“I was told I care more about results than I care about my team. How do I navigate?”
That sentence will either make you defensive or make you doubt yourself.
Neither is helpful.
The problem with this kind of feedback is that it’s usually abstract.
“You care more about results than people.”
Okay.
What behavior are we talking about?
What moment?
What tone?
What action?
If feedback isn’t tied to something observable — something you did, said, or failed to do — you’re being asked to fix something you can’t see.
If no one can point to:
A specific conversation
A specific decision
A specific interaction
A repeated pattern
…then what you’re receiving is an interpretation, not evidence.
That doesn’t make it false.
But it does mean it needs clarity before it deserves correction.
Results and care are not opposites.
The real question isn’t whether you care about results.
It’s whether you pursue results in a way that preserves dignity.
So before you defend yourself — or doubt yourself — run an audit of observable behavior.
You may be prioritizing results at the expense of care if:
You give corrective feedback publicly.
You interrupt to “speed things up.”
You default to “Why isn’t this done?” instead of “What got in the way?”
People hesitate before bringing you bad news.
You only acknowledge effort when it hits the metric.
Urgency is your permanent tone.
The purpose is to replace emotional interpretation with observable evidence.
Now let’s examine the other possibility.
You might not be the problem.
You might be inside a culture that confuses accountability with aggression.
There are certain workplaces where discomfort is labeled as “toxic”, deadlines are negotiable, and harmony outranks outputs.
In those environments, anyone who introduces structure will get labeled “too results-driven.”
It’s obvious that being disrespectful is a problem.
Humiliating people is a problem.
But lowering standards and disguising it as compassion is also a problem.
So a shaper question to ask is:
Are people afraid of you? Or are they uncomfortable with being measured?
Fear looks like silence, avoidance, withheld information.
Discomfort looks like debate, resistance, pushback against standards.
Those are not the same thing.
Whether this is a you problem or a culture problem, the solution is the same:
Make everything observable.
Abstract labels don’t change behavior. Observable standards do.
You cannot correct what you cannot see. And you cannot defend what you cannot define.
If the feedback is valid, you need tangible behaviors to adjust.
If the feedback is noise, you need tangible behaviors to anchor yourself to.
Either way, the work is the same:
Make care visible.
Because “I care” means nothing if no one can point to evidence of it.
This looks like:
Setting clear expectations before performance is judged.
Defining what “good” means so people aren’t guessing.
Delivering corrective feedback privately, not publicly.
Saying, “This work missed the mark,” instead of “You’re careless.”
Asking questions before making conclusions.
Holding standards without attacking identity.
Coaching someone toward growth, not just enforcing compliance.
Care is clarity + consistency + dignity.
So if you’re trying to determine whether someone’s feedback is valid, always start by asking questions.
Depending on the answers, you might care more than you’re being credit for.
Also, it might be an opportunity to evolve.
Either way, the answer isn’t softer standards.
It’s stronger relational intelligence.
The best leaders don’t choose between results and people.
They develop people and that’s how they get results.
Appreciate you being here in the Huddle. For deeper dives into leadership and culture, join us at Out of Office: The Experience on YouTube and Podcast.
– The Huddle
P.S. Know a leader who’d value this? Forward them this week’s Huddle.
