What Happens to Your Voice When You Don't Feel Safe

Most leaders know they want their people to feel safe enough to speak honestly. Few realize that psychological safety is not primarily a structural thing. It is a physiological one, and it begins in the leader's own body. Drawing on Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory and the neuroscience of co-regulation, this article explores what your nervous system is already broadcasting to every person in the room with you, and what to do about it.