Leadership Lessons from Ted Lasso (AppleTV)

I clicked on this video expecting a light leadership snack. You know… something you watch while pretending you’re “resting” but actually answering WhatsApps, checking email, and quietly wondering why your calendar looks like a game of Tetris designed by your enemy.

Instead, the video did what Ted Lasso does best: it sneaks up on you with humour, then punches you gently in the soul.

The creator basically argues: Ted isn’t a great leader because he’s loud, charismatic, or “motivational quote” material. Ted is great because he does the unsexy, daily things that make people want to follow you—things that real leaders like Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Phil Jackson practiced in their own way.

And that’s the point that keeps haunting me.

Because most leaders I meet are trying to win loyalty through position, KPI pressure, or big “town hall speeches.” Ted wins loyalty through something far rarer: intentional humanity.

So let me retell (and expand) the video’s lessons in my voice—aka the voice of a Malaysian leader who has seen too many “leadership transformations” die in a PowerPoint folder titled Final_Final_V7_UseThisOne.

1) Make people feel like they matter… especially the ones nobody notices

The video starts with a deceptively small moment: Ted asks the equipment manager his name—because “everyone in this building is part of the team.”

That sounds basic… until you realize how rare it is.

Most workplaces have invisible people:

the admin who fixes your life quietly,

the junior exec who’s always early and never credited,

the finance person who stops your company from becoming a Netflix documentary.

Ted’s genius is that he treats dignity like a default setting.

And research keeps backing this up: when recognition is done well, people don’t just feel nice—they stay. Gallup’s longitudinal research (2022–2024) found well-recognized employees were 45% less likely to have turned over after two years. 
So yes, culture is emotional… but it’s also economic.

My (Roshan) translation: If your best people keep leaving, don’t start with a “retention program.” Start with a mirror and ask: Do people feel seen here?

2) Speak in “you”, not “I”: Align goals or prepare to drag people uphill forever

The video hits a painful truth: most people on your team are not waking up thinking, “How can I fulfil the leader’s vision today?” They’re thinking, “How do I survive Monday?”

So the leadership move is not “motivate harder.” It’s align incentives and identity.

The video illustrates this with Jamie Tartt (aka talent without team). Ted doesn’t shame him. He connects Jamie’s desire to be great with the team’s need for “me” to become “us.”

This is where many leaders fail: we communicate goals like we’re writing a report to the board, not speaking to a human.

If you want buy-in, translate:

“We need to hit target” → “Here’s what hitting target unlocks for you and your growth.”

“We need higher quality” → “Here’s how excellence protects your name and future.”

“We need change” → “Here’s why staying the same will cost you more than adapting.”

And here’s the kicker: when leaders don’t align goals, they compensate with control. And control eventually kills ownership.

3) Great leaders don’t collect followers. They create lieutenants.

This is one of my favourite points in the video: Ted creates leaders. He pulls Nate into the circle, invites ideas, then forces him (kindly) to believe in his own contribution. 
That’s not “being nice.” That’s capacity-building.

And the video links this to Phil Jackson’s leadership philosophy—creating an environment where everyone plays a leadership role.

It even draws a line to Google’s famous “20% time” idea—encouraging employees to spend time on what they think benefits the company, credited for major innovations.

Now, you may not be Google. (And thank God, because then your staff would demand free gourmet lunches and bring their dogs into meetings.)

But the principle works anywhere:

If only leaders think, you get dependency.
If everyone thinks, you get resilience.

Practical question: Do your meetings reward contribution… or just compliance?

4) Let other people get the credit (and watch performance multiply)

Ted makes Nate deliver the pre-game speech. Ted checks it, improves it, but then hands the spotlight back. The video calls this out: leaders who hoard credit shrink the team; leaders who share credit multiply it.

This is where ego quietly sabotages culture.

Some leaders say, “I’m empowering my team,” but the moment something goes well, they reappear like a magician: Ta-da! That was me.

In real life, credit is not just “nice.” It’s psychological fuel. Recognition strengthens commitment, identity, and discretionary effort. Gallup also notes only one in three employees strongly agree they received recognition recently—and lack of recognition is tied to quitting intent.

My (Roshan) story moment: I’ve watched organisations spend millions on transformation, then lose their best people because managers couldn’t say, “Well done—and I’m proud of you.” Culture didn’t die from strategy. Culture died from stinginess. (BTW if you are looking to transform your culture, do check out the work being done by the Budaya folks. Mind blowing stuff!)

5) Build psychological safety: people can’t bring ideas if they’re busy protecting themselves

Ted uses a suggestion box—even when he knows he’ll get roasted. (And yes, he does.)

That’s not a gimmick. That’s a signal:

“You can tell me the truth and still be safe.”

And this ties directly to what research calls psychological safety—Amy Edmondson’s definition: a shared belief the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Google’s work on team effectiveness repeatedly points to psychological safety as a key factor for strong teams.

Let me put it bluntly: When psychological safety is low, people don’t innovate. They perform theatre. They nod, they smile, they agree in meetings… then disagree in private chats.

Ted’s way: reduce fear, increase truth.

6) Empathy is not softness. It’s accuracy.

The video makes a sharp point: if you can put yourself in someone’s shoes, you’ll predict what motivates them, what blocks them, and how to coach them.

Ted notices why a player is struggling. The assistant assumes lack of talent. Ted assumes there’s context.

That’s leadership maturity: not jumping to character judgment when situation might explain behaviour.

Empathy is not “being emotional.” Empathy is being correct more often about what’s actually happening.

7) Believe big… but don’t deny reality

This was the mic drop in the video for me:

Ted has conviction—“Believe”—but he also says the hard thing: “We’re broken. We need to change.”

That is the leadership balance most CEOs struggle with:

• Some leaders are so optimistic they become delusional. 
• Others are so “realistic” they become cynical. 

Ted holds both:

• Hope without denial
• Honesty without shame

The video even references Steve Jobs’ legendary pitch to John Sculley: “Do you want to sell sugar water… or change the world?” 
That’s vision. But in Ted Lasso, the vision doesn’t replace the work—it fuels it.

Also worth remembering: disengagement is expensive. Gallup estimates lost productivity tied to engagement trends cost the global economy hundreds of billions annually. 
So vision isn’t “inspirational fluff.” Vision is a performance lever—when paired with truth and systems.

So what do we do with all this on Monday morning?

Here’s my simple “Ted Lasso leadership field test”:

• Did I notice someone today who is usually invisible?
• Did I connect the goal to their growth, not just my target?
• Did I invite ideas—and protect the person brave enough to speak?
• Did I give credit loudly and take responsibility quietly?
• Did I create a space where truth can be spoken without punishment?
• Did I respond with curiosity before judgment?
• Did I name reality honestly—and still point people to hope?

If you do that consistently, you don’t need to beg for loyalty.

You earn it.

And maybe—just maybe—you’ll build the kind of culture where people don’t just work for a paycheck… they work for each other. The Richmond way.

Now excuse me while I go put a “BELIEVE” sign somewhere in Leaderonomics… and then immediately get asked by my finance boss whether “BELIEVE” has a budget code.