Your people aren’t just listening to your words. They're reading your body language. Your shallow breath in the meeting. Stiff body when someone pushes back. How you cut people off when they’re talking. They pick up every signal.

Researchers call it neuroception—the unconscious scan for safety or threat. When you're the person people look up to (leader, parent, etc.), the dial gets cranked way up. 3 states play out in real time. Regulated: you breathe steady, think clearly, leave room for disagreement.