There is a version of leadership that confuses lowering the bar with caring about people. Late is fine, we understand. The number is a target, not a requirement. Practice is optional if you have been here a while. It reads as compassion. It lands as something else.
What a low bar actually says
A low standard sends two messages. To the people who are struggling it says you do not believe they can do more, so you stopped asking. To the people who are great it says their effort is not the norm here, it is a bonus. The first group stays stuck. The second group leaves, usually for somewhere that expects what they were already giving you.
Gates, not lectures
High standards do not need volume. They need gates. A new rep does not go live until they have passed the pitch. A leader does not get a team until they have developed one rep. Nobody skips practice, including the veterans, because the veterans are who the new people copy.
A gate is kinder than a lecture because it is the same for everyone and it is written down. Nobody has to guess what you expect. Nobody has to wonder whether the rule applies to them. It does.
The override belongs to a human
Standards fail when they become a system with no judgment in it. Every gate I run has a leader who can open it early, on purpose, with a reason they would say out loud. That is not a loophole. That is the difference between a standard and a policy.
Raise the bar and hold the belief at the same time. High standard, low belief is a firing. Low standard, high belief is a friendship. You are building a team.