Sam Walker is an author, keynote speaker, and strategist who helps organizations strengthen their leadership selection and development practices, build stronger cultures, and create more cohesive and enduringly successful teams.

 

He has worked with a Super Bowl-winning NFL franchise, several high-achieving national, Olympic and NCAA-champion sports teams, a national law enforcement agency, elite U.S. military special forces units, one of the world’s largest money managers, one of the world’s leading surgical hospitals, one of the world’s largest media companies and the commanding officers of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

 

Sam uses a rigorous, proprietary, data-driven assessment process to help existing teams make structural and cultural improvements and to help individual leaders refine their approaches and maximize their natural leadership strengths. 

 

Sam’s expertise comes from two decades as a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he helped to direct the paper’s page-one features and investigative reporting. He also served as a sportswriter and leadership columnist and was the founding editor of the paper’s prize-winning daily sports coverage.

 

His most recent book, The Captain Class, is a meticulous analysis of effective leadership based on the traits of the captains who led the 17 most dominant teams in sports history. The book has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women worldwide who apply its principles to leading and building teams. Its fans include an FBI Director, a Marine Corps commandant, a Champions League-winning soccer manager, and the lead singer of one of the world’s top rock bands, in addition to many professional athletes, university presidents, politicians, and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.