Alliance for Catholic Education
With the Red Wings holding first in their division and the winter Olympics approaching, there’s a lot of hockey talk in our house right now. In that spirit, my husband and I have been sharing some of our favorite classics with our two older children. As we watched the 2004 film Miracle, my son Teddy peppered my husband with questions, and I couldn’t help but think about how Coach Herb Brooks’ leadership so clearly reflects our Remick value: Builds Capacity.
Brooks pulls together a team of college hockey players—young, unpolished, and largely unknown—to face the Soviet Union’s roster of seasoned professionals. On paper, the matchup shouldn’t be close. Yet the U.S. wins not because they have the strongest individual players, but because Brooks intentionally builds a team that learns to trust, communicate, and sacrifice for the collective. Their victory echoes our call to create “conditions for continuous learning—both individual and collective” by fanning into flame the gifts within our community.
The Mighty Ducks was the obvious next choice and offered another example of transformational leadership, especially in the way Coach Bombay leads. He doesn’t start by molding individual stars; he builds a team identity rooted in trust, shared purpose, and mutual support. “Ducks fly together” becomes more than a rallying cry—it’s who they are. And what’s striking is that once the team culture is strong, the individual players do get better. Their skills sharpen because they’re part of something cohesive and encouraging. But the reverse is rarely true: you can’t build a great team simply by improving individuals in isolation. A Remick leader knows the most powerful growth happens when gifts interact through PLCs, communities of practice, and routines that make collaboration the norm.
Beyond hockey, Michael Sonbert recently described a Mr. Beast challenge in which 10 of the world’s strongest men faced 100 average kids in tug-of-war—and lost. Yes physics explains part of it (increased surface area, overall higher total body mass, etc.), but it’s still a striking example of the power of collective capacity.
For school leaders, the takeaway is simple: when we build teams that trust one another, share leadership, and move in the same direction, we succeed. When we design intentional spaces for collaboration—shared reflection, distributed leadership, goal-setting, and supportive challenge—we create communities where “we” is always stronger than “me.”
Frankie Jones
Faculty, Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program