🏆 What Will You Tolerate in 2026?

💭 ONE THOUGHT
What Will You Tolerate in 2026?

January 1 has a funny way of giving people hope.

New year.
Clean slate.
Fresh start.

But here’s the truth most leaders eventually learn the hard way:
Nothing changes just because the calendar does.

Teams don’t magically improve in January.
Programs don’t reset overnight.
Culture doesn’t shift because you wrote new goals on a whiteboard.

What actually changes teams is much simpler, and harder.

What you tolerate.

Coach K once said, “If you’re going to kill a weed, kill it right away.”

He was right.

I’ve coached long enough to know this: the fastest way to understand a team’s culture isn’t by listening to speeches, slogans, or preseason meetings.

It’s by watching what gets ignored.

None of those things start as the standard.
They become the standard because they go unaddressed.

Here’s the uncomfortable part of leadership:

Silence is a decision.

When we don’t address behavior, we’re not being patient.
We’re teaching.

We’re teaching players what matters.
What’s acceptable.
Where the real line actually is.

And once that line moves, it’s hard to move it back.

The best leaders I’ve been around understand this.
They don’t overreact.
They don’t nitpick.
But they are incredibly clear.

Clear standards.
Clear expectations.
Clear accountability.

Not because they want control, but because they want trust.

Consistency builds credibility. And credibility builds culture.

One thing I’ve learned over time:
What you tolerate early quietly becomes what defines you later.

Standards aren’t just about what you address in January.
They’re about whether you still have the emotional stamina to hold the line when energy fades and the season gets hard.

That’s what I’m digging into more deeply in GTBL PRO next week.

Here’s another truth January exposes:
Most coaches carry culture alone.

They feel it.
They see it slipping.
They address it again and again… by themselves.

That’s exhausting. And it’s not sustainable.

Great programs don’t rely on one voice.
They build shared ownership.

They train leaders in the locker room to:

That’s how standards stay standards.

As you step into 2026, I’d encourage you to sit with one simple question:

What am I willing to tolerate this year, and what am I not?

Not in theory.
Not in a team meeting.

But in the daily moments that actually shape your program.

Because the culture you want isn’t built in January.
It’s built in what you address on a Tuesday in February, when it would be easier to let it slide.

And here’s the good news:
You don’t have to do it alone.

If you’re ready to:

That’s exactly why I built Culture Wins OS and the Team Leader OS.

Not as motivation.
Not as inspiration.

But as practical tools to help standards live beyond the coach.

January doesn’t change teams.
Leadership does.

And leadership always starts with what we’re willing to tolerate.

Reflection to start the year:
What’s one behavior you’ve been letting slide, and what would change if you addressed it early?

Have a great 2026!
Greg

P.S. If you’re serious about changing culture in 2026, it can’t live on you alone. The Culture Wins OS helps you turn values into clear standards. The Team Leader OS trains players to protect those standards daily. Not hype. Not slogans. Just tools that help culture show up when it matters.

📜 GREAT QUOTES

🔗 LINKS FOR LEADERS

🎥 Video: Coach K’s Most Important Leadership Lessons [LINK]

🆇 ICYMI: The line that should be printed in every locker room in America. [LINK]

📰 Article: Rust Doesn’t Need a Hammer

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Contact Me: Greg Berge, [email protected]