Team Culture

Article Can attitude actually be taught — and how do I teach it? Yes — attitude can be taught. Bruce Brown's framework: define an athletic attitude, teach it, expect it, assess it, and praise the athlete-owned choice daily. Read now Article What do I do when my players are playing scared? Remove fear from competition: players play scared when they feel judged by mistakes. Bruce Brown's fix — emphasize effort, model poise, teach fearless play. Read now Article How do I build real confidence in my athletes? Real confidence is earned through preparation, not pep talks: believe in athletes before they succeed, and create small victories in practice. Read now Article How do I prevent hazing and build positive traditions instead? Replace hazing with intentional positive traditions. Every program will have traditions — the coach decides whether they turn negative or build the team. Read now Article How do I raise my team's competitive spirit? Raise competitive spirit by teaching it: Bruce Brown says being a competitor is a choice — coach the 13 traits of elite competitors, trait by trait. Read now Article What are the most important disciplines to teach my athletes? Teach the ten disciplines from Bruce and Dana Brown: arrive early and energized, focused attention and effort, personal responsibility, and finishing strong. Read now Article How do I teach character lessons without losing practice time? Teach character inside the drills you already run: set a theme, define it in one sentence, then model, shape, and reinforce it during practice. Read now Article Does culture really beat talent? Yes — culture beats talent over time. Talent-reliant teams ride a rollercoaster; culture-built teams reach their potential every year, loaded roster or not. Read now Article How do I improve our whole athletic program, not just my own team? Improve a whole program by assessing which of three levels it's in — strong, average, or in trouble — then get every leadership role doing its part. Read now Article What are the most important standards to set for my team? Set character standards, not skill standards: core covenants like work habits, unselfishness, and class your team agrees to live by in every situation. Read now Article How do I change a toxic culture I inherited? Yes, a toxic culture can change: build team covenants with your players, define them clearly, live them first, and hold everyone accountable daily. Read now Podcast A Program That Had Never Won — Then 36 Straight Jon Frazier, head boys basketball coach at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon from 2011 to 2024, who inherited a program with no winning seasons and left it a state champion with an Oregon record. Listen now Video Feedback Is the Norm On building a program where feedback is expected rather than resented — the growth-minded standard Bruce sums up as “expect it, accept it, embrace it.” Watch now Video Tale of Two Teams Comparing two teams that do the exact same job in radically different ways — and what that means for any team culture. Topics covered: the flat tire on… Watch now Video Shared Joy On the two kinds of pride — drawn from the Life Lessons booklet and the Captains and Coaches workshop. Topics covered: the bad kind of pride (arrogance,… Watch now Video Preparing for a Parent Meeting On the pre-season parent meeting — one of only a couple of official parent meetings a coach gets (the other being the end-of-year banquet), and a one-shot… Watch now Video Improve Your Team Covering two sides of the same coin. Topics covered: the only six ways to improve any team — athletic, school, youth organization, NFL, or business… Watch now Video Culture Traits of Good Teams with Bruce Brown Culture Traits of Good Teams (Short Clip) Watch now Video Culture Feedback with Bruce Brown Culture Feedback (Short Clip) Watch now Video Commitment - The Five Levels On commitment — answering the question coaches always raise ("we need more commitment from our athletes") with the sharper question: commitment to what?… Watch now Video 7 Ways to Develop Role Players On building teams where every role is understood, embraced, and celebrated. Topics covered: why every great team has multiple roles that must all be… Watch now Video 7 Steps to Resolve Team Problems On resolving team problems — because the only guarantee in any athletic season is that there will be issues (playing time, injuries, behaviors), since you… Watch now Video 4 Roles Drawn from The Role of Parents in Athletics — one of Proactive's most-requested presentations, with companion DVD and booklet built almost entirely from… Watch now Video Givers and Takers On the concept of givers and takers — a presentation he recently delivered to a Division I football team so players could examine themselves, their… Watch now Podcast Not a Teacher. Seven State Titles. Wiley Allred, a farmer who coaches football at Royal City High School, on nine championship games in 20 years, recruiting his own hallways, and the home visits that earned a community’s trust. Listen now Podcast I Committed as a Sophomore. I’m Glad the Rules Changed. Whitney Jones, former Husky pitcher now coaching at Washington, on calling her college coach every week at 13, the player-to-coach transition, and “who we are is why we win.” Listen now Podcast Basketball at Its Purest Trice Ham, national champion wheelchair basketball coach and Team USA staff member, on the day his program’s words stopped matching its results, and building a culture where it’s safe to fail. Listen now Podcast If All They Learn Is Baseball, We’ve Failed Them Scott Salow, 27 years without a losing season in a Michigan village of 1,800, on the national-record 75-game winning streak, three state titles, and a roster with fifteen captains. Listen now Podcast Winners Get to Run Scott Rosberg on positive conditioning: why punishing kids with sprints contradicts everything you tell them about fitness — and what happens when running becomes the reward. Listen now Podcast When Cheering Becomes Harassment Rob Miller on the exact line fans cross — from yelling, to using a kid’s name, to something personal — and the officials crisis that follows when nobody names it. Listen now Podcast We Won State. It Was the Worst Experience of My Life. Rob Miller and Lori Thomas on why culture beats talent: core covenants instead of T-shirt slogans, what respect looks like in action, and creating leaders rather than waiting for them. Listen now Podcast You Get What You Allow Nick Brown, head basketball coach and award-winning English teacher at Arlington High School, on banning “we should have won,” radical honesty, and nights for custodians and the band. Listen now Podcast The 0–20 Team They Followed Anyway Mike Lowery, Marysville, Washington basketball coach from a family with three Hall of Famers, on the winless season he loved, the manager named Wheels, and finding out who you are as a coach. Listen now Podcast We Never Fired a Coach for Losing Mick Hoffman, executive director of the WIAA, on changing the culture of four high schools and eight middle schools at once — covenants with action statements, and hiring aligned to them. Listen now Podcast First I Had to Get Over My Own Ego Michelle Sabourin, head cheer and stunt coach at Alma College, on building a program from nothing, defining passion, unity and tenacity in action, and redefining success before the wins arrived. Listen now Podcast The Three Touches That Changed Columbia Michael Aufrichtig, head fencing coach at Columbia and a three-time NCAA champion who had never coached before, on ending an 18-year drought, Moneyball recruiting, and customizing your communication. Listen now Podcast What George Washington Taught Me About Hiring Jud Damon, athletic director at Flagler College, on five core covenants across a whole department, the Student Athlete Experience commitment, and hiring for character and competence. Listen now Podcast Their Hardest Day, Our Warm-Up Josh Stewart, head basketball coach at Lodge Grass on the Crow Reservation, tells his own story: Chief Plenty Coups, the name Twice a Leader, his brother’s suicide, and a state title with no timeouts. Listen now Podcast After Practice, We Were Dad and Son Joe Harris, Hall of Fame Washington high school basketball coach for 31 years at two small schools, on coaching his own son — who went on to the NBA — and teams that outwork people and play together. Listen now Podcast One Rule: Do the Right Thing Jim Clem, 1,100-plus wins and six Halls of Fame, on the four areas he trains behind a single rule, why nobody should care who gets the credit, and finding a mentor in a lonely profession. Listen now Podcast Don’t Call Me Coach Jeremy “Sheets” Sheetinger, head baseball coach at Georgia Gwinnett, on dying to your ego daily, the unpaid years that cost him a marriage, and the classroom that meets at 1:30 every day. Listen now Podcast I Thought Winning Would Be the Easy Part Jenny Eustice, head dance team coach at Iowa and a three-time national champion dancer, on learning to coach the person, senior leadership, and the two quiet seniors who became phenomenal leaders. Listen now Podcast More Than Words on a Wall Jason Slater, Montana school superintendent, on taking core values past the poster — defining, modeling and reinforcing them with teachers, aides, administrators and the school board. Listen now Podcast Don’t Let This Steal Your Joy Donnie Bostwick, national champion men’s basketball coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan, on the hour after COVID cancelled the tournament, meekness as power under control, and coaching aggressive mistakes. Listen now Podcast Make Where You Are the Big Time Danny Miles, 45 years and 1,040 wins at Oregon Institute of Technology, on three national titles, what it took to earn the name “Oregon Tech guy,” and protecting your marriage and family. Listen now Podcast Everybody Says Culture. Nobody Defines It. Craig Doty, NAIA national champion men’s basketball coach at Graceland University, on what culture actually means, standards from day one, and connecting the dots to the professional world. Listen now Podcast Not as They Are, but as Who They’ll Become Bruce Brown introduces three Proactive Coaching booklets — and the finding behind them: successful people almost always name one teacher or coach who saw past who they were that day. Listen now Podcast From the Sidelines to the Sidewalk Bob Wilson, Hall of Fame athletic director at Vanguard University, on the Gold Pride initiative, a freshman character class, and athletes who compete for something beyond the scoreboard. Listen now Podcast There Is No Bench Becky Acra, championship cheer coach from a small gym in Great Falls, Montana, on a sport where every size and shape is valuable, knowing each athlete’s story, and leading with love. Listen now Booklet The 10 Disciplines By Bruce and Dana Brown on the role of discipline in building successful team cultures. After an opening section on what discipline is and why it matters,… Read now Booklet Team Stories Subtitled "Seize the Season: Become a Great Team," using stories from history to teach the value of teamwork. It is organized around the foundations of… Read now Booklet Great Teams - The Seven Essentials On what it takes to build a great team — the experience of bringing together a group of people with diverse skills, beliefs, and destinies so that both… Read now Booklet Core Covenants - Building Great Teams On building an intentional team culture through "core covenants." It defines what a covenant is, explains why team identity must be created rather than… Read now Booklet Athletic Traditions: Round Two A follow-up to his book 101 Positive Athletic Traditions. It compiles the best positive traditions submitted by coaches, athletic directors, and athletes… Read now Booklet Championship Standards - A Team Study Subtitled "Live and Lead With Honor." It presents championship standards for athletes and teams, each built around a guiding quote, a central idea, a… Read now Article Vision This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, from the Life Lessons #1 collection, presents the championship principle of vision under the title… Read now Article Team Covenants Bracket 2 A word bank for identifying a team's core covenants. Teams use it to brainstorm and then narrow down (for example, from 10–12 values down to 8, 4, 3, 2,… Read now Article Building A Culture In Your Family This article from Proactive Coaching, introduced by Bruce E. Brown, was written by his late friend and colleague Tim Driver. It applies the Proactive… Read now Article Work With The Living This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller, from the Proactive Coaching Leadership collection, explains how leaders trying to change or improve a team… Read now Article Welcoming New Team Members This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching builds on the five predictable stages teams go through and focuses on a key leadership… Read now Article Traditions 101 Positive Athletic Traditions: Building Team Legacies, Eliminating Hazing Read now Article The Last Kid On Your Bench This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching celebrates the least talented players on a team – those who practice hard, make other… Read now Article The 7 Essentials Of Great Teams Part 1 This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, drawn from The Seven Essentials of Great Teams, Proactive Leadership – Empowering Team Leaders, and… Read now Article Teamwork - The Seven Essentials of Great Teams (Business) Teamwork — Business — The Seven Essentials of Great Teams Read now Article Team Stages Team Stages (Captains and Coaches Workshop) Read now Article Team Crisis Management Team Crisis Management (Proactive Coaching) Read now Article Seven Essentials of Great Teams Seven Essentials of Great Teams (Business) Read now Article No Refs Now What This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching tells the story of a college volleyball match between Wayland Baptist University and… Read now Article No Excuses This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, taken from the booklet "Turning Around Athletic Programs," argues that eliminating excuses is a… Read now Article Core Covenant Interview Questions This article by Bruce E. Brown, from the Proactive Coaching Leadership collection, provides a set of interview questions built around core covenants and… Read now Article Can You Really Change A Culture This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching, titled "The Difference Team Covenants Make – Building a Team in an Individual Sport,"… Read now Article Athletics School Climate And Promoting A Psychology Of Success This article from Proactive Coaching, written by guest writer John Shindler, a professor at CSULA and former player of Bruce Brown's, explains how… Read now Article A Unique Team Covenant This article by Bruce E. Brown describes a team that chose gratitude as one of its core covenants during a leadership retreat. It explains what core… Read now Article 8 Actions That Make a Championship Culture Change Successful This list is for coaches, ADs, teachers, and business leaders who have gone through the Captains and Coaches Workshop (whether in person or with the DVD).… Read now Article 7 Ways To Help Develop Role Players This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching explains that the best teams are made up of multiple roles and offers seven ways… Read now Article 10 Things To Improve Your Team This article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching, from their booklet Turning Around Athletic Programs, gives leaders ten actions to… Read now Article Teamwork This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, from the Life Lessons collection, presents the Championship Principle of Teamwork under Kipling's… Read now Article Purpose This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, from the Life Lessons collection, presents the Championship Principle of Purpose under the title… Read now Article Pride This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching LLC, from the Life Lessons collection, explores the championship principle of pride, titled "Shared… Read now Article Loyalty This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, from the Life Lessons #2 collection, presents the championship principle of loyalty, with excerpts… Read now Podcast The Most Powerful Thing I’ve Ever Seen a Team Do Dan Teeter, football coach at Lakewood High School in Washington, on the anonymous “crosstalk” exercise that changed how his players treat each other — and the five-year turnaround it anchored. Listen now Video Culture Keepers Recorded on a cool, wet autumn day in the Pacific Northwest — for coaches who have intentionally built a team culture through the Captains and Coaches… Watch now Article Confrontation This article from Proactive Coaching, written by Tim Driver and included in the Leadership collection, addresses what to do when people refuse to buy in… Read now