Sam Walker
An expert at untangling the metrics of what makes teams great, Sam Walker helps leaders thrive by sharing the key traits the best captains share. A former reporter, columnist, and sports editor, Walker also founded the Wall Street Journal's award-winning daily sports section and acted as the deputy editor for enterprise, the unit that oversees the paper's page-one features and investigative journalism projects. He currently writes a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal on leadership, inspired by his book The Captain Class.
After painstakingly profiling thousands of teams in his quest to find the world's greatest, Walker gained a fascinating insight: the only thing the 16 greatest teams in sports history had in common was the presence of the same kind of captain. These captains of the best teams shared the same seven key traits, which are not the ones you would expect. A vivid storyteller, Walker has amassed dozens of first-hand accounts of how these character traits come into play on and off the field. Fun, fast, and informative, Walker presents a counterintuitive view of leadership that applies to a wide spectrum of competitive disciplines, especially business.
In addition to The Captain Class, Walker is author of the bestselling Fantasyland, the story of his quest to win America's top fantasy baseball league (he's a two-time champion). In addition to the Wall Street Journal, he has been featured on ESPN, C-Span, NPR, and in Esquire. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Walker attended the University of Michigan and lives in New York with his wife and two children.
An expert at untangling the metrics of what makes teams great, Sam Walker helps leaders thrive by sharing the key traits the best captains share. A former reporter, columnist, and sports editor, Walker also founded the Wall Street Journal's award-winning daily sports section and acted as the deputy editor for enterprise, the unit that oversees the paper's page-one features and investigative journalism projects. He currently writes a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal on leadership, inspired by his book The Captain Class.
After painstakingly profiling thousands of teams in his quest to find the world's greatest, Walker gained a fascinating insight: the only thing the 16 greatest teams in sports history had in common was the presence of the same kind of captain. These captains of the best teams shared the same seven key traits, which are not the ones you would expect. A vivid storyteller, Walker has amassed dozens of first-hand accounts of how these character traits come into play on and off the field. Fun, fast, and informative, Walker presents a counterintuitive view of leadership that applies to a wide spectrum of competitive disciplines, especially business.
In addition to The Captain Class, Walker is author of the bestselling Fantasyland, the story of his quest to win America's top fantasy baseball league (he's a two-time champion). In addition to the Wall Street Journal, he has been featured on ESPN, C-Span, NPR, and in Esquire. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Walker attended the University of Michigan and lives in New York with his wife and two children.
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