Few things are more complex than being part of a large corporate organisation, where shareholders, senior management and clients all demand what they believe they are entitled to. If you are like me, you are also raising children, and this reality may feel familiar. We believe we know what is best for them—but helping them get there is rarely easy. In an era of AI, smartphones and instant everything, people increasingly look for easy solutions while taking less accountability for the consequences of their choices and actions.
During recent executive coaching sessions with members of an investment bank’s executive team, an interesting pattern emerged. Two of the executives—both in compliance leadership roles—had contrasting personalities and leadership styles.
One is a strong Driver-Controller: direct, demanding and intensely focused on tasks and results. The other is a strong Influencer with an analytical side: soft-spoken, uncomfortable with conflict and deeply committed to protecting relationships.
Despite their different approaches, both leaders experienced the same outcome: their teams missed deadlines and failed to communicate early enough when obstacles began threatening delivery.
In both cases, the leaders learned about the problems only when the deadlines were already at risk—or when it was too late to meet them. They were forced into crisis-management mode, sacrificing time they did not have to investigate the issues, correct avoidable mistakes, manage stakeholder expectations and limit the damage. The consequences extended far beyond a single missed deadline. Other priorities had to be postponed, senior leaders became personally involved in work that should have been managed by the team, and confidence in the team’s reliability was weakened. The resulting pressure also increased frustration, strained relationships and created unnecessary stress for everyone involved.
More importantly, the pattern reinforced an unhealthy cycle. Team members became increasingly dependent on their leaders to rescue difficult situations, while the leaders felt compelled to monitor work more closely and become more controlling. Trust declined on both sides: leaders questioned whether they could rely on their teams, and team members became even less willing to raise concerns, admit mistakes or ask for help.
What often begins as a communication failure, becomes a leadership and culture problem—one that affected performance, trust, accountability, morale and, ultimately, the organisation’s reputation with its clients and stakeholders.
This raises a challenge faced by leaders across the world: How do I ensure quality delivery while creating, developing and maintaining a healthy, high-performing team?
The answer lies in two words: SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
When people do not feel safe enough to take ownership—AND are afraid of making mistakes—they avoid challenging tasks and hesitate to take initiative. They take fewer risks. They do only what the manager tells them to do, even when they know there may be a better approach. Without empowerment and ownership, accountability declines. When deadlines are missed, people may blame others, minimise the consequences or disengage.
But safety without accountability is equally dangerous.
When team members feel safe to make mistakes but experience no meaningful consequences for poor decisions, inadequate effort or repeated underperformance, they can become increasingly comfortable with unacceptable results. People may feel good, but standards begin to slip and growth stalls.
Accountability without safety creates a different and equally damaging problem: fear.
When people believe that mistakes will be met with blame, humiliation or punishment, accountability stops being a commitment to high standards and becomes an exercise in self-protection. Instead of focusing on what is best for the team or organisation, people focus on avoiding criticism and protecting their reputations. In such an environment, team members conceal mistakes, delay reporting problems and avoid asking for help. Bad news travels slowly—often reaching the leader only when the consequences have become far more serious and expensive to correct. People may also shift blame, create excuses or carefully document why a failure was someone else’s responsibility.
Fear also suppresses independent thinking. Employees become reluctant to question unrealistic expectations, challenge flawed assumptions or offer a different point of view. They simply follow instructions, even when they can see that the chosen approach may fail, because compliance feels safer than initiative. Over time, people stop experimenting, taking thoughtful risks or suggesting better solutions. They do the minimum required, wait for permission and allow the leader to make every important decision. This creates dependence rather than ownership and gradually deprives the organisation of the experience, intelligence and creativity of its people.
High-performing teams need both high safety and high accountability.
Leaders create this environment when they:
- Equip their people with the right tools, skills and information.
- Coach team members to become extensions of their leadership capability.
- Empower people to make decisions.
- Establish clear boundaries about what they may decide independently and when they must consult.
- Encourage early communication when delivery is at risk.
- Expect people to take responsibility for their decisions and results.
- Allow difficult experiences to become opportunities for learning.
- Stand behind team members who acted responsibly and in good faith—even when the outcome was not perfect.
This creates a culture of trust in which people contribute fully, hold themselves accountable and respectfully hold one another accountable. High safety. High accountability. High performance.
Decide today to build safety while demanding accountability. Over time, this combination will give your team a competitive advantage and help create a critical mass of high performance throughout your organisation. Be brave enough to look in the mirror—and become the change you are seeking in your company, department or team.
When you create both safety and accountability, your team will speak up sooner, take greater ownership and approach challenges with confidence rather than fear you’re your team mistakes will progressively become opportunities for learning, difficult conversations will become easier, and problems will be addressed before they become crises. Over time, trust deepens, standards rise and they will no longer wait for the you to solve every problem. They will make responsible decisions, support one another and take pride in delivering exceptional results. You will be freed from constant firefighting and will be able to focus more energy on strategy, growth and developing your team’s future capability.
Build the safety that allows people to be brave. Demand the accountability that enables them to grow, and witness how these two forces work together, for your to people flourish.
With love and respect.
Stefan Lessing
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