Contagious Culture: What Do You Want Them To Catch?
- Julie Jones
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
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This topic has been on my mind for about a month as I watch kids enter and exit the portal. And here is the question I keep coming back to: How do we build a cohesive culture when rosters change every year, players are focused on playing time, publicity, and pay, and the next transfer is always one click away?
Last May, an athlete I work with called and asked, “Coach, should I go into the portal?” She’d played every game, had a good year, and liked her team. But four or five teammates were entering, so she didn’t want to miss out.
This May, she asked again, then jumped in. It worked out: more money, a bigger opportunity. But now she starts over...and so does her coach.
This is the new normal. So, the question becomes: How do you build a united, committed culture when your locker room resets almost every semester?
It’s got to be exhausting. But it’s not impossible.
And it starts with a ripple. It starts with deciding who you want the new team to be, new players and all!
And if we’re smart, we’ll start something contagious from the get! And it starts with US!.
Emotional contagion is real. Dr. Peggy Marshall reminds us that emotions aren’t just felt, they’re shared. Whatever a leader projects, urgency or calm, belief or blame, cascades through the team.
This emotional “ripple” becomes even more critical in today’s fluid roster environment.
In this fluid environment, every new addition shifts the dynamic. A returning player might feel threatened. A transfer may expect more than they’re getting. And in these moments of uncertainty, your emotional tone becomes the anchor—or the amplifier.
So, what do you want them to catch?
Because they’re always catching something. Emotional contagion, as shown in research by Sigal Barsade, directly influences team cohesion, performance, and effort. Remember the sweat study? People who smelled stress sweat (from skydivers) physically responded with stress reactions, just like those who had experienced the stress themselves. Wild, right?
So, if stress is contagious, so is joy, focus, belief, and connection.
This seems like a no-brainer, but in the hustle and bustle of getting our new rosters set, sometimes this gets set on the back burner and just simmers when it really needs to be up front as our main course!
Alex Auerbach wrote in Called to Greatness, “Too often, coaches coach the team they want instead of the team they have.” It’s hard to watch kids you poured into leave and have the energy to do it again! But in today’s world, flexibility is essential. That doesn’t mean we lower standards or change our ways; it means we adapt without diluting our culture. The people may change. The expectations shouldn’t.
To do that, we can intentionally spark contagious behaviors:
First, we can prioritize connection…on repeat!
Touch builds trust. A study published in Emotion found NBA teams with more high-fives, fist bumps and chest bumps had better win/loss records. Why? Physical connection synchronizes emotions and builds social bonds.
At one point at CSU, we had a rule: Every time we saw a teammate on campus, we gave them a high five. It didn’t matter the day or the mood, it connected us anyway. I am sure they rolled their eyes when we made our commitment to this, but looking at the research, a few eye rolls are worth the benefits of connection!!
And when we’re connected, we feel better…whether we think we will or not!
What if you created one that included intentional touch and a verbal affirmation? Something small. Repeated. Powerful.
But cohesion doesn’t come from matching jerseys and a few high-fives. It comes from shared struggle and shared meaning. Research from the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that storytelling, especially outside of competition, boosts satisfaction and team unity.
I am not sure I would have been open to this as a coach, but now that I know the research, it may benefit us to create space for players to tell their story, where they’ve been, who they are or who they want to become HERE…THIS YEAR…NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE!
Even puzzle pieces from different boxes can form a powerful picture.
Then we can establish shared values.
I love what Ben Franklin did and it’s something I want to start personally and with my teams. He had 13 values he called virtues. Each week, he’d focus on one and mark a tally in his book if he failed to live it. His goal? Fewer tallies. More alignment.
Can your team audit three values daily or weekly? This cleanly ties in Simon Sinek’s “why” as well and it’s a great test to see if our “what” (our actions) are aligning with our “why”? And if they aren’t…then what are we doing and why? See what I did there!
If nothing else, it reminds us that our personal story is only part of the whole picture…and that constant reminder is important for all of us! And it puts the spotlight on what we are catching from each other. Are we catching behaviors that connect to who we say we are or not?
We can post slogans. We can preach standards. But ultimately, culture isn’t what they read, it’s what they absorb.
So we need to ask ourselves: What do I want them to catch from me? From each other? And am I sharing my values to be sure they catch them and connect to them?
Because every time a new player walks in, they look around to figure out what’s accepted. What’s expected? What gets rewarded?
And it’s up to us to make sure they’re catching the right things.
Let’s make our culture the most contagious thing in the room.
Manage the moments!
Julie
P.S. I have a few openings for teams for 2025-26. Let’s work together! Shoot me an email or text – juliej@ssbperformance.com or 234-206-0946. We can build a program that fits your team!
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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