Rituals establish expectations. When someone says, “Good morning,” you respond in kind. When someone extends their hand, you extend yours.
You exceed expectations by disrupting patterns.
The 7 Joys of Ritual
- Predictability – confidence about what works.
- Stability – behaviors become acts of memory.
- Energy – performance without decision fatigue.
- Freedom – space for creativity without judgment.
- Trust – consistency signals reliability.
- Speed – shared habits accelerate execution.
- Belonging – shared behaviors create connection.
Rituals reduce thinking about the routine so you can focus on what matters. But to exceed expectations, violate rituals.
7 Disruptions
#1. Greetings
Turn courtesy into connection.
After a polite greeting, ask, “What’s one thing you’re looking forward to today?”
Repetition is the death of attention.
#2. Meetings
Provide an energy jolt.
Before the agenda ask, “What’s one thing you admire about the person to your left?”
#3. Management
Shift the focus of evaluation.
In high-trust environments, managers ask, “Where am I making your job harder than it needs to be?”
#4. One-on-One
Use positive surprise.
Complete this sentence, “The reason we hired you is…” Use character traits. Do this for short and long-term employees.
#5. Time
Give teams a time bonus. Tell them to turn off Slack and email for 60 minutes.
Bonus: Begin a meeting by saying, “Let’s cut this meeting in half.”
#6. Recognition
Show people they matter.
End the day by showing up in someone’s office unexpectedly. Tell them what they’re doing right. Make a video call for distributed team members.
#7. Mistakes
Eliminate blame.
Say, “Here’s what I got wrong this week…” If that’s too vulnerable, say, “I could have done better when I…”
Exceed expectations by disrupting comfortable habits. The unexpected wakes sleepwalkers.
Don’t simply manage the routine. Interrupt it.
Which ritual can you disrupt to exceed expectations?
The Boredom Crisis in Leadership
5 Guaranteed Ways to be Less Dull
How Your Daily Routine Can Turn Into Your Biggest Enemy
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This post was previously published on LEADERSHIPFREAK.BLOG and is republished with Creative Commons license.
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At The Good Men Project, we are glad to share selected work from Leadership Freak, a publication focused on leadership, workplace relationships, communication, and the everyday habits that shape how people work together. We do not believe the workplace is a separate sphere from the rest of life. The way people lead, listen, praise, correct, and share power at work affects families, mental health, dignity, and the wider culture people carry home with them at the end of the day.
That is one reason this kind of writing matters to us. Reimagining masculinity also means reimagining work: what we reward, what we normalize, what we ask people to sacrifice, and whether leadership is measured by control or by care. We are interested in workplaces where people are treated equitably, where leadership is more humane and less performative, and where success does not automatically require giving away your health, your relationships, or your sense of security. Advice on leadership may seem small compared with those larger goals, but culture often changes through repeated daily behavior. How people treat one another in ordinary moments matters. It matters a lot.
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