Ready to explore your emotional triggers as a leader?! These are the situations that can derail even well-intentioned new leaders before they know what hit them.

As someone stepping into leadership, recognizing your triggers isn't about suppressing emotions - it's about managing them so they don't undermine your team relationships.

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Think of a recent time you overreacted with a team member—what single trigger set you off?

Emotional triggers are situations, words, or behaviors that create an intense, often disproportionate reaction in you.

Common leadership triggers include: team members pushing back on decisions, having your feedback questioned, or feeling like someone is testing your new authority.

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Type the one that resonates most with your leadership experience.

Your body gives you early warning signals before emotions take over. Maybe your shoulders tense up, your voice gets defensive, or you start over-explaining your decisions.

Learning to recognize these physical cues gives you precious moments to choose your response instead of reacting automatically.

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Name one physical signal you notice when stress builds during team interactions.

Here's a real example: A new team lead always got flustered when direct reports questioned her feedback during one-on-ones.

She started giving vague, generic feedback to avoid pushback. Her team stopped growing because they weren't getting the development they needed. She didn't realize her trigger was limiting their progress.

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List one way a leader's trigger could hurt team development.

The STOP technique works in tense moments: Stop what you're doing, Take a breath, Observe what you're feeling, Proceed with intention.