When we sat down to write The Locker Room, in the summer of 2021, we had one simple goal: to help people experience the “miracle of the Locker Room.”

The “miracle of the Locker Room” is a concept where, on healthy teams, people from all different backgrounds, with all kinds of hurts, histories, and hang-ups, come together and agree to six concepts:

1. A common goal that is bigger than self.
2. Making a mistake doesn’t make you a mistake.
3. Diversity is not an obstacle to overcome, but our strength to overcome our obstacles.
4. The standard is the standard.
5. Hard days, truths, and conversations are endured, received, and had.
6. The success of the team is greater than the success of the individual.

We believe that any time a group of people makes this commitment, whether in sports or life, the conditions are set for that team or organization to overcome adversity, heal hurt, build unity, and ultimately, reach their goals.

With The Locker Room, we wanted to tell the story of a fictional team as an encouragement and example to help you or your team or organization visualize the “miracle.” Now, in The Locker Room Playbook, we want to equip you to experience the “miracle.”

This playbook is designed for individuals and teams, and while it is simple, it won't be easy to get the most out of this playbook. It requires commitment, time, and vulnerability—and as we learned from Coach Smitty, “Authentic vulnerability is a strength.”

Every chapter of the playbook mirrors a chapter in the book, and the chapters are separated into three sections: For Everyone, For the Individual, and For the Team. Let’s look at how to use each section.

For Everyone

In the “For Everyone” section, we identify the core lessons from the chapter, summarize the chapter, and provide deep-dive-teaching information. While the first two segments are meant to serve as a refresher for what you read and learned, the deep-dive-teaching portion is designed to offer some “next-step thoughts” on how you can apply the lessons of that chapter to your life and team. These next-step thoughts are connected to the chapter, but go beyond what we could cover in the book.

For the Individual

In the second section, “For the Individual,” we invite you to do some personal reflection and work to connect the lessons of the chapter to your own life. There is space for you to write your own key takeaways, plus some reflection questions based on the chapter and deep dive teaching, as well as an exercise that will help you turn your ideas into action.

For the Team

The final section, meant to be completed with other people, provides discussion questions and a group participation exercise for your team or organization. The questions have no “right” answers, only opportunities for you to share with each other, and listen to one another, in order to learn from the group. We believe that a team or organization can only reach their full potential when they listen to one another.

As with The Locker Room, our goal for The Locker Room Playbook is to help you experience the “miracle of the Locker Room.” We believe that if you commit to bringing the best of you to the lessons in this playbook and to your teammates, you will experience just that.