Welcome to the Manager Lab, where we explore talent management through actionable insights. In this episode we review Ron Carucci’s Harvard Business Review article on the six defensive behaviors and focus on the first three: fight, flight, and freeze.Learn how to de-escalate aggressive behaviors with curiosity, invite withdrawn teammates into conversations without pressure, and make uncertainty safe for those who struggle to decide. Practical approaches help managers turn protective responses into opportunities for psychological safety and better team performance.