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The Art of Captaincy

What Sport Teaches Us About Leadership

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The Art of Captaincy

By: Mike Brearley, Ed Smith - introduction
Narrated by: Roger May
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'The best book on captaincy, written by an expert' - Mike Atherton

Mike Brearley is one of the most successful cricket captains of all time, and, in 1981, he captained the England team to the momentous Ashes series victory against Australia.

In The Art of Captaincy, his study on leadership and motivation, he draws directly on his experience of man-managing a team, which included a pugnacious Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott, to explain what it takes to be a leader on and off the field. Giving an insight into both his tactical understanding of the game, as well as how to get a group of individuals playing as a team in order to get the best out of them, The Art of Captaincy is a classic handbook on how to generate, nurture and inspire success.

With a foreword by former England player and BBC commentator Ed Smith, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its first publication, and an afterword by director Sam Mendes, The Art of Captaincy remains urgently relevant for cricket fans and business leaders alike. Covering the ability to use intuition, resourcefulness, clear-headedness and the importance of empathy as a means of achieving shared goals, Brearley's seminal account of captaincy is both the ultimate blueprint for creating a winning mind set, but also shows how the lessons in the sporting arena can be applied to any walk of personal and professional life.

Cricket Leadership Management Management & Leadership Sports Psychology Business Sports England
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Critic reviews

The best book on captaincy, written by an expert. (Mike Atherton)
All stars
Most relevant
Not just a lesson in cricket captaincy, but how to treat all interactions with people in an holistic way. People who claim to be leaders and managers would do well to read this instead of attending pretentious couraes where taught unnatural ways of leadership and management.

Execellent.

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A fantastic listen. So many lessons for today’s captain and so much history and insight into the game half a century ago.

Timeless

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This classic text is not just about cricket. It is, of course, mostly about cricket but is also about managing people, working in organisations, motivating yourself and others and much more. I was at a talk recently by Mike Brealey and he spoke about cricket and psychoanalysis so engagingly. Cricket has changed a huge amount since the first publication of the book but it still has so much to offer because it it based, not on gimmicks, but on principles.

Fantastic, but not just about cricket.

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Brilliant. Engaging and thought prevoking throughout. Really enjoyed the stories told within the book

More than just an art of captaincy

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Really enjoyed this book. Perfect for cricket lovers, great stories. The narrator is excellent as well.

Excellent

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