The Front Row Matters

I received this powerful image from the Yankees PR team that gives an interesting and unique perspective into our recent communication, team building, and connection training session.

This particular session was with the New York Yankees Players, Coaches, and Staff in preparation for Spring Training 2026. We also offer similar live and virtual programs to numerous college and professional sports teams, military and government personnel, corporations, and other elite, high-performing organizations.

For this session, the theme was “Cultivating Authentic Connection.” What makes this image so powerful to me is that it doesn’t include the presenter, in this case, me. Instead, the image captures something far more valuable and important. In this photo, Yankees Captain Aaron Judge is seated front and center, smiling and applauding after his teammate, Jazz Chisholm, stepped outside his comfort zone to join me up front as my teammate for an improv exercise called “Dimmer Switch”.

“Dimmer Switch” is designed to demonstrate the behaviors we need to regulate our energy, adjust our body language/tone/pace, and change speeds throughout a game, a day, and an entire season, so we can perform at a high level without burning out. It’s about self-awareness, adaptability, and understanding when to turn the intensity up and when to bring it down.

But here’s what stands out most to me. Jazz took a risk. He jumped right up to not only join me, but to engage without fully knowing where we were going, follow my lead, and have my back. In doing so, he leaned into vulnerability in front of his teammates. And right there, in the front row, leaning in with encouragement was the Captain, honoring him for the effort.   

Aaron Judge’s body language says everything. He’s engaged, present, joyful, and supportive. He isn’t in the back of the room disconnected, hiding, checking his phone. He’s not observing from a distance. He’s right there in the front row, celebrating a teammate’s courage.

That moment sent a louder message in this session than anything I could have said from the front of the room.

The Game On team and I are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to facilitate sessions like this with elite athletes and coaches, to remind them of the power of laughter, kindness, respect, healthy competition, and authentic connection.

And I’m even more grateful when I see those principles not just understood, but embodied and put into action in the session and long after I depart. That’s the end goal.   

With that in mind, as leaders, teachers, coaches, and presenters, we often focus on what we’re going to say. But this image is a powerful reminder that culture is shaped just as much by what the leaders in the audience model. And in this instance, as I reflect on this session with this unique team, here are my three takeaways for all of us...

• Leadership is modeled, not mandated. When leaders visibly support and celebrate others, they can help create a safe learning environment, and their position in the room can raise the standard for the entire team.
• The front row sets the tone. Engagement, presence, and visible support from key influencers shape culture faster than any speech ever could.
• Energy management drives performance. Learning to “change speeds” and to regulate intensity throughout a training session, a game, the day, or season, can prevent burnout and help sustain excellence.

When the captains, influencers, executives, senior leaders take the initiative and sit front and center, engaged and ready to honor their teammates, it sets the tone immediately. It communicates safety, reinforces trust, and tells everyone else on the team, “This is important. I’m in this with you. This matters.”

The theme for this session - with one of the most iconic sports teams in the world – was “Cultivating Authentic Connection”, but that connection isn’t built through speeches alone. Connection is built, and earned, and ultimately sustained through actions. And this case, Aaron Judge, understanding the power of his position, helped transform an improv exercise into a defining leadership moment, because... the front row, and who sits there, and what they do with that position, matters.