system is designed to react to sudden change and perceived threats, and the impact of this technology on our work lives certainly fits the mold. But unpacking your anxiety can be a leadership superpower if you approach it thoughtfully. First, understand the three main reasons why AI makes you anxious; then you can tap into tools to take action that are in line with your values. What you discover may not singlehandedly change the trajectory of AI in your organization or society. But it will give you the ability to find clarity in who you are and how you want to lead and act, even when the future is uncertain.

Leadership growth is as much about identity as it is about skill. When you cling to your old job after being promoted to a leadership position and make decisions that should be under someone else’s authority, you cling to a version of yourself who earned the promotion. To thrive at the next level, you must release that identity and embrace a new one. Look at your promotion as an invitation to lead differently. To make a complete transition and empower your team to take ownership of the work you must leave behind, you should 1) clarify your new scope and authority; 2) set a clear transition date; 3) articulate your new leadership narrative; 4) redirect inquiries thoughtfully; and 5) invest in a thought partner.

Middle managers—those crucial conduits between strategy and execution—feel less psychologically safe than both their bosses and their teams. New research shows that fear of failure, lack of peer support, and weak modeling from senior leaders are silencing the very people responsible for transmitting vital information up and down the organization. To restore learning and agility, companies must redesign accountability systems, normalize fallibility from the top, and build stronger communities of practice for the middle layer.

Our Management Tip of the Day newsletter continues to be one of HBR’s most popular newsletters. In this article, we’ve compiled seven of our favorite Tips on leading through uncertainty, from how to become a more courageous leader to how to communicate with your team when times are tough.

Frontline employees’ close contact with customers and processes often put them in the best position to generate innovative ideas. However, in most companies, middle managers act as critical gatekeepers—balancing the potential of these ideas against personal status risks. New research reveals that managers who endorse employee ideas risk losing status whether the idea succeeds (by being overshadowed) or fails (by being blamed). This “Idea Endorser’s Dilemma” can stifle innovation despite executives’ enthusiasm. To counteract this, organizations should diversify decision-making through innovation panels, foster peer-to-peer idea sharing, and realign incentives to reward managerial support of creativity. Cultivating a culture that de-risks endorsement is essential to unlocking the full potential of employee-driven innovation.

Leaders often mask their true emotions to meet workplace demands, but this “surface acting” can trigger a cycle of exhaustion and disengagement that can be hard to break. New research shows that when energy is low, leaders default to faking enthusiasm, which drains them further, making it harder and harder to engage their emotions in a way that resonates with their team. In contrast, “deep acting,” which involves authentically reshaping emotional responses, fosters connection and resilience. Recovery strategies like low-effort relaxation and micro-breaks help leaders recharge and reconnect. By investing in emotional awareness and restoration, leaders can break the spiral, sustain performance, and lead with authenticity, even when facing tough conversations and high-pressure days.

One leader works on a better approach to his performance in meetings with senior leadership.

Most leaders rely heavily on one key region of the brain: the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is responsible for high-order functions like focus, planning, self-regulation, and decision-making. But the PFC has limits. It fatigues quickly, struggles with overload, and is highly sensitive to distraction and stress. This isn’t a personal failure but a systemic design issue. We’ve structured work in a way that demands nonstop performance from a part of the brain that was never meant to run continuously. To truly support better thinking, leaders must go beyond individual hacks and start redesigning the environments they work within—especially the spaces that drive attention, behavior, and collaboration.

The C-suite can be an isolating and stressful place, with many executives struggling to find the balance between caring for their businesses and caring for themselves. As AI continues to disrupt industries and geopolitical tensions rise, the pressure on senior leaders is at a peak. In today’s volatile circumstances, how do executives manage their stress? Five CEOs offer their insights and advice.

When you’ve landed a star employee , it’s tempting to think they’ll solve all your problems from day one. But even the most capable hire needs time to deliver their best work. More importantly, they need reasons to stick around. So, what can you do to keep them from getting poached? What do they need to stay motivated? And how do you give them what they need without creating resentment on your existing team? Here are eight strategies to try.

Many senior leaders are finding themselves overwhelmed as organizations cut budgets and staff while maintaining ambitious goals. In these conditions, bosses often assign extra projects to their most dependable performers, stretching them thin and leading to burnout. To avoid this cycle, executives who keep receiving extra work should clarify priorities before accepting new assignments, delegate or share ownership across teams, and align expectations with their bosses—shifting from doing everything themselves to ensuring the right work gets done by the right people.

Your team needs you, but you’re exhausted. You need to focus on the big picture, but you can’t move past the daily firefight. This is the classic trap of leadership: The more indispensable you become, the less time and capacity you have to lead. Meanwhile, the strategic work that needs your attention gets pushed aside. So how do you break this cycle? Here are strategies from five different experts on how to step back without everything falling apart.