Tennis is an individual sport, but Serena’s answer on why she continues to hit new levels of excellence, or “levels unknown” made me think about high performing teams.

When you raise the game of your weaker players, then your strongest players need to play better to stay on top.

Everyone wins. The greatest players are pushed to new levels of excellence and the junior players slipstream and learn from the best.

A team with one strong performer, but with weak teammates won’t go the distance. In the short term the star will carry the day, but sooner or later she’ll have an off day and the support won’t be there.

It’s the same with sport as it is with a healthy growing country. The core matters. The brilliant rise to new levels, but only if they are pushed by a strong core.