The Ted Lasso of CEOs.

Matthew Gerrell

Fractional Chief Marketing Officer

A few years ago, someone who I still have a lot of respect for on my team called me the “Ted Lasso of CEOs.” He thought he was being funny. At first, I laughed. I am not from Kansas. I do not coach soccer, sorry football. And I do not walk around with a mustache dispensing biscuits.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was one of the greatest compliments I have ever received as a leader. In fact, so much so, my team made a mug for me.

Not because Ted Lasso is naïve. Not because he is relentlessly optimistic. But because he is deeply committed to his people.

He believes in them before they believe in themselves. He focuses on who they are becoming, not just what they are producing. He understands that performance follows belief.

That comparison forced me to reflect on what kind of leader I actually wanted to be.

Early in my career, like many executives, I was wired for results. Growth. Margin. Market share. KPIs. Board decks. The score mattered. It always matters. If you lead an organization, you are accountable for outcomes. Outcomes for yourself, your team, and the departments that you lead.

But over time, I learned something more important. You do not build sustainable performance by squeezing people. You build it by developing them.

The best teams I have ever had the privilege to work with did not perform at a high level because they were afraid of missing a number. They performed because they felt seen, trusted, and challenged. They knew that their leader believed in them, even when the quarter was tough or the market shifted.

Ted Lasso has a line in the show where he says, “I believe in hope.” Some might roll their eyes at that. In business, hope is often dismissed as soft.

I disagree.

Hope, when paired with discipline and accountability, becomes fuel.

When people believe tomorrow can be better, they are willing to put in the work today. When they believe their leader has their back, they take smart risks. They innovate. They stretch. They recover faster from mistakes.

As a leader, my job was not to be the smartest person in the room. It was to create a room where smart people could thrive.

That meant hiring for character as much as competence. It meant having hard conversations without humiliating anyone. It meant celebrating wins loudly and owning failures quietly. It meant asking, “What do you need from me to succeed?” more often than saying, “Here is what you need to fix.” Did I do this 100% of the time, no. But I strived to achieve this every time I was with any member of my team. From the C-Suite to the best customer service team in the industry.

One of the most powerful shifts I made was redefining what winning looked like.

Winning was not just hitting a revenue target. It was watching a director step into executive presence. It was seeing a manager who once avoided conflict start leading courageous conversations. It was seeing someone get promoted and knowing they were ready, not lucky.

Scoreboards matter. Development matters more.

When you invest in people, you multiply impact. When you hoard control, you cap it.

Being called the “Ted Lasso of CEOs” also reminded me of something else. Culture is not built in town halls. It is built in daily interactions.

It is built in how you respond when someone makes a mistake.

It is built in whether your team feels safe bringing you bad news.

It is built in whether you model calm when the pressure rises.

Leadership is not about being the hero of the story. It is about helping others become the hero of theirs.

If you are leading a team right now, ask yourself a few simple questions.

1. Do your people know you believe in them?

2. Do they feel challenged and supported?

3. Are you developing successors, or are you building dependence?

In the long run, the organizations that win are not the ones with the flashiest strategy deck. They are the ones with the deepest bench, the strongest trust, and the clearest sense of shared purpose.

If being compared to Ted Lasso means I focused more on people than ego, more on belief than fear, and more on long term growth than short term applause, I will take that label every time.

Because leadership, at its core, is not about proving how capable you are.

It is about helping others discover how capable they can become.