I normally keep my aggressive, hyper-competitive side in check because I can sink in to a binary “Us vs. Them” mentality that is more fitting on a battlefield or in a sporting event than, say, in a corporate environment.
That said, I think that it’s interesting that Michael Jordan, often held up as the ideal basketball player, was able to motivate his teammates by getting in their faces and just “riding them” until they upped the level of their game.
Not everyone likes to be challenged like that (and hey, I myself have times when I’d be more likely to tell someone like that to “F*** off!”), but sometimes it’s good to stir the pot and get people fired up and passionate about what they are doing. Sometimes that’s the difference between mediocrity and excellence.
The big challenge is knowing when to play that card.