The Courage to Raise and Hold the Bar
Raising the Bar Series | Part 3
Most leaders don’t struggle to set standards.
They struggle to hold them.
Because holding the bar creates tension.
Why? Because as a leader you must:
- Address inconsistency when spotted
- Have crucial conversations others would rather avoid
- Apply the same standard, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable
So what happens?
The bar moves.
Quietly. Gradually. Just enough to avoid friction.
And here’s the part leaders don’t always see:
When the bar moves, trust moves with it.
High performers notice.
Consistency disappears.
Standards become situational.
And once that happens, accountability gets harder, not easier.
Let’s Get Real
I recently worked with a senior leader who had clearly defined expectations for his team.
On paper, the standards were solid.
But in practice, he struggled to apply these expectations consistently, especially when performance issues required tougher conversations.
His top performers noticed immediately.
Not because the bar was too high, but because it wasn’t being held consistently.
That was the real issue.
We working to build a strategy and everyday practices to follow. Once he committed to reinforcing the standard across the team, clarity improved, trust increased, and performance followed.
Fair doesn’t mean flexible
Fair means consistent.
If one person can miss the standard without consequence,
you’ve just redefined the standard for everyone.
This is where leadership gets real.
Not in setting expectations—
but in holding them when it would be easier not to.
Strong leaders do three things differently:
» They define the bar clearly.
» They reinforce it consistently.
» And they hold it—even when it creates tension.
Not rigidly.
Not without context.
But without drifting.
Because the goal isn’t to make the standard easier to meet.
The goal is to help people rise to it.
A simple question to reflect on:
Where might the bar have moved—without you explicitly deciding to move it?
That’s where leadership starts.
Next in the series:
How do you lead with empathy without lowering the bar?
Because support and standards aren’t opposites—
but most leaders treat them that way.
If this resonates, I’d be interested—
Where have you seen standards drift on a team (including your own)?