Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder needed some help dealing with a tricky situation at work not long ago. He took advice from one of his favorite television shows.

I dont know if you watch Ted Lasso, he said. But sometimes your favorite animal is a goldfish because it has a memory of 10 seconds. Thats where we need to be.

There was something curious about one of the NBAs brightest minds borrowing a Ted Lasso pep talk. He could have leaned on decades of experience to get his basketball team past a stressful moment in the playoffs. He decided to invoke the folksy wisdom of a fictional American football coach managing an English soccer club.

It turns out hes not the only person in professional sports channeling his inner Ted Lasso these days.

It should be required watching for coaches, Snyder said.

The model for modern coaches evolving from Lombardi to Lasso is a reflection of the shifting power dynamics in sports and how much has changed in management strategies over the past decade. Not every coach is relentlessly cheerful or comes to the office with freshly baked cookies for his boss. But its hard to look around the business world and not see hints of Jason Sudeikiss character.

I think it used to be an accepted leadership tactic to essentially abuse people, said Brendan Hunt, one of the shows creators and writers who also plays Coach Beard, Lassos sidekick. Im sure there are people who are, like, Now were soft. Were not soft. Were just not morons. We see better ways to get the best out of people. Humiliating them in front of their peers is probably not high on the list.

Question-

1. Is it necessary for leaders to understand what their employees do on a day-in and day-out basis? Defend your point of view.
2. What other examples of fictional leaders from the movies or television programs have shaped your views of leadership, either in a positive way or a negative way?
3. What is emotional intelligence and how is it linked to leadership effectiveness?

Tyranny is out. Empathy is in. Coaches are getting the most of players by relating to them, not dictating to them, while keeping them accountable without coddling them. They are behaving more like Ted Lasso.

Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder needed some help dealing with a tricky situation at work not long ago. He took advice from one of his favorite television shows.

There is a takeaway from the series, now in its second season on Apple TV+, that applies to any line of work: The best coaches are the best managers of people.

It doesnt matter that Lasso doesnt know anything about the sport. What happens on the pitch is the least demanding part of his job. He soothes the neuroses of his star players. He injects his role players with confidence. He uses his superpower of emotional intelligence to balance competing personalities, foster an environment where everyone is capable of good work and build the culture of a team initially resistant to his charms.

The show found an early supporter in someone else who believes that winning should be fun, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who tweeted his praise for the series when most people were ready to dismiss it. He also has another reason to be a fan: One of his children happens to work at Ted Lasso.

If there is a lesson on the show, it is that culture beats scheme, Kerr said in an email. The guy knows nothing about soccer but he has created a great atmosphere with the club that leads to winning.

The coaches who are secure enough to empower people around them tend to be the ones who understand that a good idea might come from anyone or anywhere. They have the curiosity to ask for help and the humility to accept it.

Lasso takes suggestions for set pieces from his players and promotes Nate the kit man to assistant coach since hes already crafting strategy in addition to cleaning laundry. The most famous example of Kerr going full Lasso was the time the Warriors went small in the 2015 NBA Finals and he deflected credit for the schematic tweak that helped win a championship to Nick URen, a previously anonymous special assistant to the head coach.

Jason Sacks, the chief development officer of the Positive Coaching Alliance, says todays coaches understand that connecting with players means dealing with them as individuals. It makes sense that Kerr has a different relationship with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Theyre different people from different backgrounds. The only way to reach them is through different motivational tactics. You see a lot of that with Ted Lasso, too, Sacks said.

Chris Paul was binging the show between film sessions as the overachieving Phoenix Suns made the NBA Finals. Meanwhile his coach sounded like he was interviewing for Lassos staff as he discussed the bond hes developed with his players. When they make fun of me, Monty Williams said, thats a sign that were tight.

The imperial coach is becoming a relic as Ted Lassos temperament becomes the standard. If there is one word that encapsulates the Lasso school of management, its the word he litters around his flat: BELIEVE. That was also the word the Atlanta Hawks flaunted on their warmups during their own surprising playoff run.

It isnt a coincidence that NBA players and coaches are studying this TV series. Lasso is a realistic portrayal of an effective leader in 2021 partly because his character was inspired by real people. And they dont work in soccer.

Were drawing much more on a basketball coaching paradigm as we think of how he works and how he sees things, Hunt said.

Before he played basketball in college, Sudeikis played in high school for a coach who loved John Wooden. When he started playing Ted Lasso, Sudeikis hung Woodens pyramid of success in his office. The set design was not a surprise to his friends: They know him well enough to know that Sudeikiss go-to gift is a book of Wooden quotes.

There are basketball fingerprints all over this soccer clubs football coach. Sudeikis and Hunt met in Chicago and consider former Bulls coach Phil Jackson a sacred being. Gregg Popovich was another source for the writers as they brainstormed unorthodox ways for a coach to establish trust with his team. Lasso stages an exorcism to lift a curse on AFC Richmond. Popovich takes the San Antonio Spurs to long, wine-soaked dinners. We thought of that as very Lassosesque, Hunt said.

Art imitates life. Life is now imitating art. But the funny thing about this show becoming reality and Ted Lasso turning into a guru is that if a sports team asked the characters writers for advice, their first response might very well be laughing him out of the room.

Id be somewhat disinclined to be responsible for the fortunes of a franchise that uses a sitcom as their philosophical north star, Hunt said. Trying to demonstrate good leadership was not our raison detre. Were still just trying to make a comedy.