Hypervigilance is a heightened state of awareness — your brain’s way of protecting you by scanning the environment for signs of danger. This behavior can be triggered by physical, mental, or psychological conditions, as well as social and familial situations such as childhood trauma, racial discrimination, and war. While there are valid reasons your brain has developed this mechanism keep you safe, it can hinder your abilities at work. This can leading to “scanning” behavior: being quick to react to threats — real or imagined — in ways that prove to be counterproductive. Managing this scanning is key to breaking out of habitual patterns to become a more effective leader and teammate. You can do this in three key ways: getting curious before getting confrontational, choosing alternate paths of interpretation, and creating a soothing environment to relax your nervous system.
