The Captain Class
The Hidden Force Behind the World's Greatest Teams
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The Captain Class
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Narrated by:
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Keith Szarabajka
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By:
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Sam Walker
About this listen
Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of The Captain Class: The Hidden Force Behind the World's Greatest Teams by Sam Walker, read by Keith Szarabajka.
Several years ago Sam Walker set out to answer one of the most hotly debated questions in sport: what are the greatest teams of all time? He devised a formula and applied it to thousands of teams across the world from the English Premier League to the NFL. When he was done, he had a list of the 16 most dominant teams ever. At that point he became obsessed with another more complex question: what did these freak teams have in common?
As Walker dug more deeply, a pattern emerged: the teams were all driven by a singular type of leader, but not one with the characteristics you might expect. They were unorthodox outliers - awkward and disagreeable, marginally skilled, poor verbal communicators, at times aggressive and rule-breaking, and, rather than pursue fame, they preferred to hide in the shadows both on and off the field. Captains, in short, who will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.
From the captains of world-renowned teams like Barcelona, Brazil, the All Blacks and the New York Yankees to lesser known successes of Soviet ice hockey or French handball, The Captain Class unveils the seven key qualities that make these elite leaders exceptional. Drawing on original interviews with athletes from two dozen countries as well as coaches, managers and others skilled at building teams, Walker attempts to answer questions such as: are great captains made or born? Why do so many teams pick the wrong captains? Why has the value of the captain fallen out of favour, and how can it be revived? The culmination of 10 years' research and a lifetime of sports watching, The Captain Class is like no other sports book and is guaranteed to spark endless debate and heated argument among fans of every sport.
©2017 Sam Walker (P)2017 Random House AudioBooksListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Captain Class
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Kevin Wilby
- 07-06-17
Eye opening on team sporting greatness
I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the common thread that links the greatest sporting teams.
I also liked that Keith Szarabajka attempted the different global accents, some of them were so bad I loved them. It added an extra flavour to what was being told.
The captain class told fascinating stories on the people who drove their respective team amongst the 16 greatest teams in the world of sport to the top of their games.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Donald Nixon
- 20-02-21
Great book.
Very interesting listen with a lot of information that will change the way I will look at successful teams. Maybe not the easiest of listens as a lot of it is based before I was born (1994) but all the same it was ver informative and made we want to go back through the history books to look at the teams and captains mentioned. I’ll forever remember it when I see any team sport now and if I ever become a captain of my team I’ll want to try and live by the characteristics that summed up these amazing athletes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- S K.
- 13-06-18
A great book
I loved this book. Great stories of great sports teams. I must for anyone interested in sport or leadership. I am happy to recommend it to my friends.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 26-09-22
Interesting read
Interesting read. The premise is surprising and the theory is informative and unexpected. Recommended
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 02-07-23
Good Analysis of Leadership
This book offers a good analysis of top level sporting leaders and what separates them from the rest.
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- Mr Gregory M Swaby
- 28-08-18
Brilliant!
Wonderfully performed and a brilliantly insightful, this book is so well put together, very thought provoking listen indeed.
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- Matt Way
- 16-09-19
Superb
Loved it from start to end with some fascinating ideas put forward and stories told
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- Eoin McGinn
- 06-06-17
An interesting read for followers of team sports
A great insight into what makes elite teams better than their rivals over a long period - water carrying, selfless leaders. Lessons learned can be applied to sports and business alike.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-02-23
I really enjoyed this book
fascinating and thorough look at multiple aspects of what makes the best captains and leaders.
as a side note the narrator's accents are comedy gold.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Andy
- 19-03-19
Easy to get through
Interesting takeaways. Wish author would have specifically stated each leader profile heading into the section instead of listing just once.
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