---
id: "quote-culture-is-tolerated"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ 5. They build cultures that balance trust and accountability."]
tags: ["culture", "accountability"]
related: ["claim-culture-is-tolerated", "concept-ownership-cultures"]
speaker: "Samantha Allison, Taavo Godtfredsen and Nada Hashmi"
speakers: ["Samantha Allison", "Taavo Godtfredsen", "Nada Hashmi"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-121-best-pe-backed-ceos"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/what-the-best-private-equity-backed-ceos-do-differently"
sourceTitle: "What the Best Private Equity-Backed CEOs Do Differently"
---
# Culture is What You Tolerate

> "The high-performing CEOs in our study understand that culture is what they tolerate."
> — [[entity-samantha-allison]], [[entity-taavo-godtfredsen]] and [[entity-nada-hashmi]]

The authors' distillation of how top-performing CEOs view and manage organizational culture — the direct statement of [[claim-culture-is-tolerated]] and the philosophy behind [[concept-ownership-cultures]].