What If You Held People Valuable and Capable Too?

As a leader, if your primary focus is on holding people accountable, you might be missing your most important purpose as a leader — holding people valuable and capable.

Everyone is 100% responsible for their behavior. In a work setting, this includes the duties that are part of their role. As a leader, it makes sense that you would support people in fulfilling their responsibilities. This is how you meet your goals, right?

Not exactly. There’s more to the story.

Value and Capability Come First

Humans are not just responsible. They are also valuable and capable. In fact, without addressing value and capability first, there cannot be accountability.

People are Valuable

Every human is worthy of being seen, heard, affirmed, safe, invited, and included. Without this, they won’t bring their whole selves to work. Without this, they will play it safe and withhold discretionary energy.

Holding someone valuable means believing in them, listening to them, and seeing them as whole people. They may or may not agree with you, but that’s not your job. Your job as a leader is to treat them AS IF they are valuable in every interaction. Some days are easier than others, but your commitment to believing in them must be consistent and persistent.

Have you ever had someone in your life who fiercely believed in your value as a human being? How did that impact you?

People are Capable

Every human is capable of contributing to and being part of the solution. Without involvement, there’s no ownership. As Ken Blanchard is famous for saying, “Without weigh in, there’s no buy-in.” All you will get is compliance and apathy.

Holding someone capable means treating them as such. It means inviting them to participate, leaning into their strengths, affirming their unique perspective and skillset, and investing in their growth and development. Real compassion is a co-creative journey. They might not believe in their own capability at first, but that’s not your job. Your job is to treat them AS IF they are capable in every interaction.

Have you ever known someone who believed in your capability and invested in you? How did that impact you?

Holding Someone Accountable Comes Next

Only when you first treat someone as valuable and capable can you hold them accountable. Unless they feel safe to bring their whole self to work and unless they are co-creators of their future, they cannot be fully responsible for their performance.

Here’s a little secret we’ve learned over 20 years of helping leaders infuse Compassionate Accountability® into their role. If you start by holding people accountable, you will create a negative culture that can’t keep good people. But if you start with holding people valuable and capable, the accountability part becomes a natural part of the process, without all the power struggles and drama. Maybe this is why accountability has gotten such a bad reputation.

The reason accountability has such a bad rap isn’t because people don’t want to step up. It’s because they want to be treated as valuable and capable as well.

What’s the difference between accountability and responsibility?

The Three Switches of the Compassion Mindset® are Value, Capability, and Responsibility. They are in that order for one simple reason: it brings out the best in people.

But What if They Just Can’t Perform?

One of the most common questions we get from leaders is this: “How do I get my people to be accountable without being a jerk?” or  “How do I know when it’s time to fire someone because they aren’t being accountable?”

My answer to both questions is this: “Have you consistently held them valuable and capable? If not, then you haven’t given them a fair chance to succeed. Upskill yourself as a leader and give as much effort to holding them valuable and capable as you did for holding them accountable. Then re-evaluate.”

Are You Ready To Upgrade?

If you are an “Accountability First” leader, you don’t have to abandon this focus to become a great leader. What you can do is develop your skills to hold people valuable and capable first, so that your focus on accountability will reap even greater rewards.

We have a self-paced, 30-minute eCourse that will show anyone how to turn on the Three Switches of the Compassion Mindset so they can treat themselves and others as valuable, capable, and responsible in every interaction.

P.S. Here’s another secret for leaders. The newer generation of great talent demands all three switches, no compromises. If they don’t feel it, they will leave.

Copyright Next Element Consulting, LLC 2025