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

This chapter explores how elite team captains manage destructive emotions during critical moments, examining three cases that demonstrate emotional regulation as a leadership skill. Walker presents Jérôme Fernandez, who led France’s handball team to victory in the 2009 World Championship final while his father lay dying in a hospital, Rechelle Hawkes, who endured 18 months of public demotion yet continued leading Australia’s field hockey team to Olympic gold, and Maurice Richard, who transformed from an explosive, penalty-prone player into a composed captain who led the Montreal Canadiens to five consecutive Stanley Cups.

The scientific foundation for understanding these captains’ abilities comes from Richard Davidson’s neuroscience research at the University of Wisconsin. Davidson discovered that emotional resilience correlates with activity patterns in the prefrontal cortex, particularly in the communication between the left PFC and the amygdala. While some individuals naturally possess stronger neural pathways for emotional regulation, Davidson’s later work with meditation practitioners suggests that people can intentionally develop these capabilities through practice—a finding that challenges genetic determinism and offers hope for leadership development.

Walker’s selection of examples reveals both the strengths and limitations of his analysis. The three cases span different sports, genders, and cultural contexts, which strengthens his argument about universal leadership principles.