Healthy Accountability on the Football Field

The final speaker in the Spring Good Leadership Breakfast Series is Ryan Poles, General Manager of the Chicago Bears. He will share how Healthy Accountability fuels transformation in the high-pressure world of professional football.

From the beginning of the spring series, the focus has been clear: leaders are most effective when people win together in an environment where individuals take personal ownership, embrace the support of the team, and deliver quality work on time. Ryan Poles is building that environment in one of the most scrutinized franchises in all of American sports and doing it with intention, grit, and long-term vision.

A Leadership Rebuild That Goes Beyond the Roster

When Ryan Poles took over as GM in 2022, he inherited the responsibility to redefine the expectation of what it meant to be a Chicago Bears professional football player. Poles made the bold moves, reshaping the Bears into one of the youngest, most promising rosters in the NFL. And it didn’t work. The team didn’t turn around wins and losses as expected. He was so criticized. And he kept trying with the grit that he expected from his players.

That means he brokered game-changing deals to bring in top talent, and removing the head coach. 

But these moves tell only part of the story. The heart of Poles’ strategy lies in building trust, setting expectations, and creating a culture where everyone, together,  is responsible for doing the hard (gritty) work.

The Power of Belief, Ownership, and Support

Healthy Accountability shows up in the small things: how leaders at the top own their work, how teammates support each other after mistakes, and how coaching staff reinforces high standards without fear. “We’re setting up a culture where the locker room and team rooms are places where players go to grow, not places to hide,” Poles shared with me. 

The Bears’ vision is to compete for multiple Super Bowls over the next 10 years and become a world-class coaching organization, exporting talented coaches every year into high-profile college and professional football coaching jobs. 

At the Good Leadership Breakfast on Thursday, May 22, we’ll probe into the Pathway to Healthy Accountability—specifically, how to Select and Promote for Accountability. Poles will share his talent review and evaluation philosophy for football players, and how that approach works with his football operations staff. My prediction: You may become a Chicago Bears fan after meeting Ryan Poles. 

May 22 will be a fitting conclusion to a powerful season of conversations. This one will leave every guest energized to step into accountability with courage, clarity, and conviction. Secure your spot today here.