Leadership Lessons from Ted Lasso

Even though Ted was new to the culture and the game, he was not deterred as he saw his main role as a motivator. Every team needs a leader who is a source of strength that can boost morale and offer pick me ups when spirits are low. Ted maintained an open-door policy, where anyone, not just his players, but even the auxiliary support staff could walk in to unburden their woes and get support in way of a listening ear or guidance. He may not always have the answer, but what he has in spades is an infectious can-do attitude and belief in his people, even when things go awry.

You will notice in the series that even though Ted knew nothing about training a Premier Football League in England and was originally hired to fail, he eventually wins over the members of his club with his relentless positivity, but that makes all the difference in the end, and he eventually leads them to great victory. And that is the mark of a good leader – to be a beacon of hope and continue to point to true north in the hardest of times.

Ted Lasso is naturally a people’s person – he cares about his team’s overall well-being rather than just winning. From the day he joined, he took the time to build rapport with each individual on the team, including his boss Rebecca, who shunned his efforts in the beginning. While it’s easy to tout the popular slogan, “Keep work and play separate”, in reality, we all carry our baggage from home to work and vice versa. The two can’t always be separated.

A great example of this is Ted providing moral support and guidance to Jamie Tartt, the star player of the team, to compensate for Jamie’s tumultuous relationship with his father. Further, when Jamie left to play for the competing team, Ted continued to be his supporter and welcomed him with open arms when he rejoined the Richmond team later.

Ted’s main strategy is to improve the players as people and provide a wholesome environment to support their growth. That makes a great leader and coach, one who inspires their team to be the best version of themselves, and provides support at every opportunity.

While micromanaging may be necessary in some scenarios, it’s the mark of a good leader to know when to step away and trust their team. Allowing your team members independence in decision making and conflict resolution not only strengthens their decision-making muscles but also boosts confidence and trust in their abilities.

We saw a great example of this in Season 1, Episode 4 where the growing conflict between star players Roy and Jamie was brought to a head, of their own doing, but engineered by Ted. Ted did not interfere to resolve the conflict for them; all he did was ensure that they sat at the same table at the Gala and let the two men battle it out between themselves.  

This strategy was effective because in working through their differences, a solution presented itself, one which had the buy-in of all those involved, and they were able to foster a healthy bond and working relationship that was unique to them. How do you think it would have gone if Ted had told them what to do here instead?

 As coaches, it may be tempting to offer solutions on a platter, but it’s important to learn to distinguish between guiding and micromanaging. You want to cultivate growth in your teammates and harness their potential to rise to leadership as well. After all, a good leader inspires leadership in others!

When Ted Lasso joined as a coach, he quickly realized he had a big problem. He had gifted players, but the problem was a demoralized team and a star player with an inflated ego who played a solo game while bullying some of his teammates. This was not a team in the true sense of the word. The attitude of one player was affecting the morale of the entire club. Even though it was a ‘winning’ team, he could see that his players were not happy and bonded.

He quickly set things in motion to fix this problem – he benched his star player at half-time during one game when Jamie refused to pass to his teammates and kept scoring alone. He encouraged the others to stay positive and believe in their abilities to do what they do best, and the result was their first ever win under Lasso’s leadership. Ted achieved his goal in that match, which was for all the members to finally play to their strengths as a team, and they won because of that.

This is a good reminder that while skillset is important, your team’s attitude, culture, and morale are equally important elements – these form the undercurrent of positive momentum that keeps the boat sailing smoothly. As a leader, you should not only focus on the numbers and the wins, but constantly keep in check the culture and morale of your team. It’s been proven that harmonious working relationships make for more efficient and productive workspaces. As you know, one bad apple can spoil the entire bunch, and so it’s your job to nip these acrimonious seeds in the bud.

A good leader knows that they’re only as good as their team members and doesn’t hog the limelight. Ted is brilliant at giving credit where it is due, and doesn’t hesitate to shine the light on those who deserve it. His open leadership style encourages discussion and experimentation of ideas, along with opportunity for growth.

For example, he promotes Nate the Equipment Handler to Assistant Coach because his talent to formulate great on-field strategies. As a leader, you don’t have to be highly skilled in every aspect of your business, but you should surround yourself with the best, if you are to succeed. And once you do that, you must trust your players with their abilities and find a fit for their skillsets. He further hires Roy Kent, a former player, as one of the coaches and trusts him to lead with his different coaching style.

Equal opportunity is the theme in Ted Lasso as we see Rebecca later hires Keeley as the PR person for the club. To be an effective leader is to look for potential in your people, and then cultivate it to grow by providing opportunities free of bias and prejudice.

The first few months of Lasso’s leadership resulted in one failed match after another for his team. But, with every failure came a lesson. After much trial and error, the team, under Ted’s leadership finally won their first game. While he was learning the ropes and throughout these failings, Ted navigated each failure with optimism and took them as lessons learnt instead of getting deterred and giving up.

A good leader knows that failure is nothing but insight and a data point into what didn’t work, and not an invitation to pack up and shut shop. Nor is it a good strategy to assign blame, but to objectively assess what can be done better. After all, every setback is an opportunity to learn, and there will be plenty of opportunities to do so on your path to success. The key to improvement is to constantly seek to learn and be better than yesterday.

Good emotional intelligence is not only your ability to understand and respond according to others’ emotions, but it involves being aware of your own emotions. At several instances in the show Ted not only responds with empathy, but knows when to take help in case of personal trauma. At times it’s shown that he hesitates, which leads to anxiety. This proves as a lesson for leaders to seek emotional help if they feel overburdened or anxious.

Leading or running your own business is not easy. It does take an emotional toll on you. In such situations, an emotionally intelligent leader will seek help, so that he or she can continue to behave in an emotionally stable and empathetic way with others.

If you are emotionally vulnerable or your emotional quotient is low, you are likely to lose your cool or get anxious at everything that doesn’t go as per plan.

At several points in the show, Ted displays a calm demeanor even when things are going south for his team. This offers an important lesson for leaders. If you stay calm and plan well, you have an opportunity to bounce back. On the contrary, if you over-react to each thing that don’t go as per your plan, you will be seen as an irate leader, whom your team may fear, and not respect.

Ted has personal issues and his complete backstory is revealed in season 2. He is hesitant like most of us to open up to a therapist. At times, Rebecca helps him with recovering from anxiety. However, by choosing to not share his issues, Ted reaches a breaking point. Again, this is an important lesson for leaders. If you feel like getting help for your mental health, seek it.

As far as your mental health is concerned, being half fit or being on the verge of breaking down will not help your team. So, take a break, seek help if needed, and be 100 percent when you are leading.

Next, showing the willingness to adapt to a totally new game is an important characteristic of Ted Lasso and shows that he is not scared of taking up new challenges. As we watch the series, we forget that Ted is shown to be an American Football coach, which is a totally different game compared to what he signs up for at AFC Richmond.

This behavior not only shows the need for leaders to take up challenges, but also portrays another important trait of great leaders. That is, understanding the job of a coach or a leader. A coach is not supposed to play the game, but needs to guide his team to do what they know best. So, in case of Ted Lasso, he doesn’t know how to play football, he accepts his limitations and focuses on motivating the team, consulting others to refine the strategies, and keeps the team moving forward.

Typically, new managers or entrepreneurs believe that they need to get their hands dirty each day and be the best in their technical domain to get their team’s respect. However, this is not necessary. If you coach well, have enough knowledge to make decisions, and build a strong team of consultants around you to help you in refining your strategies, you can lead any team and in any industry.

For example, Elon Musk doesn’t make electric cars. He had the idea, conceptualized it, had the knowledge about what’s needed to get the job done, and thus built Tesla.

Steve Jobs didn’t make iPhones. He had the idea, a vision. It was his team that built the actual product.

So, don’t fear a new product, service, or technology. If you can adapt, know how to build and manage a great set of people, you can ace it all.

Now, this is pretty obvious. Working in a new country will require you to adapt to the new culture. A good leader will always prioritize understanding the culture and sensitivities of their team. This is the point where Ted shows least maturity on the show in a few scenes. In several scenes, he is seen insulting Tea, which is a culturally popular drink in Britain. We can assume this was meant to add some humor to the show.

However, other than this, Ted shows maturity in understanding the culture of the players of different nationalities. This point is not portrayed explicitly on the show, but any good manager working with a global team will need to be sensitive to the way people across different cultures work, communicate, or react. Thus, strive to learn about the cultures of the people with whom you work. Adapt your style, such that it’s respectful to the different cultures.

Optimism is addictive. Through the show, Ted is shown to portray an optimistic persona. In fact, Ted’s motto for the team is ‘Believe’. He puts a placard with the word ‘Believe’ in the change room, so as to remind his team to believe in their abilities, believe in what they can achieve, and believe in a better future. This is Ted’s philosophy for his life. His way of looking at things in an optimistic way – even during tough times. As a leader, Ted always portrays an optimistic personality in front of his team. This approach presents him as a stable-headed leader. Teams prefer to follow a level-headed leader compared to a manager who is irate.

This behavior again signifies the need for leaders to be emotionally intelligent. You cannot portray a positive attitude unless you are emotionally intelligent.

Also, being an optimist doesn’t mean you should not share your worries or bad news with the team. However, anything that is important or relevant for them to do their jobs effectively must be discussed with them on priority.

Just as a leader doesn’t need to know the operational details of each task, but must know the important or relevant details. Similarly, your team doesn’t need to know all details, but the important ones.