Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders – Part 2: Interrupt Fear With Curiosity

Curiosity is the leadership skill that helps you regulate your nervous system, interrupt fear loops, and make conscious choices in real time.

This episode is part 2 of the Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders series, where Sarah Lockwood is joined again by Marina Suholutsky, the founder of PurposeBuilt, and Beck Sydow, the founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, to discuss how curiosity plays an important role in nervous system regulation and managing emotions. They break down how fear contracts our experience and narrows our view, while curiosity invites expansion and presence. When leaders learn to pause and ask questions like “What else is true?” or “What story am I telling myself right now?”, they create access to agency, opening up space to shift out of reactivity and into conscious, grounded response.

Marina and Beck offer tools that don’t require time away from work or structured rituals. These moments of emotional awareness can happen mid-meeting, mid-sentence, or mid-meltdown. Whether it’s noticing your peripheral vision, softening your tone, or naming what’s happening in the room, curiosity becomes a live practice that leaders can use to stay connected to themselves and others. The discussion also explores how modeling this curiosity builds team trust and strengthens leadership presence. For founders who want to lead with more ease and intention, this episode is an invitation and a toolkit.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Curiosity as a Tool for Emotional Mastery

01:24 Using Curiosity to Shift from Fear to Possibility

02:55 How Curiosity Regulates the Nervous System

04:32 Interrupting Autopilot Responses with Better Questions

06:12 Building Agency Through Conscious Choice

09:59 Real-Time Techniques for Managing Emotions

12:34 Somatic Practices for Curiosity and Expansion

15:23 Leading with Curiosity in High-Stakes Moments

16:48 Asking Open-Ended Questions That Invite Collaboration

19:31 Why Curiosity Reflects True Leadership Confidence

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