The Triple Threat – Trust, Produce, Matter

The highest-performing teams don’t rely on a single variable; they thrive on the interplay of psychological safety, productivity, and accountability. Together, these three forces not only form a reinforcing loop, but if you dig deeper, you discover their unique relationship to one another and how they work as a system.

The pathway to PEAK PERFORMANCE is represented by the action items found in these three interlocking circles:

At the intersection of this system lies a powerful, self-sustaining energy that drives exceptional teams.

We Trust: The Foundation of Psychological Safety 

When trust exists, people feel safe enough to express ideas, admit mistakes, and challenge assumptions. Psychological safety is not about comfort; it’s about courage. It empowers people to contribute their intelligence, creativity, and honesty more fully every day.

However, trust doesn’t exist in isolation. When team members see that their efforts produce results and know that what they do matters, it deepens the sense of trust even further. Productivity without safety breeds fear and burnout. Accountability without safety translates to blame. Yet, when trust is present, both productivity and accountability are embraced as shared commitments rather than imposed, top-down demands.

We Produce: The Expression of Shared Purpose 

Productivity speaks to outputs that achieve meaningful outcomes. When teams are psychologically safe, members collaborate more freely and innovate more boldly. They spend less time guarding turf and more time building bridges. To paraphrase Thomas Huxley, these team members are driven by what’s right rather than who’s right.

In turn, productivity reinforces a healthy culture of accountability. People who consistently deliver accept personal responsibility for serving one another, their clients, and their craft. They model these behaviors consistently.  Productivity also builds confidence and credibility, which in turn fosters trust. The team sees what’s possible when they align effort with purpose.

At its best, We Produce provides evidence that trust and accountability work hand in hand, and that team members have earned the right to believe they are capable of achieving anything.

We Matter: Accountability as a Shared Ethic 

In many organizations, accountability is wielded as a sword, and this is compounded by cultures that don’t celebrate their progress or wins. Being held accountable is seen as nothing more than a mechanism for punishment. As one CEO shared with me, “I make sure one person is accountable so I can have one throat to choke.” In great teams, it’s an act of care. To give someone responsibility for something is to show you believe in them, and that they are not here to fill a spot; they are here to make a difference. In short, they matter.  Accountability shouldn’t be about control; it’s about connection.

When people know they matter, that their voice and contribution count, accountability transforms from a burden into a bond. The We Matter circle represents mutual ownership, where everyone assumes a shared responsibility for collective success.

This approach strengthens trust because people know feedback comes from a place of respect, not retribution. It also drives productivity because clear expectations and follow-through ensure consistent performance. Accountability without trust feels harsh; accountability without productivity feels hollow. When all three coexist, accountability becomes empowering.

The Reinforcing Loop: How Each Circle Fuels the Others 

These circles don’t just coexist — they feed one another.

Trust → Productivity: Psychological safety fuels creative risk-taking, open dialogue, and the willingness to challenge norms — all essential for innovation and output.
Productivity → Accountability: Delivering results strengthens mutual responsibility and reinforces a sense of shared success.
Accountability → Trust: When people reliably do what they say they’ll do, trust deepens.

This continuous loop keeps the team’s energy alive. Each circle is a catalyst for the others, and together, they create a culture of momentum, resilience, and belonging.

The Tag-team Approach 

As I mentioned in “How to Achieve Peak Performance,” tackling any one of these three areas requires seeing the whole. For example, if you want to begin with accountability, you might be inclined to focus your attention on placing additional demands on your team. When you see accountability as part of a system, you’ll see that your leverage doesn’t come from doubling down on accountability, but from tag-teaming psychological safety and productivity. By opening up the conversation and allowing your team members’ gifts to flourish, the output and outcomes they produce will provide the leader and the team with the tangible evidence they need to achieve new heights.

A systems thinking tag-team approach not only works for improving accountability, it’s equally effective at addressing productivity and psychological safety. To address productivity, utilize psychological safety to foster a deeper understanding of what team members expect from themselves and others. Set short-term accountability targets, similar to Sir Dave Brailsford’s marginal gains approach, that boost the team’s confidence in their ability to deliver high-level outputs and outcomes, thereby enhancing the team’s organizational capacity.

As for addressing psychological safety, your ultimate tag-team is productivity and accountability. Together, they reassure everyone that you’re not creating an environment of vulnerability and openness just for the sake of it.  There’s an endgame that is both rewarding and beneficial for all involved. They give psychological safety a purpose.

If you’re not sure where to start, consider the following:

1. Check Trust first, and if it’s missing, foster psychological safety by listening actively, modeling vulnerability, and encouraging dissent without fear.
2. Clarify What “Producing” Means: Align on purpose, outputs, and outcomes. Productivity without clarity only generates motion, not progress. Uncertainty sows the seeds for stress and anxiety, so this step can help improve productivity and workplace wellbeing.
3. Reframe Accountability: Make it peer-driven. Encourage team members to have each other’s backs, believe in each other, and set high expectations for themselves based on their track record.

Over time, as these forces reinforce each other, your culture begins to self-correct and self-sustain. That’s when teams move from compliance to commitment and from obligation to ownership.

Summary

When We Trust, we create the psychological safety that sparks collaboration.
When We Produce, we demonstrate what we’re capable of together.
When We Matter, we anchor that success in mutual accountability and care.

At their intersection lies PEAK PEERFORMANCE – never a destination, always a journey, and a worthwhile one indeed.

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