Every fall something stirs in the air.

The days grow shorter, the temperatures dip and across the country people gather in stadiums, living rooms and tailgates for one reason.

Football season is back!

For me, football season has always carried more weight than just what happens on the field.

As a former high school and collegiate coach, it brings back memories of practices under the lights, pregame locker room speeches and long hours spent preparing players for competition.

But more than anything, it reminds me of one of the most powerful leadership lessons I ever heard, one that applies as much to business owners and executives as it does to football coaches.

About 20 years ago I was sitting in a coaches’ clinic listening to Dale Lennon, then the head football coach at the University of North Dakota.

He said something that has stuck with me ever since:

“There are only two reasons you’re seeing a player do something on the field: either you taught it or you’re tolerating it.”

That statement hit me like a linebacker coming through the A-gap untouched.

In one sentence, Lennon captured the essence of leadership and accountability.

And if you’re a business owner or leader reading this today, you should pause on that lesson because it applies directly to the culture you’re creating in your company.

When Lennon said those words, I instantly thought about all the times I had seen mistakes on the field.

Missed tackles, blown assignments, lazy effort.

As a young coach, it was easy to blame the player.

They weren’t listening.

They weren’t working hard enough.

They weren’t as disciplined as I wanted them to be.

But Lennon’s words forced me to take a hard look in the mirror.

If my players were consistently missing tackles, that meant either I hadn’t taught them the right technique or I had allowed poor technique to continue without correction.

If they weren’t giving maximum effort, that meant I hadn’t instilled the expectation.

Or worse, I had tolerated a lower standard.

Leaders in business fall into the same trap.

When your people miss deadlines, fail to follow through or repeatedly underperform, it’s tempting to place all the blame on them.

But if you’re honest, their actions are either the result of what you’ve taught (or failed to teach) or what you’ve tolerated.

Bridging Standards & Culture

In both football and business, accountability is the bridge between the standards you set and the culture you actually experience.

As a coach, I quickly learned that each player had their own motivational “buttons and levers.”

Some needed direct, hard-nosed feedback.

Others needed encouragement and calm correction.

Some responded to more responsibility while others thrived when pushed by competition.

The delivery looked different, but the standard was always the same.

• Missed tackles weren’t acceptable.
• Late arrivals to practice weren’t acceptable.
• Effort that dipped below 100% wasn’t acceptable.

My role as a coach wasn’t just to set the standard but to hold every player accountable to it in the way that best reached them.

The same is true in business.

Your people are wired differently.

Some will respond best to direct and blunt feedback, others to more supportive and developmental conversations.

But if you don’t hold them to the same clear expectations, accountability erodes.

And when accountability erodes, culture suffers.

The Leadership Trap: Tolerating What You Know Should Change

Here’s a pattern I see again and again in businesses I work with at The Greenhouse: leaders know they need to make a substitution—whether it’s changing a process, addressing an employee’s performance or upgrading a role entirely.

But instead of acting, they hesitate.

Why?

The reasons vary.

Sometimes it’s fear of conflict.

Sometimes it’s a desire to be liked.

Sometimes it’s the hope that “maybe things will improve.”

Other times it’s because the leader is so busy putting out fires that they don’t take time to correct the root problem.

But make no mistake, hesitation is tolerance.

Every day you allow the wrong process, the wrong behavior or the wrong fit to remain, you’re teaching your team something.

You’re teaching them that missed deadlines don’t really matter.

You’re teaching them that toxic behavior can slide.

You’re teaching them that excellence is negotiable.

Just like in football, when you don’t substitute a struggling player, you risk the entire team’s performance.

In business, tolerating mediocrity or misalignment doesn’t just hurt results — it poisons culture.

The Locker Room Speech: What Leaders Must Hear

 If I were standing in a locker room full of business owners, here’s the speech I’d give:

“The success of your team depends on your ability to lead, manage and hold others accountable to the bar you’ve set. Don’t expect your people to live by standards you don’t enforce. Don’t expect excellence if you tolerate mediocrity. And never forget that your team will follow where you lead. If you let things slide, they’ll let things slide. If you show discipline, they’ll show discipline. If you model accountability, they’ll rise to it. Accountability isn’t just about correcting others. It’s about you, your follow-through, your consistency, your commitment to the culture you want.”

Just like a football team looks to its coach, your people are watching you.

They want to know how serious you are about the standards you’ve set.

And they’ll mirror whatever you teach and whatever you tolerate.

3 Practical Takeaways

So how do you take a principle from the football field and translate it into your business?

#1 Clarify the Standard

Accountability starts with clarity.

Your people can’t hit a target they can’t see.

Be specific about what success looks like in your business.

• Write it down.
• Share it often.
• Don’t leave expectations in the gray zone.

If you want deadlines met, define what “done” looks like.

If you expect responsiveness, outline what timely communication means.

#2 Build Systems That Support Accountability

In football, accountability is built into everything: film sessions, performance stats, practice drills and depth charts.

Players know where they stand because systems reinforce it.

In business, you need the same structure.

Scorecards, dashboards, weekly check-ins and clear roles.

These are the systems that make accountability less about personality and more about process.

When accountability lives in systems, it becomes objective and repeatable.

It’s not about whether the leader “feels like” holding someone accountable.

It’s baked into the way the business operates.

#3 Follow Through Relentlessly

This is where most leaders falter.

They set the standard, they even install systems, but then they fail to follow through.

They let things slide.

They make exceptions.

They lower the bar for convenience.

Remember: Every time you fail to enforce accountability, you’re teaching tolerance. Follow-through is the difference between leaders who create strong cultures and those who watch theirs deteriorate.

A Quick Story

I’ll share a quick memory from my coaching days that ties this all together.

I once had a player who consistently gave great effort in practice but froze up in games.

It would have been easy to just say, “That’s who he is” and keep him in a backup role.

But I knew he had more in him.

So I changed the approach.

In practice, I started simulating game-like pressure situations for him then giving immediate feedback.

Sometimes it was tough, direct correction.

Other times it was encouragement when he showed progress.

Over time, he grew more confident.

Eventually, he became a reliable starter.

The standard never changed.

He had to perform under pressure.

But the way I coached him to meet that standard adapted to who he was.

And because I didn’t tolerate mediocrity (even from someone I liked) he rose to the bar we set for the team.

The same applies to your business.

People want to rise to the standard.

But they need a leader who refuses to tolerate less and who knows how to hold them accountable in a way that motivates, not demoralizes.

Why This Matters Now

Football season is a great reminder of what winning cultures look like.

Teams that consistently succeed aren’t always the ones with the best talent.

They’re the ones with the strongest accountability, the clearest standards and the most disciplined follow-through.

Your business is no different.

Talent matters but culture is what wins championships.

And culture is built on accountability.

So as you watch football this fall, let every blown assignment, every great play and every coaching adjustment remind you of Dale Lennon’s words:

“You either taught it or you’re tolerating it.”

Look around your business.

What are you teaching?

And more importantly, what are you tolerating?

Next Steps

• Take 10 minutes this week to reflect on your team and your culture.
• Where are you tolerating behaviors, processes or results that you know don’t meet the standard?
• Write them down.
• Pick one to address immediately.

Remember, accountability isn’t a one-time correction.

It’s the heartbeat of a strong culture.

Your ability to lead, manage and hold people accountable will determine the success of your team.

This football season, don’t just cheer for accountability on the field.

Lead it in your business.

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Follow Patrick Metzger on LinkedIn.