Characteristics of Elite Team Captains and Sam Walker’s Book, The Captain Class

Today, Anne and I are talking about what makes for a good team captain, and I’m drawing pretty heavily from a book by Sam Walker titled The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership.

Anne, is it fair to say you are pretty down on discussions about leadership?

I hope to bounce back and forth between leadership on sports teams and then leadership we’ve experienced in the work place.

I’ll start with what was my need to have team captains for the women’s basketball team at Watauga HS in Boone, North Carolina.

Some questions for Anne before we hear about what Sam Walker had to say in his book:

1. List at least 5 characteristics you’d want from a captain. Maybe of the Colts? Maybe of the team you played for? Maybe if you were trying to make a list of what you’d hope for for me? 

2. What’s the closest thing you have to a “captain” at work? Maybe that’s a project manager? What would be 5 characteristics you’d want from your captain? Would that change if you were the owner and you had a captain / project manager role to fill for your company? 

In preparation for having the team vote for team captains, here is what I shared:

Voting for Team Captains

Today, we will vote for a team captain or a group of team captains. Tomorrow, we’ll see if those who were voted captain think they are a good fit for the job. We’ll see if they accept some of the responsibilities outlined below.

I have picked out some ideas from a book I read titled The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership. The writer studied the greatest teams of all time in any sport and paid special attention to the teams’ leaders. Here are some things the book highlighted about those teams leaders:

• The crucial component of the job of captain is interpersonal. The captain is the figure who holds sway over the dressing room by speaking to teammates as a peer, counseling them on and off the field, motivating them, challenging them, protecting them, resolving disputes, enforcing standards and above all setting a tone with words and deeds.
• Studies have identified a phenomena known as “social loafing.” The more people faced with a task, the less effort each person in the group gives to accomplishing it. Social loafing can be countered by at least one person who leaves no doubt they are always giving everything they’ve got. Our captains must be this sort of person.
• If you knew you were heading into the toughest fight of your life, whom would you choose to lead you? If we’re going to try to take down Cannon School, Lake Norman, Charlotte Catholic, or Panther Creek, who do we want leading us?
• A captain needs to have a willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows.
• The captain must care desperately that the team reach its potential.
• Most of the greatest captains welcomed roles of service and carried water for their teammates on and off the court.

A quote from the book:

• The single most important ingredient after you get the talent is internal leadership. It’s not the coaches as much as it is players on the team who set higher standards than that team would normally set for itself.

The Seven Traits of Elite Captains

1. Extreme doggedness and focus in competition.
2. Aggressive play that tests the limits of the rules.
3. A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows.
4. A low-key, practical, and democratic communication style.
5. Motivates others with passionate non-verbal displays.
6. Strong convictions and the courage to stand apart.
7. Ironclad emotional control.

A Report from the Charlotte Hoops Challenge

• Anne, you have questions for me after watching the Watauga Women’s Basketball Team Play?