Burying Conflict in Graves or Volcanoes

How do you handle conflict in your team? Today, we explore two traits terrible leaders dread but great leaders embrace: conflict and accountability.

Terrible leaders avoid conflict or erupt in frustration, creating fear and blame-shifting. Great leaders, however, see conflict as an opportunity to build trust and foster accountability. They create a culture where team members take ownership, learn from mistakes, and support one another—without relying on top-down discipline.

Join us to learn how embracing conflict and accountability with curiosity and courage can transform your team into a stronger, more collaborative force.

• Transcript

  Conflict and accountability—two words terrible leaders dread and great leaders embrace. Here’s the key question: When you hear these words do you know you have a good process in place, or are you reaching to do it well?

  Terrible leaders avoid conflict like the plague. When issues arise, they either sweep issues under the rug, hoping they’ll resolve themselves or they erupt, causing fear. Spoiler alert—the issues don’t go away by hiding them and erupting is eroding positive culture. Over time, they create an environment where no one takes ownership because everyone’s busy avoiding blame.

  Here’s what healthy leadership looks like: when you embrace conflict constructively, you build trust, accountability, and stronger teams.

  Great leaders understand that accountability is rarely about being a heavy stick—it’s about fostering a culture where the team holds one another accountable because everyone feels responsible to each other—not just the boss. Good accountability is about offering support where it is needed and celebrating the wins. Good accountability communicates that the team is working towards something that matters. Instead of fear, you build a culture of support, collaboration, and shared ownership.

  Think about it this way: in an unhealthy team, there is often concern that someone is underperforming yet nothing can be said. This breeds discontent and disunity. In a healthy team, this can be called out and support is offered so that everyone is using their strengths to collectively achieve our goals.

  So how do great leaders approach the conflict of accountability? With curiosity and courage. A quick meeting now doesn’t let the issues foster. A great leader asks, ‘why are you struggling to complete your work? Are you aware that your performance is affecting the team? What can I do to support you?

  On numbers of personal occasions the accountability conversation has led to uncovering significant personal issues, someone in the family has cancer or the person is dealing with a lack of sleep with a newborn. I have always asked the person to share these things with the team. Very quickly, I have seen the shift from discontent to understanding and support within seconds. The team rallies and finds out how it can help.

  The takeaway? Accountability and conflict aren’t threats; they’re opportunities to grow. Foster a culture where your team feels empowered to support, challenge, and hold each other accountable. When you do, you’ll find there’s less need for you to “play the heavy” and more opportunity to lead with encouragement, clarity, and trust.