206: Sam Walker - The Hidden Force That Creates The World's Greatest Teams

Episode 206: Sam Walker - The Hidden Force That Creates The World's Greatest Teams: Captains

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• The 7 Traits of Elite Captains:
  • Extreme doggedness and focus in competition, often to the point of madness
  • A tendency to play aggressively up to, and often beyond, the limits of the rules
  • A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadow of more acclaimed teammates
  • A bias against making big speeches in favor of continuous practical communication
  • A talent for displaying their commitment and motivating teammates through aggressive nonverbal means
  • An unwavering commitment to defend their principles and speak truth to power
  • The presence of a "kill switch" for shutting off emotion when it's not useful
• Studying the moment when teams went from good to great
• Why LeBron James is a unicorn
  • "His model of leadership is completely new."
• Relation to the business world -- Some of the greatest leaders don't think they deserve the title (job title or to be captain) -- Tim Duncan & Yogi Berra
• The rituals of Tim Duncan
  • Short conversations with each teammate
  • Great facial expressions
  • Effective messaging
  • Never giving big speeches
• How to be a charismatic connector like Tim Duncan
• Great captains (and leaders) are not "yes men." They defend their principles and speak truth to power
• Jack Lambert purposely left blood on his jersey as a message to his team -- Great captains have a talent for displaying their commitment and motivating teammates through aggressive nonverbal means
• The ability to develop "emotional maturity." A measured approach
  • As Liz Wiseman said "Great leaders have a buffer between the stimulus and their response"
• They are able to build resilience

Social Media:

• Follow David on Twitter: @SamWalkers
• Read: The Captain Class
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

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Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence - The Best Answers From 178 Questions

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

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