LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears have brought in talent based on how they can help them on the field. If they couldn’t produce, Ben Johnson’s also trying to establish a new culture at Halas Hall, and building a proper foundation is no easy task.

It also takes a village, and Johnson needs ambassadors to help establish a winning culture during what he defined as a tough spring establishing expectations and what it takes to win.

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“It shouldn’t be easy. This should be hard,” Johnson said in a Thursday press conference. “Anything worth doing is hard. It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of effort … we should not be comfortable.”

They will get better through the grind, but Johnson will need guys to set the gold standard.

Enter Joe Thuney and Grady Jarrett. Those guys get it, and are known as much for their leadership and work ethic as they are their on-field prowess. Jarrett has been an elite player for a decade. Thuney has four Super Bowl rings. Those traits are vital to a team still learning how to win. Johnson included Jonah Jackson in that leadership collective, too.

“All three of these guys, they’ve been in the playoffs, they’ve won playoff games,” Johnson said. “Joe in particular has won Super Bowls. Yeah, that does rub off through the rest of the locker room. We’re going to define what it’s going to look like in terms of our meeting process, our walk-through process, our practice habits, what it looks like off the field — because that all translates to winning on the field. All three of these guys have done that at a high level.”

Thuney and Jarrett understand that’s part of the job description and are more than willing to take on leadership responsibilities. They also know they can’t enter Halas Hall demanding respect. That must be earned.

Thuney therefore won’t start the offseason program with rocking Super Bowl rings on the first day of school.

“It’s a process, and definitely not an overnight thing,” Thuney told me and Mike Norman in an exclusive interview for the Bears on the Marquee podcast. “The time and consistency day after day, just trying to show teammates what I’m about and how much I love this game and appreciate being in the O-line room and playing for the guy next to me. It takes time to build that chemistry and comradery. That’s part of the game, and what makes all this so fun and so special.”

Thuney learned how to be a pro from others. He learned through experience how to perform well in the clutch, both by doing and watching the greats do their thing.

“There are a million little things that go on, and when you’re around great players, you try and copy things that they do,” Thuney said. “I did that when I was younger, just trying to do the best I can.”

Jarrett’s a tireless worker and an intense practice player who brings his best to every session. Johnson plans to go back to the basics during the offseason program and build the team up essentially from scratch. He knows how to do that from his time in Atlanta and wants to make a positive impression on this team and this community.

“We’re about to start OTAs. We’re gonna line it up,” Jarrett said. “They’re gonna see that strength, that speed, all that. So, I mean, you don’t know me, obviously, yet, but you’ll see, you’ll get to learn that I’m confident in my abilities to be highly productive and to have my best seasons still ahead of me.”

He’ll lead by example first, both on the field and in the meeting room. Jarrett wants to be a tone setter, while also showing respect to the leaders already in the building.

“Just going through the preparation, the process it takes every day — not every other day — to be able to put your best self forward,” Jarrett said. “I’m familiar with what the vibes were before I got here, but since I arrived and been a part of the team now, I feel good energy from everybody in the building and I still haven’t been able to meet everybody, but I think people are hungry to win here, and there’s nowhere else I would rather be.”