The Locker Room Playbook

Discover how to achieve success together with this hands-on guide to the lessons found in The Locker Room

In The Locker Room Playbook: A Practical Guide to Heal Hurt, Overcome Adversity, and Build Unity, bestselling author Damon West and player development coach Stephen Mackey teach you how to apply the principles and concepts found in The Locker Room. You’ll find lists of core lessons, chapter summaries, detailed lesson breakdowns, discussion questions, exercises, and key takeaways in every chapter. You’ll also discover:

• Insightful commentary on key concepts, including respect, loyalty, character, teamwork, prejudice, integrity, and mental health
• Crucial blueprints for helping athletes, professionals, and students learn how to navigate all aspects of their lives
• How to rely on your teammates, coaches, colleagues, leaders, and partners to achieve success together

Filled with must-have team building and coaching resources, this book proves that there’s always a path teams can take that allows them to work together. The Locker Room Playbook is your roadmap to finding that path and staying on it as you and your team work together to overcome adversity.

A Note from the Authors vii

1 Eyes on the Prize 1

2 You’re Better Than That 13

3 The Locker Room Is Broken 25

4 Growth Takes Place Outside of Comfort Zones 39

5 I Believe in You 53

6 Canceling the Cancel Culture 65

7 A Culture of Character 79

8 All In 91

9 The Six Pillars 103

10 In the Zone 115

11 Vulnerability Is a Strength 129

12 Team Meeting 141

13 Humility and Grace 153

14 I Want the Ball 165

DAMON WEST is a motivational speaker, author of The Change Agent, coauthor of The Coffee Bean with Jon Gordon, and coauthor of The Locker Room with Stephen Mackey. He is also a Professor of Criminal Justice at The University of Houston Downtown, teaching a class called “Prisons in America.”

STEPHEN MACKEY is a motivational speaker, coauthor of The Locker Room with Damon West, and character development coach whose 2Words Character Development Program reaches more than 500,000 students, athletes, and educators across ten states.

A blueprint for turning the hard-hitting truths of The Locker Room into action and transformation—for yourself and your team

The Locker Room Playbook is a hands-on guide that teaches you how to apply the key insights found in The Locker Room—the inspiring team building book that reveals profound truths about racism and prejudice and teaches important lessons about communication and healing. Each chapter of this workbook includes a list of core lessons, a chapter summary, a detailed lesson, discussion questions, exercises, and key takeaways. You’ll explore concepts like respect, loyalty, character, teamwork, prejudice, integrity, and mental health. The Locker Room Playbook makes the ideas of The Locker Room practical and applicable to everyday life.

In a locker room, there is always a path to work together. We all make mistakes, and those mistakes don’t have to define who we are. Every person has an equal voice, and everyone’s success is directly connected to and reliant upon the success of others. The Locker Room Playbook shows you how to turn these truths into growth and embrace thoughtful communication to strengthen yourself and your team.