The Challenge
LA Galaxy hadn’t lifted the MLS Cup in over a decade, and complacency was starting to creep into the organization. Not only was the club stuck in a title drought, but crosstown rival LAFC had arrived and made a claim on the city’s attention. AEG, owner of the LA Galaxy, decided it was time for a leadership change and hired new President Tom Braun. The move sent a clear signal to both the organization and the community: it was time to stop resting on the laurels of the past and start building what came next.
The Courage
knowledge
Through employee interviews, Courageous discovered that many inside the organization were well aware of LAFC’s recent success and the uncomfortable reality that LA Galaxy had lost some of the city’s attention to its crosstown rival. The question was whether people felt safe enough to say it out loud under new leadership or whether they would continue to bite their tongues. At the same time, our interviews with new President Tom Braun made one thing clear: he wanted to do right by the fans, and that wouldn’t happen without getting the staff aligned around a new approach and a shared vision for the club’s future.
faith
We dug deep to rediscover what had always been at the heart of the club: If LA Galaxy was going to win back its city, it needed to focus on two things: fighting for the fan and fighting for each other. Those ideas became the club’s rally cries, word for word: “Fight for the Fan” and “Fight for Each Other.” For the first time in over a decade, Braun took the entire team to the desert for an offsite designed by Courageous. Over two days, we facilitated the hard conversations the organization had been avoiding, aligning the front office around a new set of behaviors and decisions the staff helped co-create and could genuinely believe in.
action
The new rally cries didn’t stay behind in the desert. They were operationalized and embedded into the way the organization worked. Employees put “Fight for the Fan” into practice by elevating the fan experience at every touchpoint. Leadership brought “Fight for Each Other” to life through concrete actions that recognized collaboration, reinforced accountability, and celebrated wins in the culture.
