The Standards for Your Life

Leaders are simply people who set the standards. Attending leadership conferences, you’ll find all sorts of conversation about what a leader is or does, but to me this seems like a simple and straight-forward answer.

Think about the following examples:

• The executive chef is the head of the kitchen. What does he do? Does he do inventory? Does he invent every dish? Does he wash the dishes? Each of those answers depends on the chef and isn’t necessarily specific to the job description. What every executive chef should do is set the standards for the foods and the cleanliness of the kitchen.
• What does a hotel manager do? Do they answer phones? Clean rooms? Worry about decor? Possibly all of those, and possibly none of those. They set the standards of the experience. How does it feel? How does it smell? How quick is the check-in process? How likely are people to return?

A leader is a person who sets the standards. That means you are the leader of your own life. What standards will you accept for cleanliness in your house? What standards will you accept for fitness? What standards will you accept for pay? What standards will you accept for your finances? The list goes on and on and no one is going to set them for you. Figure out your standards and live to them, if you don’t actively set them, you are passively accepting them.