{"id":273182,"date":"2026-10-20T18:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/273182\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T18:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:20:10","slug":"jamie-dimon-says-ceos-should-be-more-like-ted-lasso-instead-of-acting-like-autocrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/273182\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Dimon says CEOs should be more like Ted Lasso instead of acting like ‘autocrats\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Ted Lasso<\/a> took over AFC Richmond, the fictional England soccer team at the center of Apple<\/a> TV\u2019s hit series, his relentlessly positive attitude and folksy charm made him an unlikely leader. But beneath his optimism was a coach who understood how to bring out the best in people\u2014even when that meant confronting their insecurities, calling out bad behavior, and demanding better.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a leadership style that even JPMorgan Chase<\/a> Jamie Dimon<\/a> admitted he\u2019s learned from.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Ted Lasso,\u201d Dimon recently told The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cHe comes in and he doesn\u2019t know anything about football, and he\u2019s just gracious. He\u2019s working with people\u2014their insecurities, their bad behavior, their work ethic\u2014and he\u2019s getting them to function as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old added that Lasso gets at something many corporate leaders struggle with: balancing humility and empathy with an unwavering drive to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these companies have huge capabilities, IP, and great people. But a lot of big companies are political and bureaucratic,\u201d Dimon said. \u201cThe people would like to get out of that, most of them\u2014but some of the bad people want to keep it that way, like autocrats, they want to keep things suppressed because they benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That often shows up when unnamed \u201cterrible companies\u201d have to bring in a new CEO to clean up a culture problem, Dimon said. However, it would suit many to be more like Lasso to begin with\u2014and speak up when there are problems, even if it may not be easy to hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good leader over time figures it out, removes some of the bad ones, and the place starts to shine,\u201d Dimon added. \u201cIt can take some time because these bullshitters have been doing it for 25 years, and they\u2019re usually pretty good at it. It\u2019s hard to notice in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chevron\u2019s CEO agrees with Dimon: The \u2018best leaders\u2019 ask questions and listen to others<\/p>\n

Dimon isn\u2019t the only business leader who saw leadership lessons<\/a> in the show, now in its fourth season and starring Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth<\/a> has also praised Lasso\u2019s approach, particularly his willingness to listen before jumping to conclusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our work, it\u2019s easy to assume we already know the answer,\u201d Wirth told the WSJ<\/a>. \u201cEasy to think we know what caused a problem, what a customer wants, or what the best option is. But the best leaders I\u2019ve worked with do something different. They ask questions. They listen. They seek to understand before they decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

That philosophy is central to Lasso\u2019s unlikely coaching career. Hired to lead an English soccer club despite having coached American football, he had to learn a new sport while earning the trust of players who initially doubted him. Rather than pretend to know everything, he leaned on others, stayed curious, and adapted as he went.<\/p>\n

Wirth said that the same willingness to learn from people with different backgrounds has helped him throughout his career at Chevron, the energy giant ranked No. 21 on the Fortune 500<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the most important lessons I\u2019ve learned came from conversations with people with different experience than me\u2014in a refinery control room, at a drilling site or on a trading floor,\u201d Wirth added. \u201cCuriosity creates learning. And learning leads to better decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lasso\u2019s lessons are embodied in one word: \u2018Believe\u2019<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a more academic explanation for why Lasso\u2019s approach resonates with business leaders.<\/p>\n

Bruce Avolio, professor of management at the University of Washington, sees the fictional coach as an example of a leader who prioritizes learning, humility, and the people around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTed [Lasso] views each situation with childlike wonder and curiosity,\u201d Avolio said<\/a> in a university Q&A. \u201cHe seeks out opportunities for development and performance, while delaying judgment. He transmits genuine humility, which allows others who know more to step in and contribute to the collective potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach puts people before metrics, Avolio argued, with Lasso focusing on the human dynamics that can be among the hardest parts of leadership to get right. Ultimately, he added, great leadership is about stewardship: creating an environment where people can grow, make their own decisions, and succeed even after their leader is gone.<\/p>\n

Lasso\u2019s \u201cBelieve\u201d sign<\/a> captures that philosophy in a single word. The message has even made its way into the corporate world: Dimon reportedly<\/a> brought a version of the sign into JPMorgan\u2019s offices, a fitting reminder that building a winning team starts with believing in the people on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Ted Lasso took over AFC Richmond, the fictional England soccer team at the center of Apple TV\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[164],"tags":[12078,13988,15332,2683,766,805,806,1071,4634,6441],"class_list":["post-273182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jamie-dimon","tag-apple-tv","tag-business-leadership","tag-career-development","tag-careers","tag-chief-executive-officer-ceo","tag-jamie-dimon","tag-jpmorgan-chase","tag-leadership","tag-leadership-lessons","tag-view-from-the-c-suite"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117474625275356925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}