This company wouldn't survive without me #!X?*

Take a good look around, cause you may not be coming back tomorrow...

Sadly, we all have colleagues (in every capacity) that believe they are truly indispensable. Most (despite their shock) can end up with a box heading out the door. I'm not trying to be sanctimonious as I am neither morally or intellectually superior, but hear me out.

One of the best shows over the past few years is Ted Lasso, many of you are smiling, shaking your head in agreement right now. We all know the show is stuffed with wonderful metaphors perfectly crafted with meaning, purpose and whit. Each time they unfold before us, we inevitably smile in approval, hungry for more of Ted's homespun, corncob wisdom.

So, let's use Jamie Tartt as an example of that self important colleague. Basically he is a Peacock that only cares about himself (season 1) until he discovers his true role on the team.

(reference: I borrowed some of this from the Ted Lasso wiki, so all credit to them as I mildly plagiarize).

Jamie is an ascendancy man in his own mind; he hardly gets along with other team members he refuses to participate in group activities, he is a bully, often going so far as to purposefully sabotage his teammates to exercise his self-righteous ego. He is admired but not respected, and despite himself, manages to get the job done on the PITCH. He's always one step away from greatness or failure at any fleeting moment. Look at it, but don't touch...

We all know this person at work, we all see through their insecurity, we watch their cracks grow deeper and wider, and yet we continue to tolerate their ego as they seemingly orbit the rest of the team, until one day it happens. The team finally turns, the girlfriend leaves, the coach banishes him and he's now left to himself; no team, leadership or fans, until?

Teams are hard, let's be real. Change is constant, conflict can be constant, and alignment is hard to keep fluid. Here's a big point: Great talent is almost always evident in every team, yet it's the team that exercises the talent vs. the talent that exercises the team. Jamie was never supposed to be "the leading" talent, but rather the "enabling talent" that utilizes everyone, moving the ball down the field. As he says in season 3 when he finally wakes, "Don't go to me (passing it), instead go through me". His real role was to keep moving in the center of the team, not at the front. His strength was not orbiting, but instead enabling the others to play their best. It was a classic Ted Lasso genius moment.

I remember when this was in the show some 2 years ago and I vowed to write about it for our practice because it is so much like collaborative velocity (which I learned from a famous apple executive), and which you've heard me write about before. Then, the other day a fellow executive said "write about that guy, you know, the ego maniac disruptor that we all have to deal with". Wallah, I found my theme for this post.

I digress, we all know that moving product development, sales traction or almost any other mission critical set of goals down field is not about one person; but finding the right person for that given task, the hub to enable the spokes to turn with precision and focus is what some geniuses should very much be doing. You can help your geniuses realize that standing alone might get anyone fired, where as being the Jamie Tartt and making others great, is far more valuable than standing alone like a Peacock. Thanks Ted Lasso!