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Sam Walker Biography

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“Most of us carry a faded old picture in our heads of what a great captain looks like. It’s usually an attractive person who possesses an abundance of strength, skill, wisdom, charisma, diplomacy, and unflappable calm. These people are not supposed to be difficult to spot. In our imaginations they’re talkative and articulate, charismatic but firm, tough but gracious, and respectful of authority. We expect leaders, especially in sports, to pursue their goals with gusto but to never wander from the principles of sportsmanship and fair play. We believe, as the Stanford social psychologist Deborah Gruenfeld put it, that power is reserved for the kind of person “who possesses some combination of superior charm and ruthless ambition that the rest of us don’t.”

WisdomPowerStrengthRespectToughCalmFirmDiplomacyCharisma
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“The same unceasing drive was something displayed by Russell, Puyol, Berra, Richard, and every other captain in Tier One. Early struggles culminated in a defining moment, a breakthrough that left no doubt about their desire to win at any cost. And in each case, after they had established this fact, their teams began to turn the corner. The pattern was so consistent that it suggested their doggedness might, in fact, have been contagious.”

DesireStruggleDoubtCostMomentBreakthroughContagiousCaptainTier One
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“If there is a pathway into the minds of human beings that bypasses consciousness and absorbs the emotions of others; and if this pathway can be activated by the sight of a bloody uniform, a hair-raising tribal dance, or just a deep stare; and if these displays can propel a team to run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and push through pain and exhaustion, then these captains must have been masters of the art.”

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Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“The captain is the figure who holds sway over the dressing room by speaking to teammates as a peer, counseling them on and off the field, motivating them, challenging them, protecting them, resolving disputes, enforcing standards, inspiring fear when necessary, and above all setting a tone with words and deeds.”

FearWorkProtectChallengeMotivateStandardCaptainDeedDisputePeer
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“There was no question that the captains who made a habit of testing the boundaries of the rules would never be revered by the public the way Derek Jeter was. But this theory suggested that calling their behavior thuggish was an oversimplification. These were aggressive acts that pushed the limits of what’s acceptable, but they were also instrumental.”

AggressiveAcceptRuleLimitCaptainBoundaryInstrumental
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him,” he wrote. “Fail to honor others and they will fail to honor you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aims fulfilled, they will all say, ‘we did this ourselves.’”

LeaderHonorAimDespiseTalkExistFulfillObey
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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“On the Tier One Teams I studied, the typical pecking order put the coach at the top, the talent on the bottom, and a water-carrying captain in the middle who served as an independent mediator between them. In this new order, where power and popularity went hand in hand, the middle manager’s role had been squeezed out. Unless the captain was the superstar, the captain was a bystander.”

PowerTalentPopularitySuperstarCoachCaptain
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“I started to suspect that the real reason we can't agree on a formula for elite team leadership is that we've overcomplicated things. We've been so busy scanning the horizon for transformational knights in shining armor that we've ignored the likelier truth: there are hundreds upon thousands of potentially transformative leaders right in our midst. We just lack the ability to recognize them.”

Transformational Leadership
Book:The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams
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