This is former rugby great Buck Shelford recounting his first loss as a young player for the New Zealand All Blacks at the hands of the amphetamine-jacked French squad.
Buck went on to become the heart and soul of an all-blacks team that was a sports dynasty, not losing a rugby match for 4 years.
In his book The Captain Class author Sam Walker looked for the factors present across sports dynasties around the globe.
I listened to an interview with the author here (#379: Sam Walker—The Key to Lasting Success) where he shared the findings from a decade + of research.
Every sports dynasty (defined by at least 4 years of sustained dominance in their respective sport) he studied had a captain who was not usually the best player, but who refused to let the team succumb to social loafing.
Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort in a team context than what the individual is capable of. Multiple studies have proven that the whole is less than the sum of the parts in a team context whether in corporations or sports team. You can read more here.
The captains of the dynasties didn't accept social loafing. They pushed their team. The captain was more effective at this than a coach. In several cases the coaches were replaced mid-dynasty and the winning continued as long as the captain remained. The captain was typically not publicly outspoken and did most of their leading in 1:1 interactions (Tim Duncan).
3 things were true about all the captains
Buck went on to become the heart and soul of an all-blacks team that was a sports dynasty, not losing a rugby match for 4 years.
In his book The Captain Class author Sam Walker looked for the factors present across sports dynasties around the globe.
I listened to an interview with the author here (#379: Sam Walker—The Key to Lasting Success) where he shared the findings from a decade + of research.
Every sports dynasty (defined by at least 4 years of sustained dominance in their respective sport) he studied had a captain who was not usually the best player, but who refused to let the team succumb to social loafing.
Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort in a team context than what the individual is capable of. Multiple studies have proven that the whole is less than the sum of the parts in a team context whether in corporations or sports team. You can read more here.
The captains of the dynasties didn't accept social loafing. They pushed their team. The captain was more effective at this than a coach. In several cases the coaches were replaced mid-dynasty and the winning continued as long as the captain remained. The captain was typically not publicly outspoken and did most of their leading in 1:1 interactions (Tim Duncan).
3 things were true about all the captains
- They were relentless
- They had uncanny emotional control- only losing it when it was beneficial to do so
- They had a defining moment early on that cemented their position of peer-leader
