“If he or she doubles down with more armor and no owning, the dynamic grows, and it gets exceedingly more difficult for the leader to lead.”

Leaders who stand up in front of the room and discuss their threats and armor make a positive impression. The more leaders and team members t...

“Armor is justified on the inside (to self-protect), but it almost always irritates others on the outside.”

To return those people or that team to a functional state, you first need to identify the nature of the threats in your workplace.

Do they come from the outside or do ...

To contribute to your team’s dynamics, ask some insightful questions, such as:

• Pinpointing threats – “What frustrates me most at work?”
• Owning your armor – “How do I tend to react to what frustrates me? What are the things I do that I use to protect myself? What less-optimal be...

“The key to changing culture is to remove armor and return to interacting with each other.”

Owning your own armor and admitting that being armored up may threaten others is the most effective way to encourage your teammates to be more open.

“The root of team dynamics problems is almost always a pileup of armor.”

Communication breaks down when people feel threatened and strap on their armor as a defense mechanism. 

• When people feel threatened, they build up protective armor, that fuels a perpetual cycle of workplace dysfunction.
• Bad culture often bubbles beneath the surface and isn’t talked about, but people must address it in order to improve it.
• Fight-or-flight reactions cause armor t...

• For team members to take off their armor to restore good communication, they first have to own their armor, beginning with honest self-assessment.
• When members own their armor, that changes a team’s culture, unlocks everyone’s true potential and restores optimal team productivity.