In business and sports alike, leaders often talk about becoming “one team.”

The reason is simple: organizations fail when people pull in different directions.

Within companies or sports clubs, divisions can form between departments, executives, coaches, players, or individuals focused more on themselves than on the larger mission. When that happens, even talented organizations struggle to achieve lasting success.

In team sports especially, unity is essential.

Championships are rarely won simply by collecting great individual players. More often, they are won by organizations in which everyone — from ownership to coaches to players — shares the same purpose.

That philosophy became one of the main reasons Shohei Ohtani chose to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When negotiating his contract, Ohtani reportedly placed enormous value on the competence of the Dodgers’ front office. In fact, his contract included provisions related to major changes in leadership positions such as the general manager or head of baseball operations.

That detail revealed something important about how Ohtani views success.

For him, winning is not only the responsibility of the players on the field.

Owners, executives, coaches, analysts, trainers, and staff members all play a role in building a championship organization.

Ohtani believed the Dodgers were a team where everyone was fully committed to one goal: winning the World Series.

And after joining the organization, he felt that belief had been confirmed.

According to Ohtani, the Dodgers’ leadership genuinely loved baseball and remained relentlessly driven to win. The players themselves also shared a rare mentality — they had little ego and stayed focused on playing simple, winning baseball.

Even when a player made an out, teammates and coaches still praised productive plays that helped the team, saying things like:

“Nice job.”

For Ohtani, his first year with the Dodgers reinforced the importance of organizational unity.

Talent matters.
But when an entire organization moves together toward the same goal, that is what creates championship teams.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Number 1111, p.14