The Captain Class
by Sam Walker
A sportswriter identifies the sixteen most dominant teams in history and finds one common factor: a captain who was not the star, but a relentless, water-carrying, boundary-testing, emotionally controlled communicator who led from the middle. The research is careful and the conclusion upends the charismatic-leader myth.
Read it if…
you lead a team and are not the most talented or charismatic person on it; good.
Skip it if…
you want a sports book; it is a leadership study using sports data.
Three things you will actually use
- The best leaders are doggedly functional, not charismatic.
- Carry water; it earns the right to push.
- Communicate constantly and practically.
Do this first
Do the unglamorous job on your team this week, visibly and without comment.
Our verdict
Careful and counterintuitive.
Compare with other Leadership books
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford · Leadership
Useful fable for technology.
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Leading Without Authority
Keith Ferrazzi with Noel Weyrich · Leadership
Relevant for matrixed work.
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