By Stephen Leeb, Ph.D., and Megan Davis
“Never say never.” That’s a phrase that, despite being self-contradictory in nature, still makes a clear point– at least to those who watched the recent victory of the New York Knicks in the NBA championship finals. It was a triumph for the ages. The team, which had not ascended to the world championship for more than half a century, was captained by a stocky, small guard named Jalen Brunson. Brunson joined the knicks in 2022 and became the team’s captain two years later in 2024. In the two years since Brunson assumed the captaincy, the Knicks have reached the Eastern Conference Finals and captured the NBA title. But the true magic lies in how they did it – an exemplar not just for sports, but for any cohesive unit—from America’s storied corporations to elite military platoons.
They shattered multiple NBA playoff records. They finished with a historic 9-0 record on the road – never dropping a single away game – to set the NBA record for the longest road winning streak in a single postseason. They outscored their playoff opponents by an average of 14.9 points per game, marking the best point differential in NBA playoff history. They also went 6-2 in games where they trailed by double digits, the best such playoff record in the 30 years of recorded play-by-play data. In game 4 of the Finals, they broke the record for largest comeback in NBA Finals history, rallying from a 29-point deficit (with just over 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter, they were still down by 20 points).
Mike Brown, the head coach of the New York Knicks, deserves a lot of credit to be sure. This was his first year at the helm, and he obviously did a tremendous job. But as author Sam Walker points out in his best-selling book, The Captain Class, it is the captain of the team who seems to have the most influence on their success. In looking over history’s most storied dynasties – or what he calls “Tier One” teams – Walker noticed that the common denominator was a strong captain whose tenure with the team corresponded exactly with the span of the team’s dominance.
It is important to note that the role of captain is not always synonymous with the role of superstar. In some teams, like the Bill Russell led Celtics or the Tom Brady-helmed Patriots, the superstar was the captain. But in other examples, like the 1996-99 U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, it was not. That soccer squad was comprised of excellent world-class players that became household names, such as Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain. Yet the true “glue” of the team, Walker argues, was their captain, Carla Overbeck.
With a Wikipedia bio not barely longer than that of Belgian physicist Jules-Émile Verschaffelt, Overbeck did not receive a lot of attention. She was quiet, she didn’t score goals, as she played a defensive position, and her vital contributions were often overlooked in favor of flashier teammates. But she had built a respect among her peers. When the players arrived at the hotel, Overbeck would carry each player’s bag to their room for them. If any players slacked off in practice or a game, Overbeck was the first to tell them about it. She was committed to team success over personal glory.
This was also true of Bill Russell. Walker writes, “He didn’t care about statistics or personal accolades and didn’t mind letting teammates take the credit. So long as the Celtics won titles, he didn’t mind if nobody noticed his contributions.” Obviously, everyone noticed. But the point is that was never his goal. Jalen Brunson took a historic pay cut to help the New York Knicks build a championship-contending roster. He took less than half of what he knew he could get. The captain of the team puts the team first. Walker argued that “the most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness is the character of the player who leads it.”
When most people think of the legendary Brazilian national soccer teams of 1958 to 1970, they think of Pelé. Still, arguably, the greatest soccer player that the world has ever seen, Pelé was never the captain of the team. Instead, Walker examines the captain Hilderaldo Bellini. He was a tough, humble defender who did not score a single goal in his entire nine-year international tenure. But he was their leader. Carlos Alberto Torres, who later succeeded Bellini as captain, recalled the instruction of Bellini: “Hold the team.” Torres remarked that in being a captain, “you have to try to understand people, to know their backgrounds. If you understand them better, you can help them more. We need leaders to hold the players.”
Now, as much as writing about the Knicks is pretty fun for two New Yorkers coming off of a championship high, the important question is do these leadership qualities that make great captains translate to the world of business?
We think so.
In 2003, Jim Collins compiled a list for a feature article in Fortune magazine entitled, “The 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time.” He evaluated over 400 potential CEOs and found that these 10 possessed that similar glue that held the company together and, in the same way it propelled these teams from good to great, it distinguished these American companies from mediocre to thriving. Collins’ chosen leaders also embodied the very characteristics that Walker’s captain class did: humility, fierce drive, intense discipline, absolute focus, a willingness to do thankless jobs, emotional control and a deep investment, not only in their own moral standards, but in uplifting those around them to the highest possible level.
Number 10 on the list was David Packard. At a meeting of business leaders in 1949, Packard stood up and declared: “A company has a greater responsibility than making money for its stockholders. We have a responsibility to our employees to recognize their dignity as human beings, to the well-being of its customers, and to the community at large.” He went on to explain his belief that those who help create wealth have a moral right to share in that wealth. This starkly contrasted the investor-first mentality that was becoming more common at the time. But Packard held fast to his beliefs, and this foundational DNA of caring about and taking care of every human being affected by a company’s operations became foundational in what is now known as the Corporate Stakeholder Theory – a theory it would benefit all American companies to return to today.
Katharine Graham, number 9 on Collins’ list, remarked that in making the decision to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971, she felt that journalistic integrity and the public’s right to know had to come before pure survival. She felt that a newspaper must operate with public trust ahead of profit. Collins’ list goes on to include many titans of industry like Sam Walton of Walmart, James Burke of Johnson & Johnson, and George Merck of Merck & Co., who famously said, “medicine is for people, not for the profits,” – words he followed repeatedly with action such as the distribution of a tuberculosis drug to children in Japan, or in the 300 million people a year that still receive Mectizan to combat river blindness mostly free of charge.
The list is topped by Charles Coffin, the first president of General Electric, who came from the shoe business. Coffin fundamentally exhibited the precise characteristics that Walker so aptly laid out as essential to the ultimate team captain. Of Coffin, Collins observed, “More than any other leader, Coffin made GE into a great company, creating the machine that created a succession of giants.” And he did so with such little recognition.
All of these extraordinary leaders who make up this list are worth writing an entire blog about in and of themselves, but what truly stands out are the ideals they shared about integrity and character. They shared a mentality that the success of the greater whole was more important than their individual success and glory. And yet, all of these iconic CEOs have passed away – relics of an era in American business where maximizing short-term profit did not reign supreme – taking care of people did.
Is this brand of leadership completely absent from today’s modern corporate landscape? Not quite. There is one titan that was not on Collins’ list that is still alive today and who possesses this same mentality.
Warren Buffett is a name that has become synonymous with American business, and for good reason. He also holds his companies and their leaders in a way that has seemed to bring continuous success. Like the captains mentioned above, he is unassuming in his lifestyle, with most describing him as extremely humble and extremely frugal. He has lived the same modest 5-bedroom home in Omaha, Nebraska, for 58 years, and eats at McDonald’s every morning for breakfast. He likes to read and play bridge – which are certainly a departure from the flashy lifestyles of other modern billionaire CEOs like Bezos and Musk.
And still, Berkshire Hathaway has an unparalleled track record, vast economic footprint, and unique corporate culture cement its status as a paragon of corporate excellence. Between 1965 and 2024, Berkshire achieved a stellar overall gain of 5,502%, enormously outperforming the S&P 500. It also made history as the first non-technology company to surpass a $1 trillion valuation. The company’s investments in infrastructure, consumer goods and financial services have fundamentally linked the company’s success to the stability of the United States economy. He has structured his company in a decentralized way in which each manager is trusted to manage their team.
In his letter to investors in February 2024, Buffett wrote, “I believe Berkshire can handle financial disasters of a magnitude beyond any heretofore experienced. This ability is one we will not relinquish. When economic upsets occur, as they will, Berkshire’s goal will be to function as an asset to the country – just as it was in a very minor way in 2008-9 – and to help extinguish the financial fire rather than to be among the many companies that, inadvertently or otherwise, ignited the conflagration.”
Despite Buffett’s modest ovation to his “very minor” help in 2008, Berkshire was actually critical in saving the day. The preferred stock lifeline Berkshire Hathaway injected into the bank in September 2008 was critical in stabilizing Goldman. Buffett is held in such esteem that the investment was immediately seen as a powerful endorsement of Goldman’s sustainability and acted as a massive psychological anchor that restored investor confidence. Mike Silva, the New York Fed Chief of Staff, said in a 2008 email that absent Buffett’s help, Goldman Sachs was “toast.” If, indeed, Goldman had folded the consequences could have been incalculable. But just as he said in his letter, Buffett prioritized the needs of the country.
But in most modern companies, treating employees as fungible substitutes—cogs to be swapped out for algorithms or artificial intelligence at the first sight of a quarterly dip, is a far cry from what David Packard said is so critical and his belief in human dignity, and an even further cry from the “glue” that binds legendary dynasties together.
Legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” We must return to prioritizing humans. We must return to taking care of those that make the business thrive, not just those with the title of CEO. And, if American business hopes to build empires that truly endure, it is time to stop celebrating the loudest individuals in the room, and start returning to the quiet, selfless discipline of the Captain Class. Wake up, America.
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