How To Have Your Team’s Back — Leadership Lessons from “Ted Lasso”
One of the quickest ways to lose the trust of a team is to abandon their values and refuse to back them in tough situations. It seems like common sense, but let’s look at how to go about supporting your team even when things go south. We’ll do so again through the lens of “Ted Lasso.”
Context: In Season 2 Episode 3 of Ted Lasso, Sam Obisanya is a part of an ad campaign for Dubai Air. He later learns from his father that Dubai Air is owned by parent company Cerithium Oil that is ravaging their lands in Nigeria and participating in some highly unethical practices.
Sam learns about these travesties and approaches Rebecca (owner of AFC Richmond) to inform her he’d like to withdraw from the ads. Rebecca says “of course you don’t have to do it Sam, I’ll take care of it.” As Sam leaves, Higgins notes that the decision could ruffle some feathers and Dubai Air should be consulted. Rebecca reiterates, “I’ll handle it. The CEO is an old friend of [former husband] Rupert’s, perhaps he’ll still find me charming.”
We’ve previously discussed “leaving room to say things suck” and having your team’s back is generally the next step.
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It’s amazing how easy this step is to forget when your team responds to a situation.
