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The global sports editor of The Wall Street Journal identifies the highest-performing sports teams in history and determines what they share in common: specific leadership qualities of the unconventional men and women who led them.

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A bold new theory of leadership drawn from elite captains throughout sports

Named one of the best business books of the year by CNBC, The New York Times, Forbes, strategy+business, The Globe and Mail, and Sports Illustrated

The sixteen 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.

Praise for The Captain Class

"Wildly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . makes you reexamine long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together."-Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations, Chicago Cubs

"If you care about leadership, talent development, or the art of competition, you need to read this immediately."-Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code

"The insights in this book are tremendous."-Bob Myers, general manager, Golden State Warriors

"An awesome book . . . I find myself relating a lot to its portrayal of the out-of the-norm leader."-Carli Lloyd, co-captain, U.S. Soccer Women´s National Team

"A great read . . . Sam Walker used data and a systems approach to reach some original and unconventional conclusions about the kinds of leaders that foster enduring success. Most business and leadership books lapse into clichés. This one is fresh."-Jeff Immelt, chairman and former CEO, General Electric

"I can´t tell you how much I loved The Captain Class. It identifies something many people who´ve been around successful teams have felt but were never able to articulate. It has deeply affected my thoughts around how we build our culture."-Derek Falvey, chief baseball officer, Minnesota Twins

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Sam Walker is The Wall Street Journal´s deputy editor for enterprise, the unit that oversees the paper´s in-depth page-one features and investigative reporting projects. A former reporter, columnist, and sports editor, Walker founded the Journal´s prizewinning daily sports coverage in 2009. He is the author of Fantasyland, a bestselling account of his attempt to win America´s top fantasy baseball expert competition (of which he is a two-time champion). Walker attended the University of Michigan. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

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