Aiko and Brené recording A Better Way to Hold People Accountable podcast episode

The Framework for Leading With Both Care and Accountability

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This audio-only episode is a master class in coaching as Aiko Bethea, one of the most respected senior leadership coaches in the country, takes Brené through a current leadership conflict in real time, showing just how hard it is to slow down and lead from your values instead of your urgency. The coaching session is underpinned by Aiko’s new “Anchored, Aligned, and Accountable” framework that focuses on why self-leadership is so critical in today’s complex operating environment. Together, they dig into the difference between assuming good intent and believing someone is doing the best they can, and why that distinction changes what accountability actually looks like in practice. Aiko also introduces and models the powerful coaching practice of “three levels of listening” and how it’s central to developing a coaching mindset.

Meet the guest

Headshot of Aiko Bethea smiling, wearing a black blouse, with her hair curled.

Aiko Bethea is an innovative leader who has successfully navigated leadership roles across government, philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sectors. She served in leadership roles for the City of Atlanta, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center.

Aiko is the founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting, a leadership development firm that provides executive coaching and leadership development to Fortune100 companies and global nonprofit organizations. Aiko acts as a trusted advisor and coach to high-performing leaders. Her thought leadership on workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes and CultureAmp as influential in shaping
how organizations build cultures of trust and practice accountable leadership.

Aiko leads the global Dare to Lead facilitator and coach community at the BetterUp Center for Daring Leadership, where she oversees the upskilling and engagement of more than 1,500 global coaches and facilitators in Brené Brown’s empirically based curriculum, strengthening their capacity to support leaders navigating complexity and change. She is also a faculty member at the Hudson Institute of Coaching.

Her writing has been published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, and the New York Times bestselling anthology You Are Your Best Thing. She holds a law degree from UNC–Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College.

The Industry Leaders named Aiko #3 on the Top 25 Executive Coaches in 2026 List. Across her work, Aiko helps leaders align who they are with how they lead, a throughline that anchors her leadership book, Anchored, Aligned, Accountable: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives and Work, published by Penguin Random House last April 21, 2026. Her book has been
recognized as a Next Big Ideas Book.

Show Notes

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