A veteran coach with 30 years of experience argues the slogan "there's no I in team" gets it backwards. Every athlete is self-focused, he says. Good leaders don't suppress that. They channel it by showing each person how their personal contribution matters to something bigger.
Having been a coach, I need to go ahead and begin with the very well-known phrase, there's no I in team. I will tell you, having coached for nearly 3 decades, I heard that thousands and thousands of times. And today I stand in front of you to say I completely disagree. Every athlete I have ever coached, every student I have ever had the honor of teaching, was first and foremost concerned with him or herself. The most important person in your world Stared back at you in the mirror this morning when you were brushing your teeth. Your job is to do all you can as a leader to get the people around you to do the following: to be a small contributing part of something larger and more significant than themselves.
