Wellington Firebirds Cricket Team Pre Season Culture Training

It's a privilege to be invited back by the Wellington Firebirds year to help them run their 'pre-season culture training' sessions.

This time 11 years ago, I was starting my professional cricket career and involved in one of these pre-season culture sessions. It left an impression on me for all the wrong reasons.

Looking back, the intent was right. But unfortunately, it divided the team, isolated payers and created a culture of fear (especially for the younger players like me).

At the time, it was difficult to process what occurred, and the experience has stayed with me ever since. But I'm now glad I went through that experience. It has helped shaped my philosophy and the way I design and run team culture sessions – especially for sports teams.

Instead, we now focus on how we better connect people, players and teams. Through the use of #theemotionalculturedeck, we explore the role feeling and emotion plays at an individual level and then how it impacts the desired culture of a team.