Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving. This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavaliedo.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast. It's episode four eighty Today. I want to talk about something that every business has, but not every business truly understands. Standards. We throw that word around all the time, standards of service, standards of performance, industry standards. But what does it really mean?
How are standards created, who decides what they should be, and more importantly, how do we as leaders teach them in a way that our employees not only understand, but actually care about. So let's break this down. At its core, a standard is simply an agreed upon measure of performance. It's the bar that says this is the minimum expectation. For example, let's say the standard is to run a mile in eight minutes. Where did that number come from?
Who decided that eight minutes was the threshold? The truth is standards are almost always created by a combination of historical performance, expert consensus, and customer expectation. Someone ran it before in a certain time, Industry experts debated what's reasonable, and eventually a consensus formed. Eight minutes is the measure of competence. So now let's apply that thinking to business. In a restaurant, maybe the standard is food delivered to
the table within twelve minutes of ordering. In ems, maybe the standard is an ambulance unseen in under nine minutes. In aviation, it's a certain number of safety checks before takeoff. Every one of those standards was created based on a mix of data, safety, customer experience, and practicality. But here's
where most leaders go wrong. They enforce the standard without explaining the story behind it, and if employees don't know the why, they won't care about the What imagine telling a new employee the standard is eight minutes, don't be late. They might comply, but they won't care. Now imagine telling them this instead, we set the standard at eight minutes because that's what research shows keeps customers satisfied, ensures quality, and aligns with the best in the industry. Anything longer
and customers start to feel ignored. Anything faster risks mistakes. Suddenly that standard has meaning. It's not just a number, it's a benchmark with purpose. So how do we measure standards. The answer is simple, with consistency and clarity. If the standard is eight minutes, then we measure every attempt against that clock. No expectations, no moving the target mid game. That's where accountability comes in. People can't hit what they can't see, and they can't improve what isn't measured. Now,
why do standards matter. Standards protect your brand. They create predictability for your customers and fairness for your employees. Without standards, you get chaos, and chaos never builds trust. Think of Starbucks. You can order the same latte in Pittsburgh or in Chicago and it tastes the same. That doesn't have happen by accident. It happens because someone created a standard for how much espresso, how much milk, and how hot the drink should be. And here's the final piece teaching standards
so employees care. And this is where leadership matters most. You have to connect the standard to something bigger than the task. Instead of saying run an eight minute mile, say running this mile in eight minutes proves you're ready to handle the demands of the job and keeps you aligned with the best in the industry. It's not just about running It's about being ready, reliable, and trusted. And when you frame it that way, the standard stops being a rule and it starts being a badge of honor.
So here's my challenge for you today. Look at the standards in your business. Do your employees know why those standards exist? Do they understand how they were created? Can they see how hitting that standard impacts the bigger picture? If not, it's time to start teaching differently, because a standard without purpose is just a number, but a standard with meaning is a culture. This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast and I thank you for listening.
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