The show centers around Ted Lasso, a former football coach from Kansas who moved to England to coach an English soccer team. Although he has little knowledge of the sport, Ted manages to win over the team and its fans with his quirky pep talks and fresh ideas.

Throughout the three seasons of Ted Lasso, Ted leaves viewers with leadership lessons worth adopting in the workplace.

Spoiler alert: While no major plot developments are revealed, this article briefly mentions several scenarios that occur in the entire three seasons of Ted Lasso.

1. Stay Curious, and Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

Ted moves to England without basic knowledge of the popular English sport, soccer. While this definitely makes him underqualified, he recognizes that he has a lot to learn. Instead of pretending he knows what’s best for the team, he asks his assistant coach, players, and even the kit man what they think he should do in situations he doesn’t feel equipped to handle alone.

One of the most endearing moments of the show takes place in season one, when Nate, the kit man for AFC Richmond, is cleaning the trashcans and overhears that Ted is looking for new ideas for team plays after losing a match. While Nate is initially hesitant to cross the boundary between kit man and coach, Ted reassures him that he is “one of them.” When Nate finally pulls an idea written down on a crinkled piece of paper out of his pocket and struggles to hand it over out of fear of rejection, Ted asks if he thinks his idea will work. When Nate says yes, Ted asks him to walk him through the play before exclaiming, “Let’s give it a shot.”

This is just one example of the many moments in Ted Lasso where Ted leads with curiosity instead of a know-it-all attitude. It can be easy to assume you know best when you’re in a leadership role. Still, even people in leading positions with years of experience and a wide breadth of industry knowledge should be open to listening and learning.

2. If Something Doesn’t Work, Try Something New

While something may have worked in your career or at your company in the past, better solutions may arise in the future. For example, companies frequently have to restrategize sales and advertisement campaigns to keep customers both interested and informed, even when a method was once successful. This applies to all areas of business and even career growth, where new ideas and strategies are often required to progress and improve.

Just as Ted isn’t afraid to ask questions, he’s also always open to switching things up when it benefits his team. In season three, on a team trip, he sets his sights on brainstorming something new for AFC Richmond to do on the field. He “dreams up” Total Football, a play involving constant movement without set positions (it’s important to note that Ted did not invent Total Football; he had just never heard of it before).

Instead of pushing his team to do better with the plays they are given, he gives them a chance to try Total Football, which relies heavily on supporting your teammates’ choices and taking risks on the fly. Eventually, Ted even lets Jamie, the team’s star player, correct him about where he should be on the field when Total Football is in play, which Ted happily accepts and adapts to.

“It’s about throwing out the constraints put upon you by society and by yourselves,” says Coach Beard, the assistant coach, about Total Football. This is a lesson any professional should adopt: if something isn’t working, don’t constrain yourself to one idea, and be willing to try something new. 

3. It’s Not All About Winning

While it might be frustrating for sports fans to watch Ted’s “Oh well, we’ll get ’em next time!” attitude when AFC Richmond loses, it’s not a bad lesson in how to look forward instead of backward in work scenarios.

“For me, it’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field,” Ted once said about what winning means to him.

In season one of Ted Lasso, Coach Beard yells at Ted when he says he doesn’t measure success based on wins. He yells at him not because this isn’t a fine philosophy but because he and the players on the team do care about winning — which is a lesson in itself on recognizing the needs of your team or teammates and not just your own. In the case of a soccer team, losing also involves consequences like relegations. In the workplace, “losing” might hurt a business’s bottom line.

However, Ted’s ability to focus on what needs to be done to improve rather than on past failures is a helpful leadership lesson. In the workforce, “winning” might translate to record sales or increased engagement, but it’s important to also reflect on the work that went into a campaign or strategy.

Be sure to call out the good work your team did on a project — including all the extra brain power and hours — even if it wasn’t a complete success or you didn’t hit your target. Turn a loss into a win by recognizing that you didn’t fail; you just learned that you need to try something new. Failure is just part of the journey to success.

4. Check on Your Team On and Off the Field

The most endearing aspect of Ted Lasso is how compassionate each of the characters is. They genuinely care about one another and constantly check in to make sure people are doing okay—both professionally and personally.

In one episode of Ted Lasso, the AFC Richmond squad is convinced that the treatment room is cursed. When Ted realizes that this is a belief shared by the team that needs to be addressed as it’s causing a distraction, he doesn’t shut them down. Instead, Ted listens and comes up with a solution: each player will put a valued item in a box and perform a cleansing ritual.

This is just the start of the team building a rapport, which is the basis of every great partnership. In the workplace, building rapport can make your team more engaged, loyal, and collaborative.

In the hustle and bustle of the workplace, it’s easy to forget to check in on your team and teammates. If they aren’t coming to you with concerns, how do you know there are any?

Some people may be reluctant to open up, even if something is happening professionally or personally that’s holding them back from doing their best work. That’s why it’s important to regularly reaffirm to your team and teammates that they can come to you with any questions or concerns. Sometimes, centering a conversation around something lighthearted or recurring, like a chat over coffee or a bi-weekly 15-minute check-in, can make it easier for people to open up.

When someone does have a concern about a project or assignment, remember to lead with compassion. It’s easy to shut someone down when you disagree, but listening to fully understand where someone is coming from is important. Personal life can easily bleed into professional life. If someone is struggling in their personal life, creating an environment where they know they have support is critical. This will produce their best work on (at work) and off (at home) the field.