Susan Britton MCCICF Award-Winning Coach Educator, Neuroscience-Informed ICF/SHRM Coach Training, INSEAD Executive Masters in Change, Advocate for Evolutionary Shift from “Red Zone” to “Blue Zone” for Leaders, Coaches & Fellow Humans

Why I Chose This Coaching Research

Name: Why I Chose This Coaching Research
Uploaded: 2025-10-13T05:00:12+00:00
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Channel: Susan Britton MCC
Description: In this monologue, Susan Britton MCC explains the focus of her coaching research, which centers on the "red zone"—the fight‑or‑flight states that coaches…

13 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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1:14

In this monologue, Susan Britton MCC explains the focus of her coaching research, which centers on the "red zone"—the fight‑or‑flight states that coaches and clients can enter, ranging from subtle symptoms like tongue‑tying to intense reactions such as freezing or shock. She wants to explore, at a psychodynamic level, what happens when both coach and client are simultaneously in the red zone, as well as what occurs when a coach (or any other relational partner) remains in a "blue zone" of curiosity and connection while the other person is in the red zone. By studying these contrasting dynamics, she hopes to distill practical insights that will help coaches and leaders stay connected, curious, and effective even when others become highly distressed, a skill she believes is urgently needed in today’s world.

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And, you know, I have some specific ideas. I'm specifically looking at talking to coaches who have had a red zone experience. So whenever I use red zone, it's synonymous with I get into fight flight. And that can be subtle, like I'm getting tongue-tied, or it could be a little bit of frustration, or it could be full on, I'm frozen. I don't know what to say. I'm just shocked. But have worked with clients who themselves were in some state of distress big stress, like, I don't like my options, I don't know what to do, I'm at a loss. The client's in the red zone, the coach is also in the red zone. I want to know what's happening at a kind of a psychodynamic level around that. And then conversely, I want to know what happens when people do encounter others, whether it's a client, a leader, a spouse, a kid, um, anybody, a friend that is in the red zone, but you're able to stay in that blue zone state of curiosity and connection. And study just the differences there and hope to be able to simplify what's happening so that people, especially coaches, have a better ability— coaches and leaders have a better ability to remain connected and curious when people kind of go berserk. I think our world needs that.