The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams

Walker discusses how elite team captains paradoxically strengthen their teams through strategic acts of dissent. The chapter opens with Soviet hockey captain Valeri Vasiliev physically confronting his coach on a plane after the devastating 1980 loss to the Americans. Rather than destroying team unity, Vasiliev’s rebellion initiated one of the most dominant runs in international hockey history—the team won or drew 96% of its games over four seasons.

Walker then examines Bayern Munich vice-captain Philipp Lahm, who in 2009 gave an unauthorized newspaper interview criticizing the team’s flawed personnel strategy. Despite violating club rules and receiving the largest fine in team history, Lahm sparked Bayern’s transformation from underperformers to Champions League winners. Whereas traditional German captains were known for their physical dominance and authoritarian style, Lahm represented a new model of leadership—analytical, precise, and willing to challenge institutional power when necessary.

The author draws on organizational psychologist Richard Hackman’s research to explain why such dissent proves beneficial. Hackman found that effective leaders must operate at the margins of group consensus rather than at its comfortable center, enduring what researchers call “the pain of independence” (198) Walker further incorporates organizational behaviorist Karen Jehn’s groundbreaking distinction between two types of conflict: personal conflict (ego-driven personality clashes that harm teams) and task conflict (disagreements about work execution that can improve performance).