Set Higher Expectations (and Support Them Relentlessly)

When a team is coasting, the usual explanations are talent, budget or perks. In my view it's rarely any of those. The teams that hit hard goals tend to have leaders who set a high bar without apologizing for it, and then show up to help people clear it.

You need both halves. High standards get you performance. Support is what turns that performance into loyalty, growth and momentum that lasts.

Why the bar matters

People tend to rise or sink to the level you expect of them. Your best people want clear goals, not a vague "do your best." And a real expectation creates focus and urgency that a loose one never will.

I'd also argue that most people we'd call low performers didn't start that way. They drifted there because nobody expected more of them, or nobody said so out loud.

High expectations aren't micromanagement

Some leaders avoid setting a high bar because they're afraid it'll turn them into the manager who hovers. They're different things. High expectations mean a clear outcome, a clear timeline and a clear standard of quality. Micromanagement means hovering, distrusting and controlling every decision along the way.

Tell people what winning looks like, then let them figure out how to get there. I've written more about how to coach without micromanaging, but the short version is to own the what and let them own the how.

Be specific, and aim at outcomes

"Do a good job" means nothing. "Own the customer onboarding project and bring down time-to-value" is something a person can wake up and work on. Clear expectations lead to clear ownership, and clear ownership is where pride in the work comes from.

Tie those expectations to impact rather than activity. Nobody gets excited about a quota of calls. "Host five customer calls a week" is a chore. "Help five customers reach first value this week" is a goal. It's the same shift I argue for with customers in measuring outcomes instead of logins, applied to your own team.

Hold yourself to it first

Nothing erodes a high bar faster than a leader who doesn't meet it. If you want excellence, show up prepared, communicate clearly, own your mistakes in the open, and push yourself before you push anyone else. Never asking your team to do what you wouldn't is one of those lessons that sounds obvious and gets broken constantly.

Give feedback while it's small

Say something when it's a pebble, not a boulder. Praise wins right away, correct problems before they compound, and deliver the truth with empathy. No kid gloves, no grenades. Holding back the hard stuff to keep things pleasant is one of the reasons being nice isn't the same as leading.

Consistency matters too. A standard that moves with your mood isn't a standard, and people will learn to read your mood instead of the bar.

Then support them relentlessly

High expectations without support breed resentment. Support without expectations leaves people drifting. Your team needs to know you'll answer their questions, coach instead of criticize, and help them correct course without shame. That means being reachable in a way you can sustain, which takes some thought as a team grows. I wrote about staying accessible without burning out for exactly that reason.

Here's an illustrative example of how the two work together over a quarter. You set the goal: reduce churn through more proactive engagement. You make roles clear: this CSM owns scheduling business reviews and spotting expansion opportunities. You set a support rhythm, say a check-in every two weeks to work through barriers and adjust. You coach in the moment ("here's one way you could frame this for the executive"). And when the work lands, you give credit to the person who owned it, by name, in front of the team.

What happens to the team

When expectations are set well, your strongest people level up, the people in the middle stretch toward the top, and the people who don't want that standard often choose to leave on their own. That last part is healthy, even if it doesn't feel great in the moment.

Over time the bar stops feeling like a demand from you and starts feeling like what's normal on the team. Leadership isn't lowering the bar so everyone clears it. You raise it and coach people over it.

If you're working on raising the bar on your team without losing people along the way, I'm always up for that conversation.