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The Blueprint for joyful, courageous, and connected leadership
Five simple pillars. One powerful shift.
Play-Based Leadership is about creating cultures where people feel safe to try, fail, laugh, and grow together.
Play-Based Leadership is about creating cultures where people feel safe to try, fail, laugh, and grow together.
Leadership isn’t about control, it’s about culture
We’ve been taught that leadership is about being in charge. But the truth is, great leadership isn’t about authority, it’s about energy. The best leaders know how to create an environment where people feel seen, trusted, and inspired to contribute their best selves.
The Play-Based Leadership Framework gives you the tools to do exactly that, blending the latest in positive psychology, neuroscience, and human behaviour research into five practical pillars you can use every day.
The Play-Based Leadership Framework gives you the tools to do exactly that, blending the latest in positive psychology, neuroscience, and human behaviour research into five practical pillars you can use every day.
The Five Pillars that transform
leaders and teams
1
Choose Play -
Mindset before method
Play is a decision, not a distraction. It’s the choice to show up with curiosity instead of control, courage instead of fear, and lightness instead of pressure.When leaders choose play, they unlock creativity, connection, and resilience, not just for themselves, but for everyone around them.
Mantra
“Make it safe, then make it happen.”
2
Lead from your core - Values as your compass
Authentic leadership starts from within. Leading from your core means knowing your values, naming your why, and aligning your actions with purpose. When your leadership flows from who you are, not just what you do, you create consistency, clarity, and trust.
Mantra
“Be real, not right.”
3
Create safe spaces - Trust before tactics
People don’t grow in fear. They grow in safety.
Play-Based Leaders intentionally build environments where people feel safe to speak, fail, learn, and laugh.
Psychological safety is the foundation of creativity and collaboration. It’s the difference between teams that survive, and teams that thrive.
Play-Based Leaders intentionally build environments where people feel safe to speak, fail, learn, and laugh.
Psychological safety is the foundation of creativity and collaboration. It’s the difference between teams that survive, and teams that thrive.
Mantra
“Make it safe, then make it happen.”
4
Kindness as currency - Connection before control
Kindness isn’t soft, it’s strategic.
Research shows that empathy and connection drive trust, loyalty, and long-term performance.
Play-Based Leaders see kindness as a daily leadership practice: how they listen, recognise, and respond. It’s not about being nice, it’s about being human.
Research shows that empathy and connection drive trust, loyalty, and long-term performance.
Play-Based Leaders see kindness as a daily leadership practice: how they listen, recognise, and respond. It’s not about being nice, it’s about being human.
Mantra
“Connection is your competitive edge.”
5
Turn pressure into possibility - Joy under fire
Pressure is inevitable. Play-Based Leaders don’t avoid it, they reframe it. By staying curious and playful under pressure, they model emotional regulation, adaptability, and courage for their teams.
When others see you respond to stress with humour, humility, and optimism, they follow suit, that’s culture in motion.
When others see you respond to stress with humour, humility, and optimism, they follow suit, that’s culture in motion.
Mantra
Play with pressure, don’t be crushed by it.”
Backed by research,
proven by practice
Across schools, workplaces, and sporting clubs, too many leaders are burning out under the weight of pressure. Cultures have become cautious instead of curious. People show up, but not fully. The result?
Google’s Project Aristotle
found that psychological safety, the feeling of being safe to take risks and speak up, is the number one predictor of high-performing teams. It’s no surprise that safety sits at the heart of Play-Based Leadership. When people feel safe, they take bold ideas from concept to action.
Harvard Business Review
Reports that leaders who embrace playfulness, curiosity, and experimentation spark greater innovation, loyalty, and engagement. Play reframes failure as a learning opportunity, helping teams transition from fear to a state of flow.
Dr Stuart Brown
ounder of the National Institute for Play, discovered that play is not optional; it’s essential for human development. His research demonstrates that play enhances emotional intelligence, adaptability, trust, and problem-solving, the foundations of extraordinary leadership.
Neuroscience confirms it
play changes brain chemistry. Dopamine boosts creativity and motivation, while oxytocin fosters trust and a sense of belonging. Serotonin promotes calmness and clarity. Together, they cultivate the ideal internal state for courageous, compassionate, and high-performing leadership.
When leaders intentionally embed play into their culture, people don’t just feel happier; they perform better, think bigger, and connect more deeply. That’s the magic of Play-Based Leadership: it’s where science meets humanity, and where joy becomes the catalyst for real results.
Simple tools to bring the pillars to life
You don’t need hours of training to begin.
Start small
Begin meetings with a light, connecting question or activity instead of a checklist or a run down of the agenda.
Notice energy
Begin meetings with a light, connecting question or activity instead of a checklist or a run down of the agenda.
Celebrate curiosity
Begin meetings with a light, connecting question or activity instead of a checklist or a run down of the agenda.
When you choose play, you change the culture
When leaders model play, teams take more initiative, communicate more openly, and recover faster from setbacks.
It creates a ripple effect of trust, energy, and optimism that transforms classrooms, boardrooms, and locker rooms alike. Leadership doesn’t start with a title, it starts with presence, and play is the presence that invites everyone else to bring their best selves too.
It creates a ripple effect of trust, energy, and optimism that transforms classrooms, boardrooms, and locker rooms alike. Leadership doesn’t start with a title, it starts with presence, and play is the presence that invites everyone else to bring their best selves too.
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Ready to lead
through play?
It starts with awareness, courage, and one simple choice: to lead lightly.
Explore your Play Profile, share the language with your team, and watch how fast your culture begins to shift.
Explore your Play Profile, share the language with your team, and watch how fast your culture begins to shift.
The School of Play acknowledges the Traditional Owners of County Throughout Australia.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present
We pay our respects to Elders past and present
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