As a leader, what you tolerate in the business is what
eventually becomes the culture and ultimately dictates the performance of your
business or unit. If you tolerate under performance, then under performance
becomes the new norm. if you tolerate missed targets, then missed targets
become the new norm. if you tolerate excuses, then excuses become the new norm.

And he that is good for excuses is seldom good for anything
else!

And by tolerating, I mean the conscious decision you take
on a daily basis to accept that level of performance. The conscious decision to
allow the excuses that surround you to infiltrate your plans or offset the
underperformance.

If you do not tolerate underperformance and excuses, they
will disappear from the culture. If you constantly practice the way to do
things, prioritize and execute on the most important things and generally do
more of the right things more often, then success will become a habit.  The consequence of not doing this is that
underperformance becomes the culture.

Leaders need to be
first grounded in their own values and hold fast to that line – then holding
others accountable to it as well. No exceptions except in very extreme
circumstances and only if it would not change the goalposts for the
organization itself. As the leader, you are the first line of defense for your
own and the company’s values – don’t let anyone change those. You become what
you tolerate.