GUEST POST BY Wendy Jenkins OAM, READY RESILIENCE
Ready Resilience helps organisations thrive during times of change and challenge, using practical neuroscience-based resilience tools that have been proven to offer in-the-moment solutions and long-lasting results. Learn actionable tips you can apply right away in Ready Resilience Founder Wendy Jenkins’ articles, written exclusively for the TEMi community.
The Neuroscience of Modern Work: Feedback
This year, Wendy Jenkins OAM, Founder of Ready Resilience, will focus her insightful TEMI monthly articles on ‘The Neuroscience of Modern Work’, offering science-based insights and tips you can apply right away.
Why feedback can feel risky to our sense of status and belonging and how to reduce defensive reactions.
Most organisations say they value feedback.
Yet even in healthy workplaces, feedback can trigger tension, defensiveness, or withdrawal. This is not simply about ego or attitude. It is about how the brain interprets social information.
The human brain is wired to monitor social standing. Status, belonging, and certainty are not abstract ideas. They are neurological priorities. When any of them feel at risk, the brain can activate threat circuitry similar to a physical danger response.
Consider what feedback can imply:
- Has my competence been questioned?
- Do others see me differently now?
- Is my role secure?
- What does this mean for future opportunities?
Even when feedback is constructive and well-intended, it can create ambiguity. The brain prefers clarity and predictability. When outcomes feel uncertain, stress responses increase.
Under threat, the prefrontal cortex becomes less effective. This is the very part of the brain responsible for reflection, reasoning, and learning. In other words, the moment we most need to process feedback thoughtfully is the moment our capacity to do so may narrow.
Understanding this shifts the conversation.
Defensive reactions are often protective reactions. The nervous system is trying to preserve status and belonging. Reducing this response begins with design.
Feedback that is specific, future focused, and anchored to shared goals is less likely to trigger social threat. Framing feedback around behaviours rather than identity also lowers defensiveness.
Leaders can also help by signalling safety before content. For example, clearly stating positive intent, reinforcing the person’s value to the team, and outlining what success looks like going forward can steady the nervous system. Inviting reflection rather than delivering verdicts also increases cognitive openness.
When feedback protects dignity while promoting clarity, the brain is more able to learn rather than defend.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wendy Jenkins is the founder of Ready Resilience, Co-Founder of the Lungitude Foundation, certified Neuroplastician, Speaker and Lung Transplant Survivor. Ready Resilience helps organisations thrive during times of change and challenge, using practical neuroscience-based resilience tools that have been proven to offer in the-moment solutions and long-lasting results.
Having been told she had two years to live over eighteen years ago, Wendy is passionate about empowering people to transform their perspective on life’s challenges through dynamic masterclasses, workshops, and certified resilience training. To learn how Wendy can support and inspire you at your next conference, leadership event, or personal development session, please email we***@*************ce.com or visit www.readyresilience.com.
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