Betsy Gregory is the director of team member engagement at the Congressional Country Club, a country club and golf course in Bethesda, Md., which has hosted five major championships, including three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. She has also worked for Bethesda Country Club and Rhode Island Country Club. In addition, Betsy is a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member! In this member spotlight, we asked her a series of questions so you can get to know her better.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
    “Breaking Into the Boys’ Club” by Molly D. Shepard, Jane K. Stimmler, and Peter J. Dean. I could not put it down!
  2. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a remote or hybrid team?
    Make time for small talk and relationship building, keep up your one-to-ones, and keep the cameras on.
  3. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
    The loneliness. Being in an executive leadership role can be very lonely, especially in human resources. I combat this by working intentionally on my relationships with my peers and allowing for broader understanding of challenges and successes. In addition, building relationships with my direct reports that foster feedback in both directions.
  4. What’s the best way you motivate team members?
    CARE! Let them know how much you care about their success. Demonstrating consistently you believe in them and showing them they’re capable of more then they think they are!
  5. What woman inspires you right now and why?
    Molly Shepard. She took her work experience and built an entire company dedicated to developing others. She founded her company, The Leader’s Edge/Leaders By Design, to support the growth of more women into leadership roles. Her company has expanded to offer support for all C-suite and executive leaders. Did I mention she worked throughout her pregnancies and raising her children!
  6. What are you looking forward to the most for the industry for the rest of 2021?
    Job growth and stabilization. It’s a challenge right now, but this industry always prevails and it will in 2021 as well!
  7. What’s one thing you look for when interviewing a potential job candidate?
    Self-awareness and willingness to learn. (I know I said two ?.)
  8. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
    My passion and optimism can be off-putting. My enthusiasm for my work, my fellow co-workers, my family and my community will always be strong. I need to work on tempering it in certain situations. This will allow me to have positive and effective influence in different situations.
  9. What’s your favorite podcast?
    Going to go personal on this one, Nursing and Cursing. This podcast was my best friend during the sleepless nights with a newborn.
  10. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Honesty, humility and humanity.
  11. What’s one habit you adopted while working from home that you’d like to keep with you as you return to the office?
    Working harder in a shorter period of time! Being home earlier to spend time with family in the evenings.
  12. What’s your favorite app?
    CALM
  13. What do you do to recharge?
    Go out on the boat with our family.
  14. What’s your biggest accomplishment?
    The growth of my direct reports.
  15. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    Look out for each other. Some of the most disheartening moments in my professional career have come from other women, not men.
  16. What gets you up in the morning?
    My kiddos, literally and figuratively. Them and wanting to help anyone I can grow!
  17. How would you describe your leadership style?
    I’ll quote one of my direct reports: “The hardest boss I’ve ever worked for, but in the best ways.” I stretch people beyond what they believe they’re capable of. I set the expectation or goal without all the steps to get there. This empowers my team to use their own strengths and take their own approaches to accomplishing the goal. This has developed them to asking better questions, exploring their own style, and managing their time more efficiently.

If you would like to become a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member or need additional information, click here.