Hey, now, most captains only manage to get themselves killed once and it's game over! Not Kirk though, he found a way back so he could do it again! ;)
As I remember it, Picard went back and fetched a (very) reluctant Kirk, who was, as usual, indulging himself in a fantasy. Than Picard coordinated the battle, and arranged it so Kirk was the dead hero and he himself was the live hero. Guts AND brains (maybe he isn't really French).
Always cheating the system, always thinking/operating outside the box, that's what I love about Kirk.