Raise the Bar by Design: How Intentional, Consistent Habits Change the Game

They show up in the polish of the locker rooms, the pace of play on the course, the warmth of the greeting at reception, the timing of a perfectly executed dinner service, and the follow-through on a member concern. Standards aren’t just operational benchmarks. They are promises.

And the most successful leaders understand something important: standards are not sustained by intention alone. They are sustained by habits. For leaders at every level, raising standards—personally and organizationally—begins with one simple but powerful question:

What habits are driving our current results?

Because whether we’ve designed them intentionally or not, habits are already shaping your club’s culture… and your personal leadership brand.

This month in our Extraordinary Leader Program, we asked participants to reflect on the leaders they most admire and to describe the standards those individuals demonstrate. Every answer, without exception, came down to personal and professional habits.

The leaders we respect most tend to hold high standards for themselves and their organizations — and then they live up to those standards through the daily behaviors they choose, over and over again.

The Link Between Habits and Standards

Standards aren’t what we expect. They are what we choose to accept. Habits are the repeated behaviors that determine what we ultimately accept.

If your club struggles with inconsistent service, siloed departments, or reactive leadership, it’s rarely a standards problem. It’s a habit problem. And that’s good news. Habits can be redesigned.

High performance—what some call Unreasonable Hospitality—doesn’t happen through occasional bursts of excellence. It happens with a strong foundation of mastering the basics. It happens through an orchestrated approach, with systems and rhythms that make excellence predictable.

But here’s the ingredient that makes it all work: Consistency.

Full disclosure from my own “personal research”: going to the gym once does not build strength. Going once a week, when it fits, doesn’t either. Strength is built when you show up Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and sometimes more—and especially on the days you don’t feel like it.

Leadership works the same way. Holding one effective leadership meeting at the start of the season doesn’t build alignment. Hosting one strong pre-season orientation doesn’t build culture.

Delivering one exceptional member event doesn’t define your reputation. It’s repetition that matters.

As communication expert Shannon GaNun recently wrote, “Consistency isn’t flashy. It doesn’t make great highlight reels. But it is how success actually happens.” That applies to your personal discipline just as much as it applies to your club’s service culture.

The standard might be “exceptional member experience.” The habit is what makes it real. Consistency is what makes it stick.

The Leader Establishes the Ceiling

Everything starts with you. If you commit to arriving 10 minutes early to every meeting, you quietly raise your own standard of professionalism. If you prepare intentionally for every member or team interaction—even reviewing notes before a difficult conversation—you elevate your standard of care.

Small personal habits compound:

• Reading 15 minutes a day on leadership sharpens your thinking over an entire season.
• Blocking weekly time for strategic reflection reduces constant firefighting.
• Exercising consistently increases energy and emotional regulation.
• Practicing deliberate follow-up builds a reputation for reliability.

When you decide, “I don’t miss my workouts,” or “I always respond within 24 hours,” you’re not just completing tasks. You’re redefining your identity.

You’re saying: This is the standard I live by.

And in a club environment, identity matters. As we often say—others are always watching.

A leader who shows up prepared, calm, and disciplined sets an invisible bar. Team members instinctively calibrate upward to meet it. But if you tolerate sloppiness in your own habits—late starts, vague communication, inconsistent coaching—you unintentionally give permission for the same.

Your habits set the ceiling. Your consistency sustains it.

Designing Organizational Habits for Excellence

Raising standards in a club isn’t about grand declarations. It’s about operationalizing excellence through repeated, intentional actions.

Take daily line-ups or huddles. A quick pre-shift meeting is common — though not always consistent. A meaningful, consistent line-up? That’s transformational.

Elevate your huddles by:

• Celebrating a team win
• Reinforcing one service standard
• Highlighting a “moment of truth” for the day
• Asking: Where did we fall short?
• Asking: What are we doing about it?

When this happens every single day—not just when leadership feels inspired—it becomes cultural glue.

Just like the gym, it’s not about intensity. It’s about showing up. And often, the hardest part is simply showing up.

The Power of Continuous Nudging

The key to success in any endeavor is constant nudging toward what we want. You’ve likely heard me say it’s not about getting 1000 percent better at one thing. It’s about getting 1 percent better at many things.

Imagine the impact of a one-degree shift in:

• Cleanliness consistency
• Greeting tone and timeliness
• Response time
• Internal communication
• Accountability and follow-through

Compounded over weeks and months, those small shifts create remarkable results.

The renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer calls this mindset Continuous Gracious Pressure—the steady, respectful, unwavering insistence on doing things the right way. Not harsh pressure. Not reactive pressure. Gracious pressure.

Personally, it looks like: Choosing the healthy meal, again. Reviewing your calendar, again. Preparing for the meeting, again. Following up, again. Giving feedback, again.

In club leadership, it looks like: Reinforcing service standards, again. Repeating the club’s values, again. Addressing small lapses before they become cultural drift, again. It may not feel dramatic. It may not feel exciting. But it works.

And Then Resistance Shows Up

At some point, someone will say, “This is fine. Why push it?” The truth: “Good enough” is the quiet enemy of excellence.

Leaders must ask themselves regularly:

• Where can I sharpen my own leadership?
• Where are we tolerating inconsistency?
• Where have we drifted from our stated standards and accepted “good enough”?

Standards don’t drift upward naturally. They drift downward unless guarded.

It’s Always a Leadership Decision

Excellence isn’t an event. It’s a repeated behavior—nudged forward daily, personally and organizationally, graciously and without compromise. Design your habits with intention. Protect them with consistency. And watch your standards rise.

Let us know how we can support your success.