What happens when your leadership team faces a turning point—big decisions to make and new players in the mix?
Imagine this: Your team must decide whether to launch a cutting-edge AI product or expand into an emerging international market. Both options promise big wins but carry significant risks if the project fails—potential layoffs, reputational damage, missed opportunities, not to mention the damage to your own personal brand. Now, add to your challenge the recent departures of two key leaders from finance and HR—both critical to financial planning and people strategy.
To quickly shore up the gaps, you onboard two new members. But this creates an even more urgent challenge than the decision at hand: reestablishing trust, aligning the team, and ensuring they can deliver results.
How do you do that—quickly and effectively?
ACT Leadership, in partnership with Brown University School of Professional Studies, provides insights and practical tips from its leadership and team coaching research and experience.
Leadership transitions like this aren't rare anymore. 2024 saw a record number of CEO departures as well as a decrease in average tenures. Yet many teams assume new members will "figure it out."
The reality? They don't.
Integration is often where teams stumble—fractured trust, poor decisions, and missed opportunities.
Balancing Relationships and Results
When it comes to establishing (or reestablishing) an effective team, leaders must balance relationships and results. One must not come at the cost of the other.
Here's what this means:
- Relationships are the human glue that holds a team together—trust, collaboration, and psychological safety. They allow people to speak up, navigate conflict, and contribute fully, even under stress.
- Results are the measurable outcomes a team delivers—decisions made, goals achieved, and the broader impact on the organization. They rely on clarity, alignment, and strong processes.
The two aren't separate—they fuel each other. Strong relationships lead to better decisions and stronger results; a focus on driving results fosters stronger working relationships.
A study by Zenger Folkman found that leaders who balance relationships and results are significantly more effective than those who focus on just one—yet fewer than 1% excel in both.
So ask yourself: Are you prioritizing both?
When Relationships Are Neglected
When relationships are neglected, trust breaks down. New members hesitate—they don't feel safe to speak up or question the status quo. Some may even push their own agendas to prove their worth. Existing members, meanwhile, feel threatened or resentful, worried about losing influence or control.
The result? Decision-making falls apart.
- Important voices go unheard.
- Key data is overlooked or manipulated.
- Divisional bias creeps in ("What's best for my area?").
- Silos form, factions emerge, and decisions are poorly executed—or not executed at all.
When Results are Overlooked
Leaders have a responsibility to deliver results. When a team loses sight of this, two things happen:
- Some members become complacent—doing just enough to stay on the team but no more.
- Others grow frustrated—feeling like the team won't generate anything meaningful for themselves or the organization.
The impact spreads quickly:
- Morale drops.
- Meetings become "zombie-like"—attendees listlessly go through the motions, check emails, and wait for the moment they can leave.
- Productivity suffers.
When a team leans too far in either direction—over-focusing on relationships or obsessing over results—there's a cost: wasted time, lost resources, and declining morale.
Yes And: Balancing Relationships and Results
So, how do you stop the downward spiral and get your team back on track? By co-creating the conditions for success.
Start with Relationships
Relationships come first because they're the foundation for everything else. They create the trust and safety teams need to perform.
Ask the team:
- How will we communicate when things get tough?
- What behaviors create trust and safety for everyone?
- How do we recover when conflicts arise?
- What does a high-performing team dynamic look like?
By prioritizing relationships, you're setting the stage for collaboration, alignment, and honest conversations—key ingredients for effective decision-making.
Align on Results
Once relationships are solid, shift your focus to clarity and accountability:
- How do we make decisions, and who's involved?
- Are roles clear and tied to the team's purpose?
- How will we track progress and follow through?
- How will we capture and apply what we learn?
By connecting results to relationships—and tying both to your team's purpose—you create a system where every decision is intentional, every action aligned.
Revisit Both Regularly
Think you can set it and forget it? Think again. High performing teams regularly revisit and redesign their agreements to meet the ever-changing dynamics of work.
- Relationships: How well are we working as a team? What could improve?
- Results: Are we on track? If not, what needs to change?
Questions Every Team Leader Should Ask
Ready to dive in? Ask your team these five key questions:
- Why did the two team members leave, and what can we learn?
- Who is the team serving, and are we achieving those goals?
- Does the organization provide the resources and clarity we need?
- How are we balancing relationships and results in a way that supports our purpose?
- What are we agreeing to as a team, and how will we hold each other accountable?
Closing Thought
Leadership transitions test every team. They expose gaps in trust, decision-making, and alignment. To thrive, leadership teams need more than technical expertise—they need the human skills to build trust, navigate conflict, and align on purpose.
And if you're thinking, "This is a lot to manage alone"—you're right. Many organizations turn to team coaching to help leaders co-create the conditions for success. Whether you work with a coach or tackle this yourself, the goal remains the same:
Strong relationships drive better results, and better results reinforce strong relationships. You need both.