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the Captain Class

The Captain Class Book Cover

The seventeen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common: Each employed the same type of captain—a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies. Drawing on original interviews with athletes, general managers, coaches, and team-building experts, Sam Walker identifies the seven core qualities of the Captain Class—from extreme doggedness and emotional control to tactical aggression and the courage to stand apart. Told through riveting accounts of pressure-soaked moments in sports history, The Captain Class will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.

The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams

The Captain Class:

Around the World

— Carli Lloyd, co-captain, U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team

An awesome book . . . I find myself relating a lot to its portrayal of the out-of the-norm leader.”

— Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, Chicago Bears

“The book taught me that there’s no cookie-cutter way to lead. Leading is not just what Hollywood tells you. It’s not the big pregame speech. It’s how you carry yourself every day, how you treat the people around you, who you are as a person.”

—Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations, Chicago Cubs

“Wildly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . makes you reexamine long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together.”

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