Reflect on Stress Reactions

Stress reveals the cracks in any team. If you don't understand how each person reacts under pressure, you'll misread behavior and damage trust at the worst possible moment. The active listening and empathy skills from Activities 13-16 gave you the tools to have this conversation without it becoming an accusation.

Theory

Collect typical stress moments and talk about your reactions. Understanding different patterns prevents escalation. Develop small aids for acute phases.

Conflict in teams rarely starts at the personal level — it begins with factual or structural disagreements that become individual when stress goes unexamined. Every person carries a default stress response shaped by biographical experience, and naming those patterns honestly is a structured intervention that prevents escalation. This reflection builds on the trust you cultivated in earlier levels: you can only share stress reactions openly when the frame is safe enough to hold vulnerability. Understanding that a colleague withdraws under pressure rather than disengaging from the work changes how you interpret and respond to their behavior.