I didn’t think I would be writing another #TedLasso leadership article so soon. But the latest #AppleTV+ episode touched so many leadership themes in one short scene I had to talk about it. If you haven’t seen it, read my previous blog post for a quick review, but be sure to put it on your watch list.
In a quick synopsis, Rebecca’s ex-husband Ruppert Manion has bought back 2% of the team she won from him in a divorce settlement and is threatening to make her life miserable. Ted challenges the British Mogul to a darts match offering control of the team’s lineup if he loses, against a pledge from Ruppert to stay out of the way. There is of course the predictable reactions when the bumpkin from Kansas challenges the Britisher.
As the two get to the final turn, Ted is hopelessly behind. He needs 2 double 20s and a bullseye to win. He throws the first two, both double 20s. He begins talking about how he has been underestimated his whole life, that it bothered him until he saw a Walt Whitman quote that said, “Be curious, not judgmental.” It was then he discovered that “all of them fellers that belittled me, not one of them was curious.” No one ever asked a question, like “Have you played a lot of darts Ted?” Of course, he throws the bullseye and wins the match. But what a lesson in leadership, what a lesson in humanity.
Ted is fictional, but if you are looking for a real-life sports figure to look up to, I suggest Angels’ slugger @Jared Walsh #25. The first-baseman and sometimes pitcher was picked in the 39th round of the 2015 draft. The Angels brought him up to the bigs last year. He currently leads the AL in slugging percentage. It is not about his stats, it is his character, his humility, his work ethic, and his attitude. In an LA Times article, Mike DiGiovanna compares him to first-round pick Jo Adell who signed for $4.4 million. Adel may have a higher profile but, “Walsh is likely to be the only one to garner any rookie of the year votes.” Walsh whose signing bonus was only $3000 said, “I will never forget it. It paid for an offseason full of workouts…so it went to good use.” $3000? That’s a bar tab for some major leaguers. Walsh saw it as an opportunity. He says about his recent hot streak, “I’m trying not to get too sentimental. I’ll wait until the offseason to do that. But I’m just enjoying every day that I get to play because it’s really special.” Tell me leaders, who wouldn’t want him on your team?
Like Lasso, a 39th round draft pick is easy to underestimate and Walsh has known adversity. His father passed after a long debilitating illness when Jared was a young man. During high school, he had Tommy Johns surgery, and he suffered a back injury while at UGA. I didn’t know his dad, but I am on a team with a Walsh, his mom. Lisa has that same character, humility, and work ethic. I have never met anyone who could outwork her, and she constantly deflects credit but lavishes it on others. It seems the apple did not fall far from the tree.
In a noisy world of self-promotion, do we forget to look at the humble? Who should you be more curious about? Who are you underestimating? I once had a manager work for me who said, “If I only you would let me spend more money hiring better people, I could be more successful.” At some point someone coached those “better people”, someone was curious about them. We see the snapshot of what people are now. We pay little attention to how they got there and even less on where we could help them go. Ted Lasso did play a lot of darts. Every Sunday with his Dad from age 10 to age 16 when his father passed away.
Are our best people the ones who came with the biggest sales numbers? Are they the ones with early success yet a fixed mindset? Are they the ones with the right skin, the right gender, or the right accent? Or are they the ones who may be underestimated, who faced obstacles seen or unseen, and found a way to stay in the game? What about the ones that just need a little coaching or sponsorship, or dare I say it, leadership? Have we forgotten to ask the questions that as Paul Harvey used to say, tell us “the rest of the story? Shouldn’t we be digging a little deeper, finding the value inside? Shouldn’t we be asking more questions, like “Have you played a lot of darts Ted?”