Great school cultures don’t just develop by chance - they’re built through a cultivation of trust, empathy, and shared purpose. Just as sports teams succeed by prioritizing culture alongside strategy, school leaders can foster environments where staff and students feel safe, valued, and motivated to grow. 

By borrowing lessons from the playbooks of successful sports organizations, administrators and educators can strengthen relationships, cultivate psychological safety, and empower every voice. Here are six sports-inspired practices to build more connected, resilient, and high-performing school communities, whether with fellow educators or your students.

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1. Cultivate Psychological Safety

Encourage open communication and active listening so all team members feel safe to share ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of judgment. Team check-ins and norms can help normalize emotional honesty and vulnerability.

Example: Legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich invested deeply in knowing his players beyond the basketball court. With star player Tim Duncan, he took time to understand “who I was—not just as a basketball player, but as a person and beyond.” This genuine care built trust and created a safe space for honest feedback and emotional growth. As educators, we can do this by getting to know students' interests and incorporating it into lessons and especially into 1-1 conversations. With teachers, we can plan coffee meetups to get to know each other on a personal level.

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2. Build Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

Use perspective-taking exercises, storytelling, mindfulness, or regular team reflections to foster empathy and emotional intelligence. These practices deepen self-awareness, support self-regulation, and foster a deeper understanding among team members, enabling teams to adapt to challenges and resolve conflicts with greater care.

Example: Baseball is one of the most mentally demanding sports. In 2016, as the Chicago Cubs prepared for their historic World Series run, their young roster focused on sharpening both skills and mindset. The organization brought in a five-person mental skills team to lead mindfulness exercises, visualization drills, and meditation across all levels. Guided by the philosophy “better humans make better players,” the Cubs built the mental resilience needed to endure grueling stretches and overcome their underdog status in the playoffs—ultimately capturing the World Series championship.

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3. Create Systems for Feedback 

Go beyond encouraging feedback by building clear structures to proactively solicit, share, and act on it. Regular surveys, open forums, and structured reflection periods ensure that feedback is not only heard but also integrated into decision-making. When teams see their input valued, it cultivates a stronger sense of ownership, trust, and belonging. 

Example: In a striking transformation, the National Football League (NFL) Washington Commanders dramatically improved their ranking in the NFL Player Association’s annual workplace environment survey - from dead last to 11th place. This turnaround followed proactively gathered player feedback that prompted leadership to revamp player accommodations, travel amenities, training facilities, medical care, and family support services. The results show how team-wide surveys, when paired with genuine follow-through, can yield both cultural and competitive gains.

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4. Begin with Collective Goal-Setting and End with Reflection

Instead of mandating goals from the top down, invite the team to co-create goals collectively. Even when an outcome goal must be set externally, groups can still set process goals for collaboration and share individual development goals. This shared goal-setting strengthens alignment and ownership. Be sure to collectively reflect at the end of projects to ensure that progress is celebrated, lessons are shared, and future work is strengthened. 

Example: In college football, after returning from his National Guard, long snapper Nate Boyer proposed the team theme “For the man on my left and the man on my right.” With its roots in military camaraderie, the motto resonated deeply with the players, especially in the offensive and defensive line, where players are often right next to each other. Its emphasis on mutual support and shared sacrifice led the team to vote on its annual theme and adopt Boyer’s suggestion as its guiding motto for the 2013 season

With students, you can collectively come together to create class posters and mottos. For school administrators, rather than selecting a motto or goal for your school, consider gathering teacher feedback. This helps ensure a whole-community approach and creates goals that truly resonate with the entire community.

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5. Engage in Inclusive Decision-Making

Involve all voices in problem-solving and planning by using SEL-informed protocols that promote equitable participation. These tools are especially critical in groups with power differentials, such as faculty and students, administrators, teachers, or parents and students. Inclusive decision-making processes ensure that diverse perspectives are respected and that outcomes reflect shared priorities and needs.

Example: English Premier League’s Brentford Football Club conducts an EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion audit and an inclusive lead review: Unlike many organizations where EDI stays in a separate department, Brentford’s Head of EDI works across all levels, from the board to senior leaders, teams, and the community, to ensure EDI shapes every business decision.

Brentford designed proactive recruitment practices to make decision-making inclusive by partnering with existing partners to find qualified candidates and make their job postings more accessible. The club and players foster a “speak-up culture” and reinforce safety in reporting discrimination. This structured initiative embeds diverse perspectives into leadership dialogues.

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6. Strengthen Relationships Through Appreciation

Create consistent rituals of recognition and gratitude. Celebrate personal and team milestones, acknowledge effort, and encourage peer-to-peer shout-outs. This reinforces trust and strengthens connections. This can be as grand as an award ceremony to small as 1:1 conversations.

Example: The National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken, after every home win, celebrates its players of the game in a uniquely local way. Players toss stuffed-animal salmon to fans - a playful nod to Seattle’s Pike Place Market’s famous fish toss and it rewards kids for coming to the game. In the locker room, coaches honor the game’s MVP with a Hollywood Prop pirate hat. It’s a fun tradition that engages fans, rewards players, and creates great social media moments further spotlighting players across digital media.