60. Ask Sara: Leading Through Challenges, Promotions, and Emotions

I’ve hit 60 episodes of the Lead Into It podcast! 🎉
For this milestone episode, I’m doing something new: my very first Q&A. You sent in your leadership questions, and I’m diving into them all.

In this episode, we’re talking about:

• Leading during tough times (like government shutdowns)
• Knowing when to say no to a promotion
• Building trust and training new team members
• Navigating leadership challenges with experienced teams
• Showing emotions authentically as a leader

I’m answering your questions while sharing personal stories, lessons I’ve learned along the way, and practical takeaways you can use right now. Whether you’re leading through a challenge or growing into your next season, this episode is for you.

Let’s keep the conversation going—connect with me on Instagram and LinkedIn, subscribe to my Sunday newsletter, or reach out at sara@leadintoitco.

Excited to be with you!

Transcript

Sara Greco (00:00)
You're listening to episode 60 of the Lead Into a Podcast.

Welcome, welcome. I am so excited. This is episode 60. Six zero. I cannot believe I have done 60 episodes of this podcast. That is absolutely incredible. you all for listening in and joining and learning as much as you can. has been such a wonderful journey and like 60 y'all. I'm just excited to be here with you. I wanted to do something a little bit different this time.

I've never done a Q &A episode before. And so I thought, what a great time. What a great time to do Q &A. I think there's a lot going on in the world. I think there's a few things on people's minds. But also, I wanted to see what everyone was kind of curious about, whether it's about me or it's about leadership in general, about careers. wanted to give you all the opportunity to send in your questions. And I got some last week.

really good questions. I guess I'm not surprised because you all are really great audience. But I just loved hearing and seeing what was on top of mind for the most of you. And so I'm gonna go through those.

So I have about 10 questions. This is a perfect number. two out of the several questions that I got were about how to lead during difficult times, a government shutdown or a civilian furlough. I'm not surprised.

This is definitely on top of people's minds. The government has been shut down since October 1st, and I have been through government shutdowns. And so there's a lot that happens with these, and it's a tough situation to be in. Some civilians are furloughed, and that can be disheartening because as a civilian, you hear the words nonessential and essential. And if you're in the nonessential category, like, well, I guess I'm not important enough, or I'm not worthy.

And so those are very difficult times. And even though non-essential doesn't necessarily mean not worthy, it can feel that way. And so this is a very challenging time to be leading teams. I would consider it a crisis period where it's as though you are leading during crises. So I'm going to answer one of the questions. And the first one that I received was, what happens when your primary leader is going through a crisis?

And this is actually, this is such a good question to ask because I think as a lot of employees and people who are just, are being supervised, they're like, well, why can't my leader handle this? Let's in their shoes a minute. Imagine you're leading a team of about five to 15 people and half of them have been furloughed because they're considered non-essential and they're not getting paid during this time.

and then you're at a place where you're trying to figure out how to even lead your projects with half a team. Some of the standards are remaining the same because some of the work just can't stop. And you have to do it with half the team, possibly even less. Still meet those goals and work is piled on this other group of people.

probably very stressed too. Most of them are probably not getting paid. And so it is this like weird pool of uncertainty, not feeling valued for your work. And so as a leader with that team, you're trying to create some sort of control, some sort of consistency, but you keep looking to your leadership and they're not able to give you any information. Nothing has changed. So much is

not in their control or your control. It's a wild, wild time. And having been through several government shutdowns myself, it is not fun trying to live through this time period. I remember during the one in 2014, I think it was, it was such a great day. We were called in on a Sunday when the government was reopened again. Like it was a celebration. would imagine that the primary leader,

going through this crisis is feeling a lot of turmoil, uncertainty, trying to figure out what steps to take, what are the best ways to take care of your team. So if I were in that position or if I were recommending what that person in that primary leadership should do during a crisis, here are the three things I would recommend. One is take inventory of what you can actually control. There is so much out of your hands.

And if you focus on those things that you cannot control, you're going to be even more frustrated at what is going on. So look at what you can actually control. You can't control a lot during this time. A lot of it's gonna be your attitude. A lot of it's gonna be what can you actually accomplish on your to-do list that day that can help support your team. Take a look, write it down, and actually write it down so you can see it visibly and have that visual.

And so when you start, and I think it just depends on the person, but some of us start spiraling a little bit when there's just so many things that continue to happen that you're just like, I cannot do anything about it. Go back to that list and you ask, is this something I can control? If not, you gotta focus on what you can control.

And in those moments, lean on that list because you will actually feel like you're gaining a little bit of progress back in those moments. Ignore the things that you cannot control for the time being. Just ignore them. They're gonna be there. Take it and do what you can control those moments. Two, take care of yourself as best as you can. If you're furloughed out of the office, I know how frustrating that can be.

and you're just kind of waiting to hear what's gonna happen. Uncertainty, all the things. Put as much joy as you can in your day to day. Whether that's as little as taking a walk outside because it's beautiful weather outside, or reading a book that you might have time for right now, or if you're trying to progress your career, take that training you were hoping that you never had time to.

take a little bit of control back into your life.

you're in the office, you might have a lot of work on your plate. Do what you can. Do what you can in those amount of hours that you have at the office. And if there's something that isn't needed that day, put it on your to-do list for the next day. And that's okay. You might not be as productive and you might not be at 100 % and all of that's okay. This is just a right now.

so that's number three. If you are in the office, manage your expectations for yourself and for your do what you can, but don't expect yourself or your team to be giving at 100%. It's a challenging time right now. So give yourself and others grace as they're going through the season, as you're going through the season, because it is a lot.

And then that kind of leads back to how to lead during times. Look at those three things. Take inventory of what you can control. Take care of yourself and manage your expectations of yourself and your team.

Again, this is the season and it will be challenging, but at some point it will pass to come to an end. So just take it day to day at this point. This situation is affecting so many people.

whether you know them or whether you know of somebody or are the person that's affected by this government shutdown. This is something that is hard. So know that this is going to be a hard season, but there will be an end to it

The next question is, how did you know when to say no to a promotion? Great question. I think my first instinct is if you're asking this question, you probably already want to say no to this question. Most people who are looking for a promotion are people who have been working towards it. And so it's probably something like in a civilian sector where it's like, want to move up the next level or I want to start supervising people and be in that managerial role.

or leading a project. So you're probably taking steps to work towards that. So you won't be at all surprised if you were to get an offer for a promotion. If you are being offered a promotion and it doesn't fit with your lifestyle, your values, or where you wanna go, I think those are the three things you need to acknowledge as you're considering moving into promotion.

lifestyle, values, and where you want to go.

If all three of those are no, say no to the promotion. It'll be hard, because there's an expectation to always say yes to a promotion. Who wouldn't want a promotion? But there's always you to consider. And if there's anything in your gut that's saying, I don't know, really sit with that. Why is that feeling there? And it's probably because of one of those three things.

If any of those it does align, I would say think about that a little bit more. What is your hesitation for saying yes to the promotion? Is it you're scared, which is totally normal, you think that you might not be able to handle it? I think those are questions that you need to reflect on to see if.

Am I saying no to this promotion because I'm a little bit nervous on taking on a little bit more? Or am I saying no because I'm saying yes to myself?

The next question is, a fellow team member is supporting multiple people, but seems to favor some over others. Help, question mark. This happens all the time. I think it's just a vibing thing. Some people vibe better with other people. So if you are a team of like five people and you have an admin that is supporting five people's travel, there's just different expectations of everyone and how they work too.

And some people just vie better with those expectations, vie better with those people. There might be a gap with the way that you might be communicating with this person. There might be a gap for that vibe. So what I would recommend is closing the gap. Create an environment that is neutral for both of you and go grab coffee. Get to know one another. The best advice I can give is understanding where people are and how they work.

will help build that relationship and bridge that gap. And ultimately, I believe that would help with the way that they support you, because they would understand a little bit more about you too. Once you bridge that gap of understanding, it'll create a whole lot of respect and different types of work ethic and just create a better way for you to work. And I would recommend this for almost So if you have...

a team member, so you're on a team of like five people and you're one team member, you're like, I just don't vibe with that girl. Boy, guy, whatever. Best recommendation I can say is bridge the gap. So whether it's grabbing a cup of coffee at your corporate headquarters coffee shop, and just talk about nothing to do with work as much as you can. Get to What do they like to do for fun? What is important to them?

What are their goals in life? And that'll help understand the way that they work and you can share those same things so they can understand how you work too.

next question is, what's the perfect balance of trust and training for a new employee? I imagine that this is a new employee coming on board. How much do trust them and how much do you train them? So do you train them a whole lot and then trust them later? Or do you trust them and then add on training? You're probably not gonna like this answer, but I think it depends. It depends on every person. There's a lot that you can do.

with training and then you can empower them to see how they'll do. But more times than not, that'll probably still create a little bit more training, because you're gonna have to revisit how they did during that one time and does that meet your expectations. So first thing to do to create this balance that might be sought after is to set those expectations. So there is a list of things that a new employee needs to be an expert at.

And that list should be relatively small at first, and then you can build upon that. In the one episode where I had Tabby talk about the volunteers for the sea turtles, she did a great job because she was like, before I can have the interns do the really cool things that everyone wants to do with the sea turtles, the treatments, or working with moving them or stuff like that, she always has them do the basics first. So it might be cleaning the tanks, laundry. And...

while those things seem basic, those are what your skills are built upon. So when you're in a new role, and maybe you're the leader, or maybe you're the new employee, become an expert at those select things that they have asked you to become an expert, or you have asked them to become an expert as. then move on from there. So once they become experts in that, then start trusting them, or trust yourself.

and build upon that. I do think that there's always going to be training though. There's always gonna be growth and opportunity and the new employees will be able to do more and more as time goes on. But they should always be experts at those main things. That is the baseline.

I say go from there.

Ooh. And then the other thing too is you can train and train all that you want, but at some point they just need to run. like learning how to ride a bike. almost every kid, I mean, I remember learning how to ride a bike with only two wheels. It's terrifying. And sometimes you just have to let go and do the thing.

some people learn better that way. So if they're at like a 70 % at being an expert in those things or being close to being an expert, let them run, see how they do.

they'll probably learn better from experience and mistakes than just holding on to those training wheels.

Who inspires my leadership? I would say the main person that has influenced my leadership is my dad. different in a lot of ways. But I've noticed that our leadership styles are surprisingly similar. And in fact, when I was leading my first large team, I called him all the time for advice. I think that we're both very self-aware, and that's our superpower.

So we both reflect very deeply and neither of us assumes that we're 100 % right, even though it might seem like we do, because stubbornness runs it in the family. But really, think my dad has kind of built and inspired the leadership style that I have today. And I think he got that from his dad, my grandfather, who was very big on the phrase, make it happen.

see people live in their power and see how they could accomplish something. And so he was always big on just making it happen. So I think my dad has taken parts of that. And then I have had that trickle effect too. It was pretty interesting. Getting asked this question was a huge reflection piece because I was trying to think of who has influenced and inspired my leadership. And it was interesting to come upon my dad because, again,

We're both stubborn, so I love to say I'm my own personality, but he's impacted a lot of it. I also look up to so many different leaders when it comes to who inspires my leadership style. I don't think there's one right way to be a leader. And in fact, I love taking bits and pieces from leadership, whether it's online or building a company.

I will find out about people and be like, my gosh, I want them on my podcast. So usually that's how I find out that I'm really admiring them is because I want them to come on my podcast. So one of the people that probably my friends hear a lot about recently is Sarah Blakely. She's the founder and inventor of Spanx. And I just love how she kind of created this whole empire for this need in women's fashion.

the way that she continues to lead today, even though she's sold the company. So it was just interesting to see. And I follow her on social media. So I continue to feel like I learned from her and inspired by her. I also recently started following somebody on social media. Her name is Isabel Klee, I think is how you pronounce her name, but she runs the Simon Sitz account.

Instagram and I'm just moved by how much she is inspiring people and making change for animals and pets and she fosters dogs stories about them and I think leadership is way more than just leading a team because she might have a little bit of a team but she doesn't have a large team for sure and I feel like she's leading a movement when it comes to the importance of how she feels.

so strongly about animals and how to treat them. So I think those are two really great examples and I probably literally couldn't go on for hours about all the people. literally have post-it notes on my walls. Maybe that's another episode. I don't know. But for right now, we'll stick with Sarah Blakely and Isabelle Klee.

Who is the best fictional leader you've seen and why? So, I know the person that asked this is probably gonna be like, she's gonna say Harry Potter. And yes, that was my first thought. I was like Dumbledore. I do not believe he's the best leader. I think he learned a lot, but that's a whole nother. I actually wrote a speech about this in college. So yes, I do believe Dumbledore is a great leader, but also has a lot of flaws. But who I would like to talk about in this moment.

is actually Elizabeth McCord Secretary. I freaking love that show. And it is because of her leadership style. I don't know if you've all watched it, it's on Netflix, but she is of State and it just kind of goes through her journey of her being her authentic self in a place where maybe she doesn't quite fit in. And yes, it's fiction, so.

Go into it with that mindset, but I just love how they show how she's trying to be authentic and she continues to learn throughout the entire series and continues to grow. I don't know, I've always appreciated that character and how she leads and I have seen the show three to four times because every time I watch the show, I realize something different about the way she's leading or the storyline and how it's impacting her decisions. Go into it with the mindset, yes, it's fiction, but you can be inspired by fiction too.

How can leaders show emotion in a productive way? This such a thoughtful question. I love this question. Because it's such a tricky thing to navigate. so there's a balance that you have to it comes to emotions. And there's two ends to the spectrum. So one end is you are so emotional,

and just showing every single emotion that you have. And then the other end of the spectrum is you're stoic. You don't show any emotion whatsoever. your facial expressions are neutral and you just are, you just be. I think there's a happy medium, but I think to reach that medium, you need to reach it with intention. And so the question that I would,

ask you back is what feels authentic to you.

and here's the scope I would give you as well. What is your intention for sharing these emotions? If you're...

intention or you feel like you're sharing it just to share. Like I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm frustrated. You just are sharing because you're like, well, that's authenticity. I'm feeling this way. That might become a lot. And it also feels to others kind of look at me, look at me. So when you look at it with intention and ask, well, why am I sharing this feeling? Why am I sharing this emotion?

with whomever I'm leading. I think the question should be, am I sharing this because they're probably feeling it too and I want them to not feel alone? Does this feel authentic to me to share? Do I think that this is going to build that relationship with the team? Build trust and build respect. Because we are all human, we all have emotions. But as a leader, they should also respect you because you know

when is a good time to share emotions and when is not a good time to share emotions. So as you're asking this question, and I would recommend this for everyone, I would reflect upon what feels true to you.

Do it now before you enter in a situation where you feel like you do want to share these emotions and be super vulnerable. Because you want to look at what lies within my values, what feels right to me, what would the goal and intention be behind me sharing whatever emotions, A, B, and C, frustration, sadness, look at that.

now.

so that when these times come up, you already know how you wanna react. You're like, I wanna go in with this intention. So that means that I will be sharing these emotions or I will not be sharing these emotions. What feels true to you? And go from there.

So the last question is, what is some advice for young leaders leading older, more experienced teams? This happens a lot in the military. We come in as brand new second lieutenants and there's usually like a senior master sergeant on the team or a master sergeant or tech sergeant who might be like 10 years more experienced or more. that can be very challenging for...

somebody who's just like coming out of college. So there's a few ways to approach this, but I think the ultimate thing that probably needs to happen is building mutual respect. I imagine that as somebody who has more experience, it is very hard to see and follow somebody who just came out of college. And I imagine it's frustrating for somebody who knows that they're supposed to be leading a team.

to see somebody who might not be respecting their role in the organization. It's a two-way street. So for the young leaders, I would say first, see that person as a teacher. They do have more experience. They do know way more about what they're talking about. Ask them for their advice. See how that goes. people love talking about themselves.

If you can get people to open up and to share what they think and how they feel, learn from that more experienced person and build that relationship with them.

If they still, or if it feels like they do not respect you, then there'll probably need to be a separate conversation. Probably a one-on-one where talk about the expectations, what they look like, and

you'll just need to set the clear expectations and hold them accountable if they fall short.

I would also say probably build this mutual respect through communication. So ask them good questions. Offer feedback and stay consistent and that respect will be built over time. Don't expect it the first day that you show up in the office. It's not gonna happen the first day. But over consistency and over time, having those conversations, asking really good questions.

that will help build that mutual respect. Best advice I can give is find a mentor or someone you trust to help you with this process. it's not going to be like a level road. It's definitely gonna have some peaks and valleys. Even if it's a good relationship, it's gonna have its frustrations along the way. So having that mentor or that person that you trust, it'll help you keep your confidence steady.

as you're kind of going through the process, which is very challenging. But good on you for asking this question. that was the last question. So I just wanna say thank you all who sent in questions. This was a lot of fun. I think that these were incredible and I would love to do this again. So if you ever have questions or something that comes to mind, I'll ask this again on social media. But if there's ever anything that you want answered,

or researched or anything like that, I'd be happy to answer these questions either regularly on the podcast or do a special Q and A. I think there's something super special about continuing to learn and that's really why I continue to build this podcast is because I want to continue to learn and I want to bring everyone along on this journey. And so having these questions gives a good guideline for.

what are people interested in and how can I you don't have to be alone in leadership. You can have support and a mentor and a team and resources and all of the things to help you on this journey. Anyways, thank you all for listening to episode 60. If you really enjoyed this episode, I would love if you left a review on Apple.

podcast or Spotify that helps bring in like you who might be interested in learning more. Also, you can find out more information about me and the coaching business that I also offer at leadintuit.co. That's leadintuit.co. You can also send me a message through Instagram. I'm at Sarah Greco coaching. If you search that, you'll be able to find it. until next time,