Welcome To The Compassionate Accountability® Resource Hub

Next Element is the originator of the Compassionate Accountability framework, which includes books, assessments, training programs, and a range of other resources to gain insight and guide transformation.

The Compassionate Accountability Resource Hub is your authoritative source for books, articles, research, podcasts, videos, and other resources to transform relationships, teams, and cultures by treating people as valuable, capable, and responsible in every interaction.

Start Here!

Curated Resources for Your Compassionate Accountability Journey

Revolutionizing Workplaces With Compassionate Accountability

In this interview, Dr. Nate Regier shares his personal journey and the origin story of Next Element and Compassionate Accountability.

Read the Interview

The Book. The Framework. The Movement.

When compassion and accountability work together, everybody wins. Learn the revolutionary mindset, behavioral priniples, and implementation guide for the next generation of thriving workplaces.

Buy the Book

The Drama Resilience index

Building Drama-Resilience: Evidence-Based Methods for Engaging Conflict with Compassionate Accountability. Watch the recording of this webinar from Training Magazine Network.

Watch the Video

Compassionate Accountability Is Really Not An Oxymoron

In this interview with Roger Dean Duncan, Dr. Nate Regier offers smart counsel on how to deal with the conundrum of relationships or results.

Read the Interview

Inspiring Audiences With A Breakthrough Message

Leaders no longer have to choose between relationships and results. Watch highlights of Dr. Nate Regier’s inspiring keynote message.

Watch on YouTube

How Compassion and Accountability Can Co-Exist

Scott Shute, former head of Mindfulness and Compassion at Linkedin, interviews Nate about how Compassion and Accountability work together to transform cultures.

Watch the Video

Between The Lines

In about 90 seconds per episode, Compassionate Accountability Podcast host, Nate Regier, distills sage wisdom from his conversations with his past guests.

Watch on YouTube

Validation of The Compassionate Accountability Assessment

Is our signature assessment valid? Yes. Read the report from an independent research firm.

Read the Research Report

Power Up Learning Outcomes with the Compassion Mindset

This feature article from Talent Development Magazine offers L&D providers a step-by-step guide on how to improve the impact of any program by turning on the Three Switches of The Compassion Mindset

Download the Article

How To Break Free From Workplace Drama With a Compassionate Accountability Narrative

A key to maintaining positive morale and productivity lies in the narratives that managers cultivate in their teams. A compassionate accountability narrative can help managers transcend drama and help their teams thrive in the face of adversity

Read Now

How To Navigate Conflict Productively

In most work cultures, how leaders approach conflict is varied, inconsistent, and mostly fraught with drama.

Do your leaders have a standard operating procedure for conflict?

Here’s why it matters, and how to get started.

Read Now

Frequently Asked Questions

: Next Element is a global leadership development consulting and training firm founded in 2008. We specialize in helping organizations build thriving cultures through assessment, consulting, coaching, training, and train-the-trainer services.
: Compassionate Accountability is the practice of demonstrating that people are valuable, capable, and responsible in every interaction.

We’ve written two best-selling books on this topic. Compassionate Accountability: How Leaders Build Connection and Get Results, and Conflict Without Casualties: A Field Guide for Leading with Compassionate Accountability.
: The Compassionate Accountability Framework consists of The Compassion Mindset, the Compassion Cycle, and ORPO.

See a visual representation of our framework.

Here’s an article about how Compassionate Accountability can revolutionize workplace culture.
: Compassion is the process of struggling with others to create something better.

It is more than just empathy or alleviating suffering. It is something we do with people, rather than for them.

Compassion often involves positive Conflict to reconcile the tension between affirming human value, capability, and responsibility at the same time.
: Conflict is the energy created when there is a gap between what we want and what we are experiencing at any point in time. It is not inherently good or bad. What we do with the energy of Conflict makes all the difference.
: Drama is the misuse of Conflict energy to struggle against ourselves or others, with or without awareness, to feel justified about our negative behaviors. It is negative Conflict.
: Drama Resilience is the ratio of Compassion to Drama – reflecting the ability to use Conflict positively instead of negatively.
: The Compassion Mindset is the mindset that supports Compassionate Accountability. It is made up of three foundational choices, called the Three Switches of Value, Capability, and Responsibility.
: The Three Switches are the elments of a Compassion Mindset – Value, Capability, and Responsibility.

This article, published in Training and Development Magazine, shows how the Three Switches can help power up learning outcomes.
: There are three necessary skills to practice compassion: Openness, Resourcefulness, and Persistence.

The three Compassion Skills represent the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of compassion, and remind us that struggling together to create something better is about the heart, head, and hands.
: The Compassion Cycle is the application of the Compassion Skills for optimum results.
: ORPO is the formula for engaging in conflict with Commpassionate Accountability – Open, Resourceful, Persistent, Open.

ORPO can be applied in so many situations to address conflict between people, at a systemic level, during change, even in text and email conversations, to transform tension into collaboration.
: Yes, you can and we do. Our Compassionate Accountability Assessment measures the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral elements of Compassion.
: Yes, our Compassionate Accountability Assessment has been shown to be psychometrically valid and reliable by an independent statistician. Read the technical report.
: The Compassionate Accountability Assessment is Next Element’s psychometrically validated and reliable assessment that measures all indices associated with our framework. It consists of 27 behaviorally-anchored items and is the foundation for our programs, providing metrics around behaviors and dynamics that undermine and support flourishing cultures. It also guides goal-setting, helps measure change, and tracks the effectiveness of client programs. Read the validation technical report.
: If you are an internal learning and development professional, contact us about an getting a license for your organization. If you are an independent trainer or coach, see here for information on how to start the process.
: No. The terms “conflict management” and “conflict resolution” imply that Conflict is a problem. It is not. It is merely energy and a natural part growth. Our programs teach positive Conflict skills – how to engage in Conflict in a way that builds trust and connection and reduces Drama while navigating difficult situations.
: Crucial Conversations focuses on managing high-stakes conversations. Compassionate Accountability goes further by embedding the mindset, skills, and behaviors required for a culture of ongoing courageous conversations, not just episodic ones. Compassionate Accountability integrates relationship and results into everyday leadership—not just in moments of crisis.
: No. While StrengthsFinder focuses on individual traits, Compassionate Accountability focuses on the skills and behaviors leaders need to demonstrate that people are valuable, capable, and responsible—especially under pressure. It’s about how we treat others, not just who we are.
: Rather than assessing personality like DiSC, MBTI and similar models, Compassionate Accountability is a skills-development framework. It is mindset and behavior-focused and teaches how to act, lead, and converse differently, regardless of personality type. It’s less about labels and more about what you do when it counts.
: Most leaders have come to believe that trust is a pre-requisite for Conflict, and that Conflict is a threat to trust. This keeps them stuck in a vicious cycle of believing that building trust is the only way to facilitate healthy Conflict. Our research and experience have shown that it’s the opposite. Trust is made or broken during Conflict, by how we handle the tension and energy. Negative Conflict, Drama, erodes trust. Compassionate Accountability uses the energy of Conflict as a catalyst to build trust. Without skills to engage Conflict productively, real trust cannot be achieved.
: Only Next Element and professionals certified and licensed by Next Element may provide Compassionate Accountability services, promote the Compassionate Accountability concept, and utilize the official branding and trademarks. From time to time we become aware of persons who claim they can provide our programs, but have not received the training or certification to do so and cannot obtain our specifically validated curriculum with proven fidelity and results.