Curiosity #51 - The One About Me Becoming We

🎤 Quotable quotes: "We were a team. Whether I was playing or not, I was part of a team. And our team won."

— Tiger Woods after a Ryder Cup win

Most weeks, pro golfers are lone wolves. Just them, their caddie, and a bucket of Titleists.

Then along comes the Ryder Cup. Suddenly they are not just representing themselves. They are part of something bigger. That means syncing up with a partner’s style, celebrating their birdies, carrying their bogeys, and letting the “me” become “we.”

Ted Lasso would have a field day with that. Because leadership is not about losing yourself in the team. It is about bringing your whole self to the team, then adapting so everyone rises together.

🏟 Why This Matters for You

Think of those Ryder Cup formats like life’s curveballs:

• Alternate Shot: sometimes you do not hit every ball, but you make the most of the one you are given.

• Fourball: sometimes your partner saves the hole. Your job is to trust and support, not steal the spotlight.

• Singles: sometimes it really is just you again, carrying the lessons you learned from the team back to your own game.

It is a perfect picture of adaptability. The same golfer who thrives alone has to flex, to fit, to flow with someone else. Their ability to adjust becomes just as important as their ability to strike a perfect iron shot.

And that is exactly the kind of adaptability Ted Lasso coached into AFC Richmond. Remember Jamie Tartt learning that passing can be just as powerful as scoring? Or Roy Kent realizing that his gruff leadership carried more weight when he opened up to his teammates? These are moments where me became we.

Here is the kicker: adaptability does not mean abandoning your identity. You still bring your swing, your skills, your quirks. But success in the Ryder Cup, just like success in life and leadership, comes when you can use who you are to strengthen the team around you.

So the question becomes: how well do you switch gears? Can you move from solo mode to team mode without losing your footing? Can you flex without folding? That is where real growth and leadership show up.

🏌️‍♂️ Pro Tips from the Ryder Cup

What golfers learn in team play that we can all borrow:

• Celebrate your partner’s wins. Momentum is contagious. Cheer for others like their birdie is your birdie.

• Share the pressure. If one of you shanks it, the other picks it up. Don’t carry stress alone.

• Trust the handoff. Alternate shot only works if you believe your partner will take care of the next swing. Same goes for projects at work.

• Match your energy. Some partners need calm, some need hype. Adapt your vibe to make theirs better.

• Keep perspective. One bad hole is not the whole round. One mistake at work is not the whole story.

Like Ted might say: “You don’t have to play every ball. But you do have to play every role.”

🫶 Stay curious,
— Nick & Marnie
Your tea-sipping, putt-sinking, team-believing friends

More leadership musings

🍪 Biscuits with the Boss: 

Think of a time you had to shift from “me” mode to “we” mode.

• What did you have to change about your approach?

• What stayed the same about who you are?

📚Beard’s collection:

📖 Murphy, Patrick S. Leadership On The Green: 26 Lessons from Golf’s Greatest That Will Transform the Way You Lead. 2025.
A fresh set of lessons from the fairway that prove pressure, setbacks, and consistency are where leaders are made. Tiger might say winning matters, but Ted would remind us that character and adaptability are the real trophies.

📖 Boyd, Eric, and Anna Alvarez Boyd. FairWays to Leadership®: Building Your Business Network One Round of Golf at a Time. Georgetown University Press, 2024.
Golf meets networking in this playbook for building trust, connection, and integrity one hole at a time. It’s basically “Biscuits with the Boss,” but outdoors and with a 7-iron instead of shortbread.

📖 James, Jimmie. Playing from the Rough: A Personal Journey through America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses. 2024.
From a childhood of struggle to tackling the most exclusive golf courses in the U.S., Jimmie James’ story shows how perseverance, authenticity, and heart become your biggest drivers. It’s walking the course and doing more than playing the game.

🌎 This week in Here - There - Every F’ing where 

If you are one of the 96k members of the Ted Lasso Facebook Community, then the odds are good that you are a raving fan of the Sunflowers episode (S3 Ep 6 - hint: Rebecca falls off the bridge into the canal ;)). Our latest Lead it Like Lasso rewatch podcast episode is out - we dive deep (not as deep as Rebecca) into the leadership elements of that episode. 

Listen to the full episode here:

Happy fall folks! 

Nick & Marnie