The Captain Class

What made the EXTRAORDINARILY great teams great? Their captains.

What qualities did those captains embody? Here are the 7 traits of elite captains...

1. Extreme doggedness and focus in competition.2. Aggressive play that test 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 nonverbal displays.6. Strong convictions and the courage to stand apart.7. Ironclad emotional control.

In Part I of the book, Sam disproves many common theories on what makes great teams great. Then: “In Part II of The Captain Class, I will explore each of these seven leadership characteristics by looking at specific examples of how these men and women approached competition; how they challenged, inspired, and communicated with their teammates; and how they exercised control over their own emotions. Along the way, I’ll examine some of the scientific research that helps explain why these traits might have produced first-tier results.”

That’s from the first chapter of Part II featuring the first trait of elite captains.

The chapter is called: “They Just Keep Coming: Doggedness and Its Ancillary Benefits.”

Yogi Berra was the captain for the New York Yankees team that made the list of all-time greats. Sam gives us a snap shot of his career and tells us just how BAD he was at the beginning of his career and just how HARD he worked to become great.

And... You know how Sam answers the question he posed about what allows some people to press on until they achieve mastery? He tells us about Carol Dweck.

As you know if you’ve been following along, I’m a HUGE (!) fan of Dweck and her research on the growth mindset. As I have mentioned MANY (!) times, her two books have shaped my parenting philosophy more than any other.

In Mindset, Dweck tells us: “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”

While in Self-Theories she tells us: “The hallmark of successful individuals is that they love learning, they seek challenges, they value effort, and they persist in the face of obstacles.”

If you were a fly on the wall of the Johnson house, you’d hear Alexandra and I CONSTANTLY chatting about these ideas with Emerson and Eleanor.

I remember Dweck emphasizing the importance of relentlessly (and exclusively!) praising EFFORT rather than TALENT. And, modeling a love of challenges for your kids. She encourages us to literally (!) rub our hands together when facing a challenge and saying: “I love challenges!” so... That’s what I’ve done over and over and over again.

Then there’s Angela Duckworth.

No discussion of “extreme doggedness” in pursuit of mastery would be complete without discussing her ideas on how to cultivate Grit.

Again, as we’ve discussed countless times, her definition of grit is INTENSE PASSION (a deep, intrinsic, sustained love for what you do) matched with INTENSE PERSEVERANCE (a deep, relentless drive to show up and do your best).

You put those two things together and give yourself enough time and... voilá.

You have a VERY good shot at mastery.

Which leads us to another one of the key things I strive to bring to my parenting. I talk about it in this +1 called Effort Counts Thrice. Here’s the abridged take...

Duckworth created an equation for achievement. She tells us that Talent (which she defines as the speed with which you can acquire Skill) matters. But Effort counts TWICE.

Here’s the equation: You start with Talent x Effort. That creates Skill. Then you take that Skill and multiply it by MORE Effort to produce Achievement.

I taught that equation to Emerson. I quiz him on that (and all the other stuff we chat about!) all the time. After he won his division of the San Antonio City chess championships (and officially became a professional chess player with a $150 prize check at 10 years old—hah!), I turned on my iPhone camera to record a video of him sharing Duckworth’s equation. You can watch it here.

After a couple takes he nailed it. Only... He added an EXTRA line.

He started by saying that Talent x Effort = Skill. Then he said that Skill x more Effort = Achievement. THEN he added a line about the fact that Achievement x MORE Effort = Mastery.

Want to achieve Mastery in YOUR life? (Me, too.)

Let’s remember: Effort counts thrice. Here’s to the “extreme doggedness” that forges greatness.

P.S. Josh Waitzkin comes to mind. Josh was a young chess prodigy. He’s featured in Searching for Bobby Fischer. He wrote a book called The Art of Learning.

In that book he tells us: “One thing I have learned as a competitor is that there is a clear distinction between what it takes to be decent, what it takes to be good, what it takes to be great and what it takes to be among the best.”

That’s from the same chapter: “They Just Keep Coming.”

Social loafing.

It’s what scientists call the tendency for individuals performing within a group to slack off. As Sam says in the next paragraph when describing a different study proving the same phenomenon: “The less identifiable one person’s effort is, the less effort they put in.”

Yikes. Thankfully, there’s an antidote to this tendency.

Here it is: “To add a twist to the Ohio State experiment, researchers at Fordham University decided to look at whether social loafing could be overcome. They wanted to see whether one person giving a maximum effort could incite others to improve their performance. The scientists grouped their shouters in pairs and, before they began shouting, told them that their partner was a high-effort performer. In these situations, something interesting happened. The pairs screamed just as hard together as they had alone. The knowledge that a teammate was giving it their all was enough to prompt people to give more themselves.

This experiment demonstrated that high effort, or just the perception of high effort, is transferable. In other words, the Ringelmann effect can be counteracted. The antidote is the knowledge that someone else in the group is leaving nothing in reserve.

The Fordham study seemed to confirm my suspicion about Tier One captains: Their displays of tenacity could have positively influenced the way their teams performed.”

The case studies to prove this point include the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team captain Carla Overbeck who was famous for her preparation and conditioning—playing 3,547 consecutive minutes in 62-straight matches without leaving the field. Then there’s Barcelona’s Carles Puyol who had a “relentlessness” and “palpable focus and determination on the field” that inspired his teammates. THEN there’s the All Blacks captain Buck Shelford who made his way into the “extreme doggedness” Hall of Fame when he played through a torn scrotum. (OUCH!)

All of which brings us back to social loafing and its antidote. It’s simple... We need YOU to be the one setting the pace. Give us all you’ve got. TODAY.

P.S. When we counteract the negative effects of social loafing, we have a shot at catalyzing the positive effects of synergy. Check out this +1 When 1 + 1 = 4: Let’s Pull Together!

That’s from a chapter called “The Kill Switch: Regulating Emotion.”

Richie Davidson is one of the world’s leading neuroscientists.

In fact, he founded two fields that have greatly shaped our understanding of what it means to live optimally: affective neuroscience (the study of the brain basis of human emotion) + contemplative neuroscience (the study of the effects of meditation on the brain).

As we discuss in our Notes on his great book The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Richie is the guy who first approached the Dalai Lama about studying the brains of experienced meditators.

And, fun fact: Matthieu Ricard’s brain was first studied in his lab. (Check out our Notes on HIS great book called Why Meditate?

Here’s the short story on what you need to know.

Meditation ABSOLUTELY helps you cultivate resilience. People who *don’t* meditate tend to respond more significantly to life’s stressors and recover less quickly.

Therefore, if you’d like to forge some antifragile confidence, train your ability to put your mind where you want, when you want, for how long you want.

Meditate.

P.S. Check out Meditation 101 for more.

That’s from chapter #9: “Calculated Acts: The Power of Nonverbal Displays.”

Let’s start with Bill Russell. His quote that kicks off the book is one of the best descriptions of leadership I’ve ever read: “My ego demands—for myself—the success of the team.”

Now, let’s chat about the haka. If you haven’t watched one yet, check this one out. ChatGPT tells me it’s the most viewed haka of all time—with over 75 million views as I type this.

Actually, if you want to watch an even MORE Heroic haka, check THIS one out. That haka was performed in honor of an All Black player who died tragically. Notice how the Irish team honored him before the haka begins. Then, notice how the All Blacks go from ruthlessly fierce warriors to equally tender friends and fathers when the wife and kids of the man they were honoring came on to the field to pick up his ceremonial jersey.

I got tears in my eyes typing that. It’s a profound thing to witness.

Now... The point of the passage above is the power of nonverbal communication. NO TEAM in the history of sports has had a more ritualized and powerful demonstration of this power than the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. Period.

The “maná” that is displayed is palpable. You want THOSE guys on YOUR team. (Right?)

Know this: Maná is, essentially, the Māori word for Soul Force.

Let’s channel our inner warrior as we Flip the Switch and connect to and express our best, most Heroic selves and inspire those around us to do the same all day, every day, especially...

TODAY.