From Tough Love to True Support: Rethinking Accountability in the Workplace

Happy Valentine's Day! ?? In today's newsletter, we are diving into if accountability is helping or hurting your culture.

The Problem with “Tough Love” at Work

We’ve all seen leaders who falsely equate accountability with cracking down on employees. The idea is that toughness drives performance—but in reality, it often drives people toward burnout, disengagement, and silence.

Real accountability isn’t about shaming people into compliance. It’s about setting expectations, offering support, and ensuring follow-through. It’s about creating a culture where people take ownership—not out of fear, but because they feel safe and empowered to do so.

But Make No Mistake, Accountability is Key in an Effective Workplace

A question I often get when talking about trauma informed cultures, empathetic leadership, or even just a mental health-friendly workplace is - "What about Accountability?" And my response is always the same- you can't have any of these things without accountability, it's just rethinking our idea of accountability and the 'how' of driving it on your team.?

Keep in mind, ?accountability isn’t about being nice for the sake of being nice. It’s about ensuring results, maintaining standards, and fostering trust. A lack of accountability can lead to:

• Low team performance – When expectations are unclear or consequences are inconsistent, people stop trying.
• Resentment among employees – When high performers see others getting away with poor work, motivation drops.
• Loss of credibility for leadership – If leaders don’t enforce accountability fairly, they lose the respect of their teams.

The goal isn’t to remove accountability—it’s to apply it with fairness, transparency, and support.

How to Create Accountability That Actually Works

Shift from Blame to Problem-Solving

• Instead of: “You messed this up.”
• Try: “Let’s talk about what happened and what support you need next time.”
• Model: ?Openly discuss a mistake you made, how you addressed it, and what you learned

Shift from Fear to Psychological Safety

• Instead of: “If you fail, that’s on you.”
• Try: “Mistakes happen—what can we learn from this?”
• Model: Share a time you took a risk, failed, and were (ideally) supported, reinforcing that learning from failure is part of growth. If you weren't supported, share what would have been more helpful for you in that experience.?

Shift from Compliance to Commitment

• Instead of: “Just follow the process.”
• Try: “Let’s discuss why this process matters and how you can take ownership of it.”
• Model: Explain how a certain policy or process contributes to the company’s success and invite team input on making it more effective.

What Leaders Can Do Right Now

• Model accountability. Own your mistakes openly. It builds trust.
• Be clear about expectations. People can’t be accountable for things they don’t fully understand.
• Balance accountability with empathy. A culture of fear is never a high-performance culture.
• Create choice for your team. When team members have choices, they feel empowered and are more likely to take ownership. Bonus, this is one of the best ways to create a more trauma informed culture- because at the root of most traumatic experiences is a lack of choice and power.?

In Case You Missed It...

I am hosting a free, virtual preview of our new Building Resilience Construction Mental Health Certification next week on Wednesday, February, 19th. Make sure and join us for this event and learn more about Construction Mental Health. Register here - Building Resilience Construction Mental Health Certification? - Free Preview

The Wounded Workforce? is donating 50% of its revenue from our on-demand certification courses during Q1 2025 to The Trevor Project , International Rescue Committee , The Loveland Foundation , and ACLU . And as a reminder, the certifications are all on-demand and self-paced, so complete them when you have time! Plus, they are pre-approved for HRCI and SHRM recertification credit hours! Learn more here - Trauma Informed Workplace Certifications — The Wounded Workforce

I was recently a guest on The HR Mixtape Podcast with Shari Simpson, SHRM-SCP, MBA, MHRM podcast where we talked more about the power of Trauma Informed Cultures.

Listen on Apple - https://my.linkpod.site/Apple_E109 or

Spotify - https://my.linkpod.site/Spotify_E109

The Wounded Workforce? is hosting a special discussion in honor of Black History Month, look out for more details next week!