Should You Lead Like Ted Lasso?

Yes, IF that’s the kind of leadership your team needs

Were you late to streaming the four excellent seasons of “Ted Lasso?”  I was.  And now I understand all the fuss! 

But what does this endearing fictional character, played by Jason Sudeikis, have to teach us about leadership in the real world? A lot, but perhaps not what you might expect. I would say the lesson of Ted Lasso isn’t simply “be nice” or even, to quote his favorite yellow piece of paper, to “Believe.” Instead, I’d say that the real lesson of Ted Lasso is to focus on giving your team what they are missing.

That’s not a conclusion everyone would necessarily agree with. As I was binge-watching, I came across an excellent Forbes article by behavioral statistician @JosephFolkman, entitled, “Is Ted Lasso A Great Leader?” Bringing a good deal of real-world data to the study of our fictional coach, Folkman describes Ted Lasso as having a profound strength in Relationships – building and nurturing connections and encouraging the people around you. 

According to Folkman, having one such profound strength makes coach Lasso a “good” (70th percentile) leader, not a great one. 

I would apply a different lens to this picture, leading to a different answer.

To be clear, Folkman makes some excellent points about complementary strengths in both Relationships and being Results Oriented (my term for what he calls “competitiveness”). He states that:

• Being bad at both Relationships and Results makes you a poor leader.  

• Being exceptional in one or the other puts you at about the 70th percentile as a leader.  Pretty good.  

• Being exceptional in both Relationships and Results Orientation jumps you into the top 10%. 

In general, these statements are hard to dispute. Being great at two things certainly will make you a more versatile leader. 

But rather than say that Ted Lasso is an ok leader, I would instead say that he is a great leader for the specific needs of his team. And further, that every leader needs to assess and bolster their strengths, not against an overall ideal profile, but against the needs of the team in their care.

Let’s look at Ted’s strengths and weaknesses mapped to his particular team.

Relationships: High

Ted is relentlessly focused on building positive relationships – often to a comical degree. Whether creating the Diamond Dogs from the men around the locker room; delivering daily cookies and conversation to team owner Rebecca Welton; or enabling his players to “Believe” and grow to their potential; Ted is all about connection and encouragement.

Results Focus: Low

Did Ted demonstrate competitive fire or Results Orientation?  Not so much.  Did he hold a bold vision in front of the team, exhorting them onward?  For example, an inspirational “Win our Division!”, or even a more survival-focused, “DON’T get relegated!”  Not even close. The show glosses over some essential workings of a team or business (e.g. strategic decisions, development into plans, assigning tasks/initiatives, and monitoring progress). But I’m not complaining.

But…

His ecosystem already had plenty of competitive fire. Professional athletes have loads of psychological and financial incentives to do all in their power to succeed.  And if that wasn’t enough, smoldering ex-player and eventual assistant coach, Roy Kent, filled any remaining voids in Results Focus.  Witness what Roy went through to make Jamie a great player and teammate. 

I say that Ted Lasso was a great leader for his team because he gave them what they were missing. Not more of what they already had. He might not be a man for all seasons, but he certainly gave us four great ones.

Few of us are equally great at everything. And I wholly agree with Folkman that being strong in both Relationships and Results is desirable – increasing a leader’s bandwidth and versatility. But as you develop your leadership strengths, focus on what your team needs from you most.

That is the true mark of a great leader.