Never lower the bar for your team... that is injustice by all means!!

This is, for a change, a desirable leadership trait - and that too a very important one. In the more recent times, I have been privy only to the fact that the leadership of the team or an organisation is concerned that the best in the team vis a vis performance is yet to be displayed, and it is the singular responsibility of team leadership, NOT TO LOWER THE BAR for the performers in the organisation.
Might sound so strange and even weird; but having seen this in reality, and also having heard a lot about how 'setting the right standards' is so important, not only for the organisation, but also for the team, and by that, the career of every single member of the team!
While a few leaders come down heavily on not so good performance, and even get tough from the execution point of view, surprisingly enough, there are also leaders who thrive on sub-optimal performance, just by shifting the blame of the handful of external factors - a bad client, a slow market, a perceived disrespect to the brand et al... in essence, it is either being blind to the whole world out there, or being naive to think that what you think is right, is what everyone thinks! You just stand on a high illusory platform, and be akin to a frog in the well... and to top it all, you are immune to what happens in similar companies, with similar people, with almost just a similar external environment..!! Owing to being driven by the internal environment (?), you just stay in the comfort zone and live by sub-optimal standards....
The biggest loser, in my opinion is the team and its members... your own colleagues, who trust your wisdom to grow them, and their career..! By your own deeds of not knowing where to set the bar, you make them feel nice with a performance, that is just good, from the internal perspective. Little do they realize that what they think is good, is just not good to the outside world, which is where their careers will prosper and have to take wings....
Good is the enemy of the Great, and a 'myopic good' is the greatest evil for bright careers... it is the duty of every single leader to stay clear of any sort of myopic good - even if it means a temporary setback, a failure to get to stated goals, or even a setback in position...
Wake up to reality of the market, and do good to the company, your team, and all stakeholders.....