Ted Lasso Made Me a Better Tech Leader and More Importantly, a Better Person

Talk Description

There are a few things in my journey of being a leader that have helped shape me as a person, and therefore me as a leader.

In 2016 I saw 'Yes Man' with Jim Carrey and it changed my life regarding saying 'Yes' to challenges instead of shirking away from them. 2021 I saw Ted Lasso in the press for winning awards across the world. I started watching, and realised very quickly that Ted Lasso as a person and leader is what I needed to draw inspiration from, in order to make my next leap in leadershipHere are a few of Ted Lasso leadership principles:

• "All people are different people" is a catchphrase of his, and adopting this mindset has allowed me to help a tester that has ADHD. I now look at each individual tester I work with and take their career path and tailor it to them, their wants, their needs, based off this principle
• "Believe in believe" is another that Im using to coach someone with impostor syndrome
• "See the good in others' ties very closely to the retro prime directive and has helped me go into feisty situations with a different lens

Ted Lasso also gave me the confidence to take on managing and leading developers. By following his coaching principles I was able to go and lead a craft that within tech leadership circles, is still a bit of a bit of a taboo thing (Thats slowly changing though) and that is Test leaders leading Developers.

This talk is my leadership journey, tied into the Ted Lasso coaching lessons. Like Ted Lasso, my journey to become a better leader will never end, and I am always learning, seeking improvements. Like Ted, I've failed, and like Ted, I pull learnings from those.

The pandemic is nearly 2 years old, and what Ted Lasso is, is a feel good factor boxset with key life, coaching lessons weaved in throughout. By sharing my journey of how this programme has impacted me, I hope it will change yours.rath

By the end of this session, you'll be able to:

Leigh Rathbone

Head of Quality Engineering

I’ve been in the craft of testing for 24 years, mostly in leadership roles, and feel as passionate about testing now, as I did in my first year. I’ve had many roles, from testing the world’s first touchscreen smartphone, to heading up Sony PlayStation European Test Operations, to Head of test for a clinical software firm. I’ve currently made the jump across to Engineering Manager and a company called cinch I’m a huge advocate of self-development, and sharing your learnings from that self-development. I've spoken at over 50 conferences and meetups, ran meetups, and compered at Testbash, Swanseacon, and Manchester tech festival