Lead It Like Lasso by Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio
“Leadership is about empowering others to achieve greatness”
3 Main Messages:
Leadership is changing and those who empower others and build great teams exemplify humility, resilience, honesty and vulnerability.
“Clarity of vision is critical in order for everyone to aim for the same target.”
Believe in the best in people and build teams who believe in each other.
Like many others who adored all three seasons of this Apple TV+ hit show (August 2020 - May 2023), I was instantly attracted and drawn in by the title of the book when I saw it on a colleague’s shelf. As Ted might say: “You had me at Lasso.”
There were so many leadership lessons to be learned through Ted Lasso’s unwaveringly optimistic and human approach to leadership. I was intrigued to see how these would be explored in a book.
As Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio admit, this book is “unofficial, unauthorized and uncensored.” Perhaps the writers of the show have missed a (hat) trick. Or perhaps they know that their work is done and what comes next is conversations about the characters, reflections on our own experiences of leadership and implementation of some of the lessons learned, so that we can all be a bit more ‘Ted.’
Lead It Like Lasso is split into four parts. The first is short and highlights some of the leadership strategies demonstrated in the show. These are rules identified and summarised by the authors and, while it is a good premise, it actually feels like a bit of a weak start.
The second section is worse. It includes a quiz to determine your leadership style and align you to a character from the show. Mine came back spread across all of the characters so felt a bit like a simplistic quiz from a teen magazine. That said, the authors go on to compare each of the characters to a real life leader and I found this interesting and entertaining.
Into the second half and the bulk of the book, which lies in Part 3: The Training. This half is where the action and excitement was for me. It was here that lessons in Lasso Leadership were really brought to life, with references to some of the great thought leaders of today and a deep dive into the characteristics of leadership which have been proven to empower, unite, drive and support successful teams in real life.
There are many references to sporting greats, links back to episodes from the series and examples of how to implement this in the workplace. It is light hearted and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously, but with genuinely useful messaging woven throughout - much like the show.
The book concludes with a reflection section exploring core values, personal operating systems, visioning, your network and your legacy. Again, all of these are fairly soft touch and would serve as a good reminder of deeper work already done, or as an introduction into self reflection. I can see how this book would appeal to younger leaders and so applaud its intention and can see that it would have impact.
Ultimately it is a book written by fans, for the fans. As a result it is a romp of a read and (a little like a goal-less extra time) it doesn’t really add anything to the programme itself - but is entertaining none-the-less. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it.
