The Audacity of Optimism

Let’s be honest. Positive people are pretty annoying, right?

You’re wallowing over your aging parents, your own health issues, a flooded basement. And they stroll up, pat you on the back, and tell you it’s all going to be okay. 

Who the hell do they think they are? Don’t they know how hard life is? How tiring it is? How much it takes from us? And they have the audacity to be optimistic? Wankers. 

Effective leaders are headstrong. They are unwavering with their focus and meticulous in their execution. They are also hopeful. 

Hope isn’t a soft skill reserved for sissies. It’s not naive to think you will succeed. It’s necessary. If you don’t think you will achieve your goal, why try at all? 

Your mission will test you. It will push your buttons and your boundaries. It will make you question why you took it on in the first place. 

Greatness looks, well, great when it’s finally accomplished. But the steps we must take to get there aren’t all that pretty. 

Bags under our eyes. Coffee stains on our collared shirts. Missed birthday parties.

The envy of success is that most people aren’t dogged enough to reach it. It is reserved for the tenacious, the stubborn, the hopeful. 

Everyone loses steam eventually. That’s why we all need a Ted Lasso in our life. 

Someone who is effusively, undoubtedly, aggravatingly sanguine. Someone who reminds you, in those unavoidable moments of pessimism, why you started your journey in the first place and the destination you’re trying to reach. 

While your fear screams, “But what if I fail?” They whisper, “But what if you fly?” 

No team avoids struggle. But a team led by someone who BELIEVES in their team, BELIEVES in their ability to muscle through, and BELIEVES in the importance of the mission? They’re unbeatable. 

If the boss isn’t optimistic, why should you be? 

This is why Ted Lasso was invited back to coach Richmond’s women’s team in the new season. 

Not because he’s a particularly skilled football tactician. Because he builds a culture of hope. Not by telling his players to be positive. But by being positive himself. 

Ted is television’s best coach for the same reason that he is a good father. A caring friend. A priceless employee: He sets his sights on a beautiful future. And then he becomes the totem for it. For anyone to look upon when the mission feels out of reach. 

Ted’s job is the same as all leaders: believe in your team. And make that belief so infectious that the team can’t help but believe it themselves. 

We salute the infectious positivity Ted Lasso has brought to AFC Richmond and the real world. However annoying it may be.