Strengthen Your Leadership Communications the Richmond Way
Leaders would have a much easier time being effective communicators if their lives were fully scripted by clever, empathic, and skilled writers.
That’s the advantage fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso has enjoyed for several seasons on Apple TV. The American football coach who found himself the unlikely leader of English soccer team, the Richmond Greyhounds, was able to deliver a steady stream of leadership lessons throughout the series run.
The real world, with all its complexity and chaos, can’t compare to a carefully crafted, half-hour show featuring a funny, caring, and charismatic leader. Still, there are some relevant takeaways about leadership communications that can be drawn from Coach Lasso and deployed in real-life situations. Here are three to ponder:
Blunt honesty can be disarming and effective: Reporters at Ted Lasso’s early press conferences were hellbent on framing gotcha moments for the new coach. Ted never took the bait, instead taking more of a ‘yeah, you got me approach’ and infusing some humor and frank honesty in his responses. Journalists are trained to be objective, but the reality is that they are human. Leaders who can come across as authentic, likable, and transparent will fare far better in the long run than those who are combative, arrogant or tone deaf.
Trust your team to do the talking: Ted was a model of empowering and trusting his team to take the lead. Of course, this was due in large part to the fact he knew little to nothing about soccer. Still, it was clear as the series evolved that Ted’s empowering ways were a trait that transcended his lack of his soccer expertise.
When it came to taking the lead on communications, some of his lieutenants (the cantankerous Roy Kent comes to mind) were reluctant to step to the stage. Yet by Ted giving them the support, opportunity, and platform to speak their minds, they found their voices in ways that built greater trust and loyalty to their coach -- and added real credibility to the organization.
It’s not about you: The final scene of Ted Lasso showed a note that Ted has written on a manuscript for a book titled The Lasso Way about the team’s season.
“One small suggestion… I’d change the title. It’s not about me. It never was.”
Truly effective leaders understand that it is not so much about them. Rather, it’s about their ability to guide those they lead to realize and reach their full potential. Consistently communicating with that mindset creates a culture that builds internal strength, which, in turn, ripples out to external audiences in powerful and authentic ways.
The last thing Ted Lasso viewers saw was the shot of the published book. The author had changed the title to The Richmond Way.
Leaders who embrace some of the communication approaches featured in Ted Lasso have the opportunity to rewrite the narrative in ways that can further their success by trusting and empowering those they lead.
Scott Westcott
Managing Partner
Scott@turn-two.co