Workplace and Sporting Club Culture: Wellbeing Is Built in the Everyday Moments

Culture is often discussed as though it is something an organisation can create through a poster, a policy, an annual awareness day or a staff morning tea.

Those things can help, but they are not culture.

Culture is what happens every day.

It is how leaders respond when someone is struggling. It is how mistakes are handled, how conflict is managed and whether people feel safe enough to speak honestly. It is reflected in what is encouraged, what is ignored and what people learn they need to stay quiet about.

As I often say:

“A positive culture around wellbeing is built through everyday actions, not a tray of yellow cupcakes once a year.”

The cupcakes are fine. Keep the cupcakes.

But if people do not feel respected, supported or psychologically safe throughout the rest of the year, a single wellbeing initiative is unlikely to create meaningful change.

This applies equally to workplaces and sporting clubs.

Whether people are employees, volunteers, coaches, athletes, managers or committee members, they are all influenced by the culture around them.

What do we mean by culture?

Culture is the shared experience of being part of a group.

It includes the written expectations, but it is shaped even more strongly by the unwritten rules.

People quickly learn:

• whether it is safe to ask for help
• whether leaders listen or become defensive
• whether poor behaviour is addressed
• whether workloads and expectations are realistic
• whether mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn
• whether people are respected regardless of their role
• whether wellbeing is genuinely valued
• whether performance is prioritised at any cost

A workplace may describe itself as supportive, but employees will judge that support by what happens when someone needs flexibility, raises a concern or admits they are overwhelmed.

A sporting club may promote inclusion and teamwork, but members will judge the culture by how coaches speak to athletes, how parents behave on the sidelines and whether bullying, favouritism or exclusion are addressed.

Culture is not what an organisation says about itself.

Culture is what people repeatedly experience.

Positive culture does not mean avoiding accountability

A healthy culture is not one where nobody is challenged and every difficult conversation is avoided.

In fact, avoiding problems can allow frustration, resentment and poor behaviour to grow.

Positive cultures usually have clear expectations, respectful accountability and consistent boundaries.

People can still be told that their behaviour is inappropriate. Performance concerns can still be addressed. Athletes can still receive direct feedback. Employees can still be expected to meet the requirements of their role.

The difference is in how those conversations are handled.

Healthy accountability focuses on the behaviour, the impact and what needs to change. It does not rely on humiliation, intimidation or personal attacks.

People are more likely to learn, improve and remain engaged when they feel respected, even during difficult conversations.

Culture starts with leadership

Leaders have a significant influence on the emotional tone of a workplace or sporting club.

This includes executives, managers, supervisors, coaches, captains, committee members and senior volunteers.

People pay close attention to what leaders do.

If a leader regularly sends messages late at night, staff may feel they are expected to respond.

If a coach mocks athletes who admit they are nervous, others may learn to hide their concerns.

If a manager ignores inappropriate behaviour from a high performer, the group may conclude that results matter more than respect.

If a club committee repeatedly dismisses complaints as drama, members may stop raising genuine concerns.

Leaders shape culture through both action and inaction.

They also do not need to have all the answers.

Good leadership can sound like:

• “Thank you for raising this.”
• “I can see this has been difficult.”
• “Let’s work through what support is available.”
• “That behaviour is not consistent with our expectations.”
• “I may not be the right person to resolve this, but I will help connect you with someone who can.”
• “We need to review how we handled this and improve.”

Strong leaders do not need to solve every personal problem. They do need to respond calmly, respectfully and consistently.

Warning signs of an unhealthy culture

Some cultural problems are obvious. Others develop slowly and become normalised over time.

Common warning signs can include:

• people being afraid to speak honestly
• frequent gossip, blame or personal criticism
• conflict being ignored until it becomes a crisis
• high turnover or people quietly disengaging
• leaders behaving differently depending on who is involved
• workloads or expectations that are regularly unrealistic
• bullying being dismissed as banter
• repeated complaints with little visible response
• people feeling excluded from decisions that affect them
• an expectation that personal wellbeing should always come second
• support being discussed publicly but difficult to access privately

In sporting environments, additional warning signs may include coaches using shame as motivation, athletes being pressured to participate while injured, parent conflict, cliques, favouritism or a win-at-all-costs mentality.

In workplaces, warning signs may include chronic overtime, poor communication, unclear responsibilities, fear around taking leave or managers who only discuss wellbeing after an incident has occurred.

One warning sign does not always mean the entire culture is unhealthy. However, repeated patterns should not be ignored.

Wellbeing needs to be visible and practical

Organisations often promote wellbeing in broad terms, but people also need to know what support looks like in practice.

That may include:

• clear information about counselling and Employee Assistance Program services
• regular reminders about how support can be accessed
• training for leaders on responding to distress
• realistic workloads and recovery time
• clear complaint and feedback pathways
• respectful communication standards
• access to supervision, debriefing or professional support
• processes for responding to critical incidents
• opportunities for staff, volunteers or members to provide feedback
• education about stress, burnout, communication and mental health

Support should not only appear during Mental Health Awareness Month or after a serious incident.

It should be part of normal organisational communication.

This helps reduce the idea that support is only for people in crisis.

Counselling can be useful when someone is experiencing stress, conflict, grief, relationship difficulties, anxiety, change, performance pressure or challenges outside work that are affecting their wellbeing.

Early support can help people address concerns before they become more disruptive or overwhelming.

Culture in sporting clubs

Sporting clubs can have a powerful positive impact on confidence, connection and belonging.

For many people, a club becomes an important community.

However, sporting environments can also create pressure.

Athletes may worry about selection, performance, injuries or letting their team down. Coaches may carry responsibility for results and group dynamics. Volunteers may feel stretched. Parents may become emotionally invested. Committee members may be managing complex issues with limited time and resources.

A healthy club culture recognises that performance and wellbeing are connected.

Athletes tend to perform more consistently when they feel supported, understand what is expected and can recover from mistakes without fear of humiliation.

This does not mean removing competitiveness.

It means building an environment where competition does not come at the expense of respect, safety or personal development.

Sporting clubs can strengthen culture by setting clear behaviour expectations, training coaches and captains, addressing sideline behaviour, supporting volunteers and giving members safe ways to raise concerns.

Culture is reinforced in training sessions, team meetings, selection conversations, committee decisions and everyday interactions.

Culture in workplaces

In workplaces, culture influences retention, communication, morale, performance and the way people respond during periods of pressure.

Employees are more likely to remain engaged when they understand their role, feel respected and believe concerns will be taken seriously.

A positive workplace culture does not require everyone to be cheerful all the time.

People will still have difficult days. Teams will still experience conflict. Organisations will still face deadlines, financial pressures and change.

The goal is not constant positivity.

The goal is to create an environment where people can manage challenges without being isolated, dismissed or unnecessarily harmed by the way the organisation responds.

This may involve reviewing communication practices, leadership behaviours, workload expectations and access to support.

It may also involve acknowledging where the organisation has not handled something well.

Culture improves when leaders are willing to listen, reflect and make practical changes.

Small actions can create meaningful change

Culture change can sound like an enormous project, but it often begins with simple and consistent actions.

A manager checking in after a difficult meeting.

A coach asking an athlete what support they need.

A committee member respectfully interrupting inappropriate comments.

A leader explaining why a decision has been made.

A workplace regularly reminding staff how to access confidential counselling.

A club creating clear expectations for coaches, players, parents and spectators.

A team acknowledging effort, improvement and contribution, rather than only results.

These actions may appear small, but they send a clear message about what the group values.

Over time, repeated actions become expectations.

Those expectations become culture.

Questions for leaders to consider

Workplace and sporting club leaders may benefit from asking:

• Do people feel safe raising concerns here?
• Are our expectations clear and realistic?
• Do leaders model the behaviour we expect from others?
• How do we respond when someone makes a mistake?
• Are poor behaviours addressed consistently?
• Do people know where to access confidential support?
• Are we listening to feedback or simply collecting it?
• Do our wellbeing initiatives lead to practical change?
• Are high performers allowed to behave in ways that others would not be?
• What does our culture feel like for the newest or least powerful person in the group?

The answers may not always be comfortable.

That is often where the most useful work begins.

Building a culture that lasts

Positive culture is not created through slogans alone.

It is built through leadership, communication, accountability, consistency and genuine access to support.

Awareness days, team events and wellbeing initiatives can all play a valuable role. However, they need to sit within a broader commitment to how people are treated throughout the year.

The real test of culture is not what happens when everything is going well.

It is what happens when someone struggles, raises a concern, makes a mistake or needs support.

That is when organisational values become visible.

Watkins Therapy Group provides counselling, Employee Assistance Program support, workplace wellbeing services, Mental Health First Aid training and tailored support for sporting organisations.

© Watkins Therapy Group 2026