If everyone prioritizes paying attention, even in “a good way”, to what others are doing, their goals and dreams, a team will not be at it’s best.
The word selfish has gotten a bad rep. Being selfish in your preparation, doing everything you can to be at your best? That’s a great start to making your team better.
By being prepared and modeling the work you put in in selfish-mode you’ll be helping the team from the inside out. The foundation of a team is it’s people, so be a great person/player/athlete and you’ll be doing your part.
It takes a great group effort to be a great team. The existence of standards and norms that make up the basis of a team’s culture and the ethic of working together toward a commonly held goal is crucial to outcome success. However, relying on a set of “great team players” that are not also at their best individually is not a recipe for success.
All teams must work together in a selfless way, but the individuals within should make it a priority to be selfish in their preparation.