How Great Leaders Create Urgency On Their Team
December 17, 2025
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Some leaders obsess over mistakes. Every report, every presentation, every decision is combed for flaws and micromanaged to ensure perfection. On the surface, this looks like a commitment to excellence. In reality, it frustrates people, slows progress, and makes work harder than it needs to be.
Conversely, other effective leaders use a similar idea but a completely different approach. They set the bar high but keep the focus on meeting or exceeding that standard and learning when the team comes up short. They see errors as part of growth, not evidence of failure. Their teams feel challenged but supported, stretched but not suffocated.
The difference is critical. Both types of leaders care about performance, but only one gets it right. There is a principle, I remind leaders in workshops and coaching sessions:
High standards fuel performance. Expecting perfection paralyzes it.
Since you were young, you have heard “practice makes perfect.” Turns out that is a lie and a trap.
It’s easy to see why leaders slip into perfectionist habits. The pressure to deliver results is constant. Shareholders, bosses, and clients expect flawless execution. Add ego or a desire for control, and the pursuit of perfection feels justified.
But there’s a cost. One survey found that 68% of employees believe perfectionism leads to burnout. If that wasn’t enough, it also decreases employee engagement. So, instead of raising performance, perfectionist leaders shrink it. They deliver a great product in the short term but hurt the team in the long-term.
Perfectionism is an enormous trap in leadership. The hard truth is that it often means:
“I focus on what’s wrong,” “I see the flaws,” or “We should have done it this way…”
In the end, perfectionist leaders obsess over mistakes, demand perfect execution, and create a culture of fear. What begins as a push for performance ends up paralyzing the excellence leaders want to inspire.
High standards are different from perfection. They don’t demand flawlessness; they demand effort, growth, and accountability. A standard by definition is what good looks like. But good leaders define what good looks like, great leaders define what great looks like.
When leaders set high standards:
High standards stretch people without breaking them. They inspire confidence because team members feel trusted to improve and to meet the expectations. They also create clarity, which fuels performance. Which is why if you take nothing else from this column, I want you to take this:
You aren’t an effective leader by expecting perfection. You’re an effective leader by looking for positive progress.
So stop looking at the gaps and start admiring the gains. Because small gains become big progress. So the question becomes, how do you lead in a way that sets high standards but still prioritizes progress over perfection?
Teams take on the personality of their leader, and their behavior is shaped by the culture. So if you’re going to be an effective leader who leans into progress and not perfection, it’s essential to lead with high standards.
Teams take on the personality of their leader, and their behavior is shaped by the culture.
1. Define Excellence Clearly
One of the significant insights I have learned over the last 15 years working with leaders is that it’s really difficult to know what great looks like without getting out and learning from other companies and leaders. So the leaders who think they can sit in their corner office and just define what great looks like in a constantly changing work environment are foolish.
Said differently, seeing new things expands your vision of what great looks like.
Your standards are meaningless if no one knows what they are. Ensure your team knows what excellence looks like.
2. Leverage Accountability
Most leaders think accountability is all about the action when a team member fails to meet a standard. While that is correct, it’s also praising and rewarding the right behavior. This is important because employees stay where they are celebrated, not where they are tolerated.
Call out small wins in team meetings and one-on-one. Remember, people repeat what gets recognized.
3. Coach Through Mistakes
If you have team members failing to meet the standards, there is a good chance you have either a will or skill issue. If it’s a skill issue, coaching them through mistakes and helping them develop their skills is a great use of time.
Treat challenges as a part of growth and development, not evidence of failure. Ask, “What did you learn?” instead of “Why did you do it that way?” This coaching approach builds confidence in them, rather than creating doubt.
Standards matter. They challenge people to grow, give clarity, and fuel performance. But expecting perfection undermines all of it. The best leaders know the difference. They challenge their teams with high standards, then focus on progress over perfection.
So ask yourself: Where are you setting standards that inspire growth, and where are you expecting perfection that paralyzes it?
Because leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about helping people make meaningful progress, one day at a time.
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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best: 8 Proven Leadership Principles to Elevate Others to Success. You can follow him on Instagram @johngeades.
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