You Tried the Rest, Now Try the Best: Leadership According to the Ted Lasso School of Leadership

The quirky series Ted Lasso gives us a humorous and honest portrayal of leadership principles that we have used at Penn State to realize substantive change in how we collaborate between central and distributed IT units. Join us in an interactive discussion where we apply seven of the leadership lessons from Ted Lasso’s unique perspective: An inspiring leader does not need to be a subject matter expert. Release yourself from your ego and trust your people. Always be curious, never judgmental and listen to everyone. New talent plus experience equals success. Kindness, humility, and empathy are underrated leadership values. A sense of humor is just as important. Upskilling professionals is a joint responsibility of the individual and leadership. If you make a mistake, be a goldfish, they have a memory that lasts 5 seconds. Shake it off and get back to courageous leadership. By aiming toward and applying these seven leadership principles, IT at Penn State has been able to enhance cross-campus collaborations, move toward enterprise services where appropriate, and provide a smooth transition to remote and blended learning through COVID-19. Join us on this journey as we leverage our leadership skills to transform IT to be a true partner in the teaching, learning, and research missions of our institution.