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 regulation, moving from reactive to proactive approaches with students, and recognizing that meaningful change requires more than a one-day training.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

The difference between trauma-informed and trauma-restorative practices
Why relationships are a critical resiliency factor
Creating environments where adults can regulate and perform at their best
Why supporting people does not mean lowering expectations
What leaders should understand about the reasoning and emotional brain
Why Stacy encourages leaders to replace “Why?” with “Help me understand”
Using shared language around regulation throughout a school
Moving from reactive responses to proactive support
Why leaders need to live—not simply model—the practices they expect from others

Stacy sums up her approach to leadership beautifully near the end of the conversation: leadership changes when what we teach becomes integrated into how we actually live and lead.

Connect with Stacy Nation:

Website: gobeyou.org

Instagram: Stacy G Nation

Facebook: Stacy Nation / Stacy G Nation

LinkedIn: Stacy Nation

YouTube: Search Stacy Nation or Stacy York

Book: What Really Happens in Therapy Behind Closed Doors: A Guided Journey to Healing

Sponsor Spotlight

This episode is proudly sponsored by HeyTutor.

HeyTutor partners with school districts across the country to provide high-dosage tutoring in mathematics and English language arts. Their comprehensive approach—including recruiting, training, scheduling, and managing tutors—allows educators to focus on what they do best while accelerating student learning.

Learn more by visiting: heytutor.com

Connect with Darrin

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