Want to See My Notes From a Neuroscientist About Stress?
- Marcy Stoudt
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Last week, I hosted a private REVEL Leadership Circle workshop with neuroscientist Jamey Maniscalco whose work focuses on stress, resilience, and the brain.
When leaders understand how the brain works, stress stops feeling personal and starts feeling manageable.
Stress isn’t something to eliminate.
It’s something to understand, regulate, and move through with intention.
And that’s how leaders lead better, even in hard seasons.
My Top Takeaways on How the Brain Influences Stress (For Better or Worse)
1. The First Story You Tell Yourself in the Morning Shapes the Entire Day
Scientific explanation:
This is driven by negativity bias and top-down processing. When the brain sets an expectation early, it selectively looks for evidence to confirm it. If the day starts with threat-based thinking, the nervous system stays on alert.
How it shows up at work:
Everything feels harder than it should
Small disruptions feel personal
You feel behind before the day even starts
Meetings feel draining instead of productive
Tip to train your brain:
Before checking email or your calendar, set a conscious frame for the day.
Example: “Today will require focus and I’m capable of handling it.”
You’re not forcing positivity. You’re choosing the story your brain will look to confirm.
2. Stress Is Not a Leadership Weakness, It’s a Nervous System Response
Scientific explanation:
When the brain perceives threat, the amygdala activates fight-or-flight. Cortisol and adrenaline rise, while the prefrontal cortex (planning, reasoning, creativity) goes partially offline.
How it shows up at work:
Short patience
Reactive emails
Difficulty prioritizing
Mental fog or rigidity
Over-controlling instead of collaborating
Tip to tame your brain:
Interrupt the stress response physically first.
Slow your breathing. Take a short walk. Pause for 60 seconds before responding.
Regulation restores access to higher-level thinking.
3. Naming the Emotion Reduces Its Power
Scientific explanation:
This is known as affect labeling. Naming an emotion activates the prefrontal cortex and quiets the amygdala, helping the brain shift out of threat mode.
How it shows up at work:
You say “I’m stressed” but don’t know why
Emotions leak into decisions
Conversations escalate unnecessarily
Feedback feels personal
Tip to train your brain:
Name the emotion — silently or out loud:
“I feel anxious.”
“I feel embarrassed.”
“I’m afraid of letting someone down.”
Precision creates regulation.
Regulation creates clarity.
4. Gratitude Isn’t About Being Positive. It’s About Where Your Brain Pays Attention.
What stood out to me:
Gratitude doesn’t change circumstances. It changes what the brain scans for. Most of us underestimate how wired we are to look for what’s wrong.
Scientific explanation:
The brain defaults to problem-scanning through negativity bias. Intentional gratitude works with neuroplasticity, training attention toward stability, progress, and safety alongside risk.
How it shows up at work:
Leaders focus on gaps instead of progress
Wins go unnoticed or unspoken
Teams feel unseen despite strong performance
Momentum drops, even in good seasons
Tip to train your brain:
Gratitude has to be specific to work.
Not “I’m grateful for my team,” but:
“Someone followed through when it mattered.”
“That conversation moved us forward.”
“I handled that better than I would have last year.”
The brain responds to detail.
Specific gratitude builds perspective, regulation, and trust.
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Marcy Stoudt is a seasoned sales leader dedicated to shaping the future of talent acquisition and executive coaching. As the founder of Revel Search and Revel Coach, Marcy collaborates with corporate clients to develop innovative strategies for attracting, advancing, and retaining top-tier talent.
During her 22 years at Allegis Group, Marcy was TEKsystems's first female Vice President. She led a team of 300 producers and delivered four consecutive years of revenue results at 18% CAGR, averaging $320 million annually. While at MarketSource, she established the Customer Experience Strategy for the Target Mobile outsourced sales team at 1,540 Target locations, fostering executive-level relationships with Target and Apple.
The Revel Coach™ Blog is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not mental health, financial, business or legal advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure or prevent any medical, mental or emotional condition. The information presented here is not a guarantee that you will obtain any results or earn any money using our content.
