Beyond the Either/Or: Leading With Care and Accountability

We’ve spent our careers in different corners of leadership, but we’ve come to the same conclusion: organizations don’t thrive unless leaders get the right balance between accountability and care.

We have seen accountability and results suffer at the hands of indecision and avoidance. We have also seen relationships and retention suffer at the hands of unchecked pressure and a lack of care. The truth is, both sides of this equation matter, and when leaders focus too heavily on one at the expense of the other, performance falters and people disengage.

In our combined 50 years of working with leaders and leadership teams, and serving as leaders ourselves, we have learned the hard way what works and what does not when it comes to creating high-performing cultures where people want to belong. Much of our own leadership journey has been shaped by lessons from missteps, course corrections, and the realities of balancing care with accountability.

Peter has seen both sides of the bind firsthand. He has seen leaders who pushed hard for results without pausing to check whether people felt supported. Performance held for a while, but eventually the cracks showed. Trust eroded, engagement dropped, turnover spiked, and results suffered. It was a painful reminder that accountability without care is short-lived. And he has seen the cost of care without accountability, where performance can quickly stagnate. The truth? The balance between the two is filled with opportunity.

The Opportunity: Redefining Inclusive Leadership

We believe there is now an opportunity to orient toward a new inclusive leadership paradigm. This is not about leaving DEIB work behind. Rather, it is about evolving into a broader frame that emphasizes cultures where a positive employee experience leads to both fulfillment and business results. We have long believed that if leader development and organizational inclusion efforts do not produce measurable business outcomes, they will eventually be disregarded, defunded, or even cancelled altogether. To avoid this, accountability must be at the center.

With insights from their Thriving at Work Index and other field research, Susan and the team at the Institute are shaping the foundation of what it means to be a connected and effective leader in today’s workplace—a model they call The Connected Leader. Humans want connection and businesses need accountability. The Connected Leader knows this and works to achieve this balance for greatest results. Accountability is essential because without it, the term “connected” risks sounding soft, overly focused on belonging or support without the rigor of performance.

Balancing Care and Accountability Isn’t Easy

Susan recently spoke with a CEO who sees this clearly in her own organization. By most measures, her culture would be described as kind. People care about one another and treat each other respectfully. Yet beneath the surface, she admitted, accountability is weak. Hard conversations are avoided. Decisions are delayed. Projects stall. Momentum is lost. Results are not where they need to be. She knows she has to make serious changes. At the same time, she knows she cannot swing the pendulum so far toward accountability that she loses the trust and loyalty of her people.

Peter has witnessed the other side of the pendulum swing. In one organization, the pressure for results was relentless. Leaders drove accountability through metrics, dashboards, and performance reviews, but rarely stopped to connect with their people. At first, the numbers looked great. But over time, employees felt like cogs, not contributors. Engagement dropped, creativity dried up, and attrition soared. By over-indexing on accountability and neglecting care, the culture, and ultimately the results, unraveled.

This is the bind many leaders face: how do you create an environment that is both caring and accountable, both human and high-performing?

The Connected (and Accountable) Leader in Action

From our experience working with leaders and leadership teams in a variety of capacities, the answer begins with connection. When leaders are connected to themselves, they are better able to manage their energy, set boundaries, and avoid burnout. When leaders are connected to others, they can turn conflict into collaboration rather than avoidance. And when leaders are connected to purpose, they bring voice, presence, and clarity that inspire people to stay engaged and deliver results.

People want to have a positive experience at work and to make a meaningful contribution. That desire is universal. The tension arises because organizations are also under real pressures: external headwinds, stakeholder demands, shifting strategies, and the constant drumbeat of change. Leaders cannot wish those pressures away, but they can choose to build cultures where connection fuels both accountability and care.

Three Ways to Lead with Care and Accountability Right Now

1. Start with clarity. Be explicit about goals, expectations, and outcomes so accountability feels fair and transparent. In times of disruption including reorganizations, cost reductions, or shifting market conditions: clarity is oxygen. Ambiguity is the enemy of both care and accountability.
   Coaching question: When is the last time you reviewed goals with your team members and your manager to ensure continued alignment?
2. Invest in energy and resilience. Leaders who model sustainable practices signal that performance should not come at the cost of burnout. Checking in on someone’s energy is not a soft practice; it’s a performance practice. People who are depleted cannot deliver sustainably.
   Coaching question: When is the last time you checked on a member of your team (peer or direct report or other) to see how they were doing? When is the last time you took time for yourself to restore and shared the benefits of doing so with your colleagues?
3. Embrace conflict as a path to trust. Avoidance only delays progress. Facing differences openly can strengthen relationships and sharpen results. Conflict handled well is one of the most powerful drivers of trust and innovation.
   Coaching question: When is the last time you made time to give constructive feedback despite it being uncomfortable?

The Bottom Line: Connection Fuels Both Results and Relationships

The organizations that thrive in the years ahead will be those where leaders practice all of these behaviors regularly. Accountability without care breeds fear. Care without accountability breeds complacency. Connection is the through-line that binds them together, fueling results and relationships at the same time.

The real test of leadership isn’t whether you can drive results or create belonging … it’s whether you can do both at once. That is the work of leadership today. This is what it means to be a Connected Leader.

Want to explore this topic?
Tune in to the podcast, Leading Through Change: Building Culture with Purpose and Empathy, featuring Susan MacKenty Brady and Peter Church. Discover actionable insights on leading with heart, building resilient teams, and shaping a culture where people thrive.