The Captain Class: The Hidden Force Behind the World's Greatest Teams (Hardback)

Sam Walker (author)

£20.00

Hardback 352 Pages
Published: 18/05/2017

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Synopsis

Several years ago, Sam Walker set out to answer one of the most hotly debated questions in sport: what are the greatest teams of all time? He devised a formula and applied it to thousands of teams across the world from the English Premier League to the NFL. When he was done, he had a list of the 16 most dominant teams ever. At that point he became obsessed with another, more complex question: what did these freak teams have in common?

As Walker dug more deeply, a pattern emerged: The teams were all driven by a singular type of leader, but not one with the characteristics you might expect. They were unorthodox outliers - awkward and disagreeable, marginally skilled, poor verbal communicators, at times aggressive and rule-breaking and, rather than pursue fame, they preferred to hide in the shadows both on and off the field. Captains, in short, who will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.

From the captains of world renowned teams like Barcelona, Brazil, the All Blacks and the New York Yankees to lesser known successes of Soviet ice hockey or French handball, The Captain Class unveils the seven key qualities that make these elite leaders exceptional. Drawing on original interviews with athletes from two dozen countries as well as coaches, managers and others skilled at building teams, Walker attempts to answer questions such as: Are great captains made or born? Why do so many teams pick the wrong captain? Why has the value of the captain fallen out of favour and how can it be revived?

The culmination of 10-years research and a lifetime of sports watching, The Captain Class is like no other sports book and is guaranteed to spark endless debate and heated argument among fans of every sport.

'An idea-driven, myth-busting gem of a book' Dan Coyle (Author of The Talent Code)

'A stunning mix of research and narrative' Susan Cain (Author of Quiet)

Publisher: Ebury Publishing
ISBN: 9781785030277
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 605 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 32 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

A remarkable book, one that articulates much of what you feel about great teams but have perhaps been afraid to express... -- David Walsh * The Sunday Times *
One of THE sports books that I think will soon be in every manager's office. -- Matt Williams * Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio 2 *
A fascinating new body of research about greatness in a sports team. -- Jeremy Wilson * Daily Telegraph *
In The Captain Class, Sam Walker gives us important and original insights into the mysterious ingredients of transformative leadership. A stunning mix of research and narrative. -- Susan Cain, No.1 New York Times bestselling author of Quiet
Wonderfully strange and absorbing... Informative, persuasive and great fun for anyone not only with a passing interest in sport but in mankind. -- Keith Duggan * Irish Times *
Over the years, many books have promised to reveal the secret of building successful teams. But now Sam Walker has actually gone and done it. An idea-driven, myth-busting gem of a book. -- Dan Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code and The Secret Race
Sam Walker has unlocked one of sports' greatest mysteries. The Captain Class is one of the most surprising, best-written-and fun-sports books published in recent years. -- Don Van Natta Jr, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author
The Captain Class is a brilliant hybrid: one part detective story and one part leadership book, dedicated to a fascinating mystery: What sets apart the greatest teams of all time? I couldn't put it down. -- Dan Heath, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Made to Stick
Well-researched, wildly entertaining, and thought-provoking. In The Captain Class, Sam Walker presents compelling narratives about the secret ingredient to the greatest teams of all time - and quickly has the reader reexamining long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together. -- Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs
The examples in Walker's book are striking. There's a temptation for captains to conform to the accepted stereotype of what a heroic leader should be. Walker's book utterly-and rightly in my view-dispels that notion. The leaders he analyses were the opposite of what you might imagine a leader to be. -- Mike Atherton, former captain, England cricket team
The most fabulous book on freakish sporting success and leadership traits commonly shared across the greatest teams of all time. I thoroughly recommend it. -- Rich Buchanan, Performance Director, Swansea City FC