I was walking out of our UFP Site Built Lafayette, Colorado, plant yesterday when something stopped me in my tracks.
A "BELIEVE" sign. Hung on the wall. The kind you'd recognize instantly if you've ever watched Ted Lasso.
I had to stop and take a selfie with it.
If you haven't seen the show — it centers on an American football coach hired to lead a British soccer team he knows nothing about. He has no business being there by conventional logic. But he leads with optimism, curiosity, and an unshakeable belief that people are capable of more than they think.
There's a moment in the show where Ted is playing darts against a guy who's been mocking him — and he says:
"Be curious, not judgmental."
It's attributed to Walt Whitman. And it lands like a gut punch — in the best way.
How often do we walk into a room, a conversation, or a project and lead with a verdict instead of a question? Judgment is fast. Curiosity takes work. But the best collaborators I've ever been around — the ones who actually move things forward — they ask before they assume.
That sign on the wall at our plant wasn't just a TV reference. It was a reminder.
Believe in the people around you.
Stay curious about what's possible.
And maybe hang a sign somewhere that makes people stop in their tracks.
And if I'm being honest — I wouldn't have found that reminder without my colleague Kiley Rice pushing me to watch the show in the first place. I knew these lessons. But sometimes it takes a great story — and a great teammate — to bring them back into focus. I'm grateful for that, Kiley.
What's a quote, a show, or a colleague who's reshaped how you lead?