Two moments that moved me in Ted Lasso series finale

📺 Ted Lasso: Believe and Leadership

Welcome to this week’s issue. Note: spoiler alert.

---

Earlier this year, I wrote about the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso. As I watched the season three (and likely series) finale recently, two moments really struck me.

Before I go on, please note there are spoilers below and, if you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to wait to read this until after you’ve seen the final episode. Proceed at your own risk.

Believe

If you have watched Ted Lasso, you know about the BELIEVE poster. If you haven’t:

Ted Lasso has always been a show about trying your best and that being enough. That message was driven home by Ted hanging a sign above his door that said believe that, for most of season 1, was crooked and no one fixed it. It taught us all to believe in ourselves and each other and to work our hardest, and then, in the end, we can accept whatever happens in our lives. (source)

Here is an image from the show:

Source: Apple TV+ via CNN

In the second season, Nate Shelley ripped it in half and eventually it is all torn up. The plot moved on in season three and, by the season finale, I had largely forgotten about the sign.

Before their last game, one might expect Coach Ted Lasso to motivate his team but he defers to Coach Beard and Roy Kent. When the team is behind at halftime, that is when Ted speaks. It’s warm and heart-felt. At one point he turns to point to the BELIEVE poster—or rather where the poster used to be. What happens when he finishes speaking though is what really struck me.

If you haven’t seen it, here it is (watch it, 4m43s):

Sam gets a folded yellow piece of paper out of his locker and drops it on the table in the center of the locker room. Then Jamie opens a book and removes a piece of yellow paper. Then Isaac, the team captain, removes a small piece he has been wearing under his arm band. And on it goes.

The visual of watching each player reveal they have kept a part of this BELIEVE poster and then the team gathering to reassemble it like a jigsaw puzzle is a powerful scene. NPR agrees:

And realizing they'd all hidden them in different places — behind a photo, in a book, in a sock or a sleeve — was a pretty literal but charming representation of how these guys have taken in what Ted was trying to teach them and are capable of recreating it themselves.

Leadership

The other moment that really struck me is near the end and reminds me of Randy Pausch’s last lecture, which I wrote about earlier this year, and the idea of head fakes.

Former journalist Trent Crimm has been working on a book about Ted Lasso and his coaching style. He delivers a draft manuscript for Ted and Coach Beard to review before he leaves. It’s titled The Lasso Way.

Screen capture from Ted Lasso S3E12 | Source: Brain Pilot

Coach Beard marks up his copy with lots of flags and comments all over.

Coach Lasso? One small suggestion:

Screen capture from Ted Lasso S3E12 | Source: Brain Pilot

It’s not about me. It never was.

-Ted Lasso

After this, you see it play out visually in each person’s life. The part of me that loves stories and film was impressed with how well they wrapped up each plot line and each character arc in the final minutes of this show.

I won’t go into each one aside from noting Roy Kent becomes the next manager, underscoring his own personal growth and that Ted’s impact and legacy will continue after he returns home to be with his wife and son, Henry.

The larger point is about the role of leaders. It’s not about them. While servant leadership is never explicitly mentioned in the show, there is a through line of humility — and culture for Ted Lasso’s style is big on organizational/team culture. I suspect Ted Lasso clips will find their ways into business schools and lectures on leadership for years to come. One could do worse than to watch and learn from Ted.

What lessons did you learn from Ted Lasso? What were your favorite moments? Characters? Plot lines?

📺 Media Embed: Ted Lasso

In trying to find legal clips of Ted Lasso to embed, I came across this official promo from Apple TV+, which has some nice behind the scenes moments and heartwarming quotes from the actors/actresses. If you loved Ted Lasso and don’t want it to end, enjoy one last dose here (6m28s):

Now, go be a goldfish! 🐟

---

Thanks for reading.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Bryce