Copy
View this email in your browser
What do Ted Lasso and Anita Hill Have in Common?

Dear <<First Name>>,

I just jumped on the very crowded Ted Lasso bandwagon.  Now, I, too, am addicted to the dopamine surge delivered by these lovable characters, an underdog sports team, smart micro-plot twists, and witty word play.

Not to mention all those Emmy Awards.

Reuters/Mario Anzuoni image of cast of Ted Lasso at the 2021 Emmys

Strange Brainfellows

At the same time that my husband and I were smiling our way through Ted Lasso Season 1, I was also reading an advance copy of Anita Hill’s excellent new book, Believing:  Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence, to be released on Tuesday.  

That is how a sometimes silly-ish sitcom created by Hollywood comedians and a serious book written by an iconic activist / law professor became strange brainfellows in my mind this month.

So, my dear good people, here are four things that Coach Ted Lasso and Professor Anita Hill have in common:

cover art for Anita Hill's autobiography, titled "Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence"

1.  "I believe in believe"

Coach Lasso declares that he "believes in believe" and slaps a handwritten "BELIEVE" sign on the wall in Season 1.  Believe that something good is coming; this theme runs throughout each episode, as beautifully described here

Turns out the title of Anita Hill's book is "Believing."  Before I started reading, I wondered if it referred to believing her, as millions did (and some did not) in 1991 when she stepped into a brutal public spotlight.  Despite being a deeply private person, she risked everything to testify to Congress about being sexually harassed by nominated Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. 

After reading Believing, I realized the title can be interpreted many ways.  Professor Hill speaks about her parents raising her and her 12 siblings.  They, whose own parents were born into slavery or never allowed an education, believed "that we deserved better."  Today, she tells of her "belief that we are now on the verge of monumental change." 

Both Anita Hill and Ted Lasso believe in believe.

Promotional image for the TV show "Ted Lasso" on Apple TV+, featuring Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso. Sudeikis is shown giving a "thumbs up" and standing in front of a yellow sign with the word "BELIEVE" written in blue letters.

2.  Revisiting Believers and Builders

In my book, I distinguish between "believers" in diversity and inclusion and builders of a more diverse and inclusive workplace, neighborhood, family, and world.  Building tools, strategies, knowledge, and courage is required to transform beliefs into reality.  I write that the audience for my book is believers who want to move along the continuum to being builders.  

Graphic illustrating the movement from believer to builder; features a drawing of a lightbulb with "believer" above it, and a drawing of a skyline with the word "builder" above it, with an arrow between the two words.
Truthfully, I have spent much more time thinking/writing/speaking about how to be a builder than how to be a believer.  But Coach Lasso and Professor Hill convinced me that part of what is required in being a believer is actually believing change can happen.  It made me realize that I sometimes was confusing wanting something to be true with believing it can be true.  They are not the same thing.

Both Ted Lasso and Anita Hill believe something different can happen.  They can see it.  Can you?  Can I?  If being a builder requires that you first be a believer, then being a believer requires that you see something different, as Evelyn Parker's illustration so deftly captures above.  

Believing is an active and intentional stance, in which you place a bet on what is possible.  It requires gambling with hope, which Ted Lasso fans will tell you, is what kills you.
Anita Hill on cover of Time Magazine

3.  Changing the Conversation


In Believing, Professor Hill describes how people stumbled over how to pronounce the new term "sexual harassment" in 1991.  As summarized in this excellent interview with Jessica Bennett in the New York Times, Professor Hill provides a fascinating rundown of how the first comprehensive survey exploring the reality of women's workplace experiences came from none other than Redbook, the women's magazine, in 1976.  The issue had not yet become discussable.

Anita Hill changed that. 

Similarly, Ted Lasso is tackling mental health issues in sports and beyond.  At a time when mental health issues are skyrocketing (for obvious reasons), the show is changing how we talk about it (speaking broadly here to avoid spoilers).  Consider how twitter reacted to the show's depiction of a panic attack. These are new conversations.

Ted Lasso is changing that.
Anita Hill smiles while gesturing and looking at the camera, wearing business attire.

4.  The Problem and Promise of Hollywood

When Anita Hill became a household name, I was in my first job out of college, a woman working 70-100 hour weeks in investment banking, a world fueled by toxic masculinity.  She instantly became my hero as she modelled clarity, composure, and courage.

That said, I am only now realizing that I missed the point.

This realization has come partially because I have been unbelievably lucky enough to have been in this recent fireside chat in which she and I discussed my book (and I wondered if I was dreaming when she spoke of my "remarkable work.") 

NOTE:  Her swoony comments about my work aside, I can vouch that Anita Hill is the generous, grounded, genuine exception to the don't-meet-your-heroes rule.  
Zoom call with Anita Hill and Dolly Chugh for the Hollywood Commission
I had the opportunity to speak with her several times over the past few years.  I learned about her work leading the influential Hollywood Commission, an organization tackling the abuse and harassment plaguing the entertainment ecosystem.  Recently, they released the results of the Hollywood Survey revealing a harrowing level of bias and abuse in the industry.

How does one tackle problems like these?  I have been struck by how policy-driven much of the Hollywood Commission's work is, dismantling rules that make it easier for abusers and harder for victims.  The same is true in her book.  Using case law, Professor Hill builds a convincing argument (in language easily understood by non-legal-scholars like me) that courts, laws, and rules have long enabled gender-based violence.  

This is not an individual issue.  This is a systems issue.

I now better understand, largely because of reading her book, that the work Professor Hill is doing is not about making women as clear, composed, and courageous as Anita Hill.  It is about changing the forces, institutions, laws, norms, cultures, and policies that make it necessary for there to be an Anita Hill.  
Media is a big part that systemic change, which is why Professor Hill decides to lead the Hollywood Commission.  She writes, "#MeToo and Time's Up showed just how influential individuals in the industry could be in reshaping public perception of the acceptability of the (violent, abusive and harassing) behavior." 
Coach Beard and Coach Lasso walk and talk on the way to work, carrying coffee and backpacks.
Which brings us back to Coach Lasso, who tackles toxic masculinity in his locker room and in himself.  This is rare and excellent television, argues the brilliant writer Charlotte Clymer.  She even suggests the Lasso Test for other tv shows and movies. Your show passes the Lasso Test if "at least two men talk to each other about their mental health or emotional wellbeing in a frank and vulnerable and loving way without needing to involve women as vehicles or guides for their self-improvement." 

It is a clever spinoff of the Bechdel Test, in which a movie/show passes if it features two named female characters talking to each other about something other than a man.  It is a surprisingly high bar.
Toxic masculinity and gender-based violence permeate both the business and products of Hollywood.  The Lasso Test is a challenge to change that, one storyline at a time.

The problem and promise of Hollywood is great, as both Coach Lasso and Professor Hill demonstrate.

What's Next

I feel blessed to have spent much of my September living in a world shaped by Professor Hill and Coach Lasso.  And, I hope as many people buy and read Anita Hill's book as watch Ted Lasso.  The book offers a transformative view of the forest beyond the he-said, she-said trees.  It is an informative and inspiring gift from someone who has earned the right to rest, but has little intention of doing so.  

On my end, I am grateful to be safely back in-person at NYU and am still plugging away on my next book (pep talks welcome!).  I will keep sending you bite-sized, evidence-based, action-oriented tips on the last Sunday of each month (check out past issues here).  Please feel free to forward, post, tweet as much as you like - links are below.  I'd love for this free content to reach as many hearts and minds as possible. 

And, thoughts welcome - email link is below!   

Thanks for growing with me,

Dolly ChughDolly Chugh

 


This month's artwork credits from top: Katie Sutton (logo), Jeana Marinelli (books), Reuters/Mario Anzuoni (Emmy Awards), Penguin Random House (Believing book), Screen Rant (“Believe”), Evelyn Parker (Believer to Builder), Time Magazine (Cover), Amani Willett/NYT (Anita Hill), Asha Chugh Singh / Hollywood Commission (Fireside Chat), hollywoodcommission.org (The Hollywood Commission), BBC (pie chart), Apple TV (two coaches), Brett Topel (Dolly)

I thank Evelyn Parker for volunteering their visual deisign talent, Asha Chugh Singh for photo editing, and Katie Sutton for newsletter design and support.

Dolly Chugh is the Jacob B. Melnick Term Professor at the New York University Stern School of Business in the Department of Management and Organizations. She studies the psychology of good people and teaches leadership/management courses. All views are her own.

Want to receive Dear Good People
to your inbox every month?

SUBSCRIBE
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Share Share
Forward Forward
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website
Email
Copyright © 2021 Dolly Chugh, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.