Top Five Leadership Lessons From Ted Lasso #Season One

I have recently been rewatching Series 1 of Ted Lasso, in eager anticipation for Season 4, which starts soon. Amongst the drama and comedy, the quick one-liners and puns, the success and heartache, are a litany of leadership lessons. Whether you are a football fan or not, it’s worth revisiting these and seeing where they might be relevant in your workplace. In fact, I’d challenge you to find a place where they wouldn’t work!

As a brief introduction for the few remaining uninitiated, Ted has been invited from America to lead an unsuccessful UK football team and, unbeknownst to him and the team, is being set up to fail. The club owner, Rebecca, is seeking revenge on her ex-husband by sabotaging his favourite team and so has employed Ted, hoping that he’ll fail miserably.

Ted arrives with his trusty partner, ‘Coach’, to find a team in disarray, demonstrated by the shambolic rehearsals on pitch and the divisions and toxic behaviour in the locker room. As Ted and Coach work their magic, the team becomes more cohesive and caring. 

The character arcs in this season are artful, the relationships tender, and the lessons are beautifully woven throughout. Let’s take the top five lessons one at a time.

1, Relationships Come First

The first rule of leadership is building trusting relationships. You can read more about this throughout Patrick Lencioni’s work as well as lessons from many other leadership writers. 

Ted demonstrates this in multiple ways: by remembering everyone’s names, by being curious about what inspires them, by baking treats and instigating ‘biscuits with the boss’, by meeting with people and getting to know them. 

In small, everyday interactions he makes everyone feel that they matter; and creating a culture of mattering is essential when building teams. Through this, he establishes genuine connections and a foundation of trust.

2, Tell the Truth

No matter how hard it is, the truth always comes out. Owning it and sharing it kindly are a real challenge in leadership.

In an early episode, Ted takes the lead striker, Jamie Tartt, to one side and delivers a masterclass in feedback. As Kim Scott explains so clearly in Radical Candour, it’s kind, it's candid, it’s honest and it has a visible impact, changing Jamie’s behaviour on the pitch and within the team. Avoiding this conversation would be damaging. By addressing what needs to be said, Ted compounds the trust the team is already feeling for him. 

Ted also shares that he and his wife have a password to prompt for honesty: ‘Oklahoma’. It repeats at a few poignant moments throughout the series, allowing people to share important feelings they were previously concealing. 

His example prompts others to be honest with each other and themselves, which allows issues to surface and be addressed. Once the lid is off the box, it can be properly cleaned out. Which leads to the next lesson…

3, Accountability Matters

The characters in this series are flawed. Like us, they make mistakes and they behave in ways which they later regret. On multiple occasions we see people ‘owning’ their mistakes, apologising for what they have done and acknowledging the impact their behaviour had. 

In line with Aiko Bethea’s work on accountability, Ted allows space and creates an environment where people are able to admit their wrongdoings, ask for forgiveness and build stronger relationships as a result. 

We all need to acknowledge that sometimes we are part of the problem, either through our behaviour, our words or our lack of action. Being self-aware and acting with humility is a crucial leadership skill and the first step towards Conscious Leadership.

4, Let it go

It is no coincidence that this is the song sung by Rebecca during the Liverpool karaoke scene. The success of the club depends on her loving the team more than she hates her ex, Rupert. 

In the very first episode, Ted tells budding player, Sam Obisanya, to “be like a goldfish”: learn the lesson and move on. Many of the characters are holding onto beliefs, slights and grudges which are holding them back, both as individual players and as a team. 

When the team holds a purging ceremony to rid their treatment room of its ghosts and the curse they believe it holds over their club, each person brings with them a representative item from their past which is limiting their future. These items are burned and the message is clear: acknowledge what has gone before, then get over it and move forward. 

This  whole episode also honours the legacy and legends of the club and the importance that each member plays in its story. 

5, Be Curious, Not Judgemental

If there is one speech in Season One, which summarises Ted’s approach to life and leadership: it is in the magnificent pub darts scene. 

In a high stakes bet, Ted protects Rebecca from further humiliation from Rupert, by destroying him in a game and dressing him down publicly. However, in usual Ted fashion, there’s no malice in it - he simply quotes Walt Whitman, saying we should all “be curious, not judgemental. 

We should never assume that we know what another person is thinking, is feeling, is going through or has learned. By asking questions, we create abundance, openness and opportunity. 

Throughout Season One, Ted is curious about everything. He is humble and keen to learn. In contrast, Rupert knows nothing about him - including his skills at darts! If there is one lesson we need to take away as leaders, it is this!

As Trent Crimm (a reporter following the team) writes: “If the Lasso Way is wrong, it’s hard to imagine being right.” He goes on to write: “In a business that celebrates ego, Ted reigns his in. His coaching style is subtle, it never hits you over the head.” 

Ted is curious and caring about all of his team, valuing how they are being over what they are doing. He cares about culture more than results, knowing that impact will come later. Like Trent, we find that we “can’t help rooting for him.” 

I’m certainly rooting for the whole team and hoping that Season 4 lives up to expectations. And our expectations are high. This is the best TV show about leadership there has ever been and my all time favourite show.

Oklahoma - I don’t even like football!