Being A Great Teammate

"It has become more apparent how important it is to promote teammates and teams; more than ever.  It has always been a team game for us and our sports, but more than ever, the awareness of our guys to be great teammates is more valuable and more important than it ever has been in my coaching.

If you are a great teammate, then you are concerned for others, and the great Bill Russell was in our meeting rooms a couple of years back and out of nowhere he said:

"You know what it takes to be a great teammate?  You have to wake up every morning thinking about how you can help one of your teammates be better."

That kind of mentality doesn't have to only be on our teams.  Why can't that type of mentality be what it feels like to be an American?  That I am part of a team and what can I do to help the people around me?

Why would that not be as important as ever instead of 'lookout for what I got' or 'protect your own' or 'save me.'

It is a clearer thought that takes direction and leadership, but it creates an environment where you feel good about being there and you feel comfortable.  You are a little bit happier because you know you are doing the GOOD work and you know that you are helping people.  That is so fundamental, but it is powerful and it important, and I don't feel it enough around us.  I wish we could feel it more and I wish that we could promote it more wherever we go."

Pete Carroll
- Flying Coach Podcast