# Episode 293: The Human Side of Leadership with Stacy Nation

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/leaning-into-leadership-4658926/episode-293-the-human-side-of-leadership-with-stacy-nation
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/leaning-into-leadership-4658926/episode-293-the-human-side-of-leadership-with-stacy-nation.md
Podcast: [Leaning into Leadership](https://stenobird.com/podcast/leaning-into-leadership-4658926)
Published: 2026-08-16T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://leaning-into-leadership.captivate.fm/episode/episode-293-
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/fb7e6d7f-8dbe-471b-b64e-08ed0e81a52a.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/leaning-into-leadership-4658926/episodes/episode-293-the-human-side-of-leadership-with-stacy-nation
Duration seconds: 2026

## Resource

Episode 293 of Leaning Into Leadership is a conversation about something every leader needs to understand: we lead humans, and humans bring their experiences, emotions, stress, and trauma with them to work. Darrin sits down with licensed clinical social worker, speaker, author, and military leader Stacy Nation to explore what trauma-informed—and ultimately trauma-restorative—leadership can look like in schools. Stacy challenges leaders to move beyond simply knowing that trauma exists and begin creating environments built around safety, connection, relationships, and restoration. As she explains, one of the most important resiliency factors is having a positive, caring relationship—which makes relationship-building far more than a “soft” leadership skill. The conversation also turns toward the adults in our schools. Are teachers able to meet their own basic needs during the day? What happens after a difficult interaction with a student? Do leaders create conditions that help adults regulate themselves before asking them to help students do the same? Stacy makes the case that supporting adults and maintaining high expectations are not competing ideas. Darrin and Stacy also dig into neuroscience and leadership, including the difference between the reasoning and emotional functions of the brain, why certain questions can immediately create defensiveness, and how leaders can communicate differently when emotions are running high. Stacy shares the story behind her book, What Really Happens in Therapy Behind Closed Doors: A Guided Journey to Healing , and how her experiences as a therapist, military member, parent, and someone navigating her own family story shaped the work. Finally, the conversation comes back to leadership: creating shared language around emotional regulati…

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## Transcript

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