One of my favorite leadership concepts comes from the folks at Admired Leadership — they call it the player-led team.
If you haven’t come across their work, I highly recommend it. Their thinking is sharp, actionable, and built for real-world leadership. And this idea of a player-led team? It stuck with me.
The gist: A player-led team is one where people step up, take initiative, and drive outcomes without waiting to be told what to do. They lead from wherever they are — no title required.
Sounds great, right? But here's the catch: most teams aren’t built that way. Most teams are structured to wait. For approval. For direction. For recognition. And if you’re always the one giving it, you’ve unknowingly built a culture where people are looking up — not around.
That’s not just exhausting for you. It’s holding your team back.
There are lots of ways to foster a player-led team — Admired Leadership shares plenty of them — but one of the most overlooked tools? Peer recognition.
Because when recognition only flows from the top, you become the bottleneck. If you’re out, busy, or unaware of what’s happening on the ground, appreciation disappears. That’s not a resilient culture — it’s a fragile one.
Peer recognition changes the game.
It empowers everyone — regardless of role — to notice and celebrate great work in the moment. It creates a shared habit of appreciation that’s not dependent on hierarchy. And when that happens, your team doesn’t just wait for feedback. They give it. Freely, frequently, and in a way that reinforces what matters most.
When someone takes the initiative to recognize a teammate, they’re not just being nice. They’re showing:
That’s leadership. And peer recognition helps develop it across your team — every day, in small, meaningful moments.
Over time, something powerful happens: recognition becomes part of the way your team operates. It’s not top-down. It’s team-wide. And it sends the message that everyone has a role in shaping the culture — not just the manager.
That’s the real question. Not what happens when you’re leading the meeting, but: What does your team do when you’re not in the room?
If the answer is silence, that’s a sign people are waiting for direction.
But if the answer is: “They encourage each other. They say thank you. They recognize great work without being asked...” — then congratulations. You’re building a player-led team.
And that’s the kind of team that doesn’t just execute. It leads.
🎧 Want to hear more about what it takes to build a player-led team? Check out our conversation with Diana Futrovsky from Admired Leadership on the Amazing Teams podcast. It’s one of our most popular episodes — for good reason.