Who's in your 25'?

Ever notice how some people just seem to level up, no matter where they are? And others—well, they get stuck, blaming their circumstances, their administration, or the latest curriculum shift.

So this blew my mind, there was a study of 58,000 working hours over 11 different companies, so a huge amount of data. They wanted to know if low performers infect the people around them and if high performers infect people around them. What they found if you sit within 25 feet of a high performer your own performance improves by 15%. Here’s the kicker if you sit within 25 feet of a low performer, your own performance decreases by 30%. This means that our negative emotions are more contagious than our positive. That if you’re around people who are low performers, whatever that means to you, have negative cues, who are feeling anxious, or confident, you could catch those cues that affect your own performance. This is why it is incredibly critical to invest in the five people who you spend the most time with. You wanna make sure those five people are the cues you wanna catch. Do you like the cues they are sending, they give you the right motivation, feelings, or they make you a better version of yourself.

So, who’s in your 25 feet?

Who You Sit With Changes You

Think about it—your best teachers? They'd be phenomenal in any setting. Flexible seating? They’d crush it. Rows of desks? They’d still crush it. Meanwhile, your struggling teachers would struggle no matter how many innovative seating arrangements, instructional strategies, or district initiatives you throw their way.

The biggest variable in any school isn’t the program—it’s the people.

Want better results? Get near high performers.

Want to grow as a leader? Surround yourself with people who challenge you. Want your students to succeed? Place them in environments where success is the expectation, not the exception.

What This Means for Leadership

Great leaders don’t just build better teams—they build stronger connections within those teams. Dr. Joe Sanfelippo talks about leading with intention, connection, and direction—and it starts by recognizing the power of proximity.

🔹 Intention: Who you spend time with shapes your thinking. Make it count.

🔹 Connection: Relationships are everything. Build them, nurture them, and leverage them.

🔹 Direction: Set the vision and make sure the right people are sitting in the right seats—next to each other.

In Otherful, Kleba and O’Hara stress that teachers need more support, not more mandates. High performers don’t thrive under micromanagement; they thrive when they’re trusted, empowered, and surrounded by other high performers.

If we’re serious about making schools better, we don’t just tweak policies—we build a culture where excellence is the standard.

The Teacher is the Variable

Todd Whitaker’s research (How to Get All Teachers to Become Like the Best Teachers) reinforces this truth:

• Great teachers focus on what they can control.

• Struggling teachers focus on what they can’t.

Example: Imagine two teachers get the same challenging class. One sees the obstacles and immediately starts problem-solving. The other sees the obstacles and starts listing reasons why success is impossible.

Who’s right?

Both. One will find a way. One will find an excuse. And both will impact the people around them.

As leaders, our job is to make sure the high-performers are setting the tone. Because culture beats strategy every time.

Want a Better Culture? Change the Climate.

Here’s a little secret: You don’t change school culture by talking about culture. You change it by shifting the climate—one interaction at a time.

Think about this: If every staff member in your school decided to greet students warmly tomorrow, that’s a climate change. If they did it every single day, that’s a culture shift.

In Ridiculously Amazing Schools, Smith and Waller argue that we can’t create amazing student experiences without first creating amazing teacher experiences. The fastest way to kill motivation? A culture that tolerates mediocrity. The fastest way to elevate performance? A culture where greatness is the expectation.

And the fastest way to build that culture? Put your high performers in the driver’s seat.

Be the Energy You Want to See

This isn’t just about who you sit with—it’s about who you are for others.

Do people walk away from you fired up or frustrated? Are you bringing energy or sucking it out of the room? Are YOU the high performer others want to sit next to?

Leadership isn’t about titles. It’s about energy. It’s about proximity. And it’s about creating a space where success is contagious.

If we want better outcomes, we start with better environments. We get close to the right people. We become the right people.

Your performance is contagious. Make sure you’re spreading the right thing.

References:

Kleba, M. & O’Hara, R. (2020). Otherful: How to change the world (and your school) through other people. Candido Press.

Sanfelippo, J. (2022). Lead from where you are: Building intention, connection, and direction in our schools. IMPress.

Whitaker, T. (2025). How to get all teachers to become like the best teachers. Routledge.