Want to build team trust and safety in 15 minutes? | Graeme Cowan
Richmond Football Club followed this process to go from 13th place in 2016 to Premiers in 2017 – regarded as one of the most impressive turnarounds in AFL history.
They did it by building huge trust.
Try this with your team
Rotating interviews in your weekly meetings.
Not conversations. Interviews.
One person asks. One answers.
Just 15 minutes each week.
Each week a new person is interviewed – and a new interviewer – until everyone has had their turn.
The questions
What’s a childhood memory that shaped you?
What do you consider one of your hardships?
What are you most proud of?
Who’s a personal hero?
What’s the one thing that energises you outside work?
Why it works
When your team knows that Dali needs her morning run, that David lights up talking about his kids, that Maya recharges through painting—
They stop seeing coworkers.
They start seeing humans.
Research shows: psychological safety isn’t built through trust falls.
It’s built through structured vulnerability and honest sharing.
The difference?
Communities where people just work together vs communities where people actually thrive.
15 minutes.
Real questions.
Real answers.
That’s where teams become something more.
At the RFC, their coach Damien Hardwick shared his Highlights, Hardships, and Hero – and was then followed by every player.
READ RICHMOND CASE STUDY AT LINK BELOW
How Richmond went from chumps to champs in 1 year (and it had nothing to do with football)
Graeme Cowan
KEYNOTE SPEAKER | Building Team Psychological Safety & Resilience Expert & LinkedIn Top Voice | Founding Director R U, OK? | Author of GREAT LEADERS CARE (Wiley 2026) | Helping leaders build psychologically safe and resilient teams where care & performance thrive
