Lessons about leadership from Bluey -a mini series
Imagine you worked in Bluey’s World.
Same job, same workplace, same colleagues.
Different location full of different, playful possibilities.
In each episode, Bluey navigates a situation that leads to a few different lessons.
Just like you – each situation you encounter at work can teach you different lessons.
Join me as we watch 5 episodes of Bluey through a leadership lens. I share my point of view about the lessons and invite you to apply these lessons to your workplace. And for bonus points, you may even choose to take action - if you do, drop me an email and let me know!
Choose your own adventure as you read each article and watch each 7-minute episode. I recommend you read each episode synopsis, then watch the episode and then read the synopsis again.
You can watch Bluey on your preferred streaming platform.
The key is look for fun and possibilities.
Enjoy!
Episode 1: The Creek
Even confident leaders can find themselves out of their comfort zone. Leadership challenges come in all shapes and sizes. Some problems have an easy fix, whereas others are big, complex and prove to be difficult to solve.
In this episode, Bluey and her friends are looking for a challenge, so Bandit takes them to play down at The Creek.
Bluey isn’t sure this is for her, but she agrees and goes along with the suggestion. For some leaders, this is exactly how they first end up sitting in a management role.
The problems face Bluey immediately – she swallows mud, steps on a wobbly rock, and walks through a cobweb.
Whether you are acting in a temporary or permanent leadership role, problems can make their way to you from day one. People turn to you for answers and the expectations to be able to solve all of them now may go unsaid, but the pressure can be felt. Being out of your own professional comfort zone can make navigating those challenges even harder.
The practice of managing conflict between colleagues can feel like swallowing mud.
When you need to respond to poor performance for the first time, it can feel like you are balancing on a series of wobbly rocks at risk of falling into deep, cold water.
And the cobwebs, oh the cobwebs. You may not see them coming, but when you walk into resignations and need to start the recruitment process AGAIN, it can be a lot to deal with.
Leadership Challenges
It’s easy to focus only on the challenges and problems. They are big, persistent, and take most of your time to resolve. But like Bluey, the risk of focusing only on the problems can result in missing the natural beauties that make being a leader special.
It takes Bluey a few minutes to adjust to the challenges, but once she adapts and becomes a little more resilient – she starts to see the beauty.
If you have been in a leadership or management role for a few minutes now, are you feeling more resilient? Can you see progress beyond the problems?
Leaders are in a unique position to observe natural occurring beautiful moments. The oversight of operations can mean leaders and managers can often mean their POV is different from the team who may be more focused on their specific role and function.
But leaders can observe moments like when:
someone in your team master’s a new skill and is bursting with pride
a new collaboration takes shape and possibilities start to grow and multiple
a team comes together and performs well as a group to conquer a difficult goal
2 colleagues form a genuine friendship that lasts a lifetime – its even better when you think they wouldn’t have necessarily met if they didn’t work together
There are many special moments that unfold in a workplace. And you can be in a unique position to see these moments.
The opportunity is there for you to not spend just enough time looking out for cobwebs, but not at the risk of missing out on seeing the wallabies.
Watch The Creek from season 1 of Bluey on your preferred platform to bring this insight to life.
Episode 2: Work
Work is an excellent episode about communication styles, management styles, performance management and employment law.
In this episode, Bandit employs Bluey and Bingo to join his team. Although Bandit is the manager - has the title, wears the badge and issues the instructions, Bluey is acting as if she is the manager. In this relationship, Bluey holds the power.
Communication Styles
Bluey is a dominant communicator - direct, intense and results oriented. Bandit struggles to manage the behaviour that comes with this style of communication, but he doesn’t address this behaviour directly. So, the behaviour goes unchecked and gradually escalates. Bluey may now think her style of communication is ok, because no-one has told her it can be problematic.
Bandit has a very different style of communication. He lacks detail when he is managing the team so when he leaves the workplace, he doesn’t clearly communicate who is in charge. So, Bluey appoints herself. When people work in groups, like teams, there is an instinct to look to one person to lead the way. So, if there is no-one clearly behaving like a leader, a group will appoint one. It may be subtle and subconscious, but it will happen.
This is problematic for leaders and managers who are reluctant about stepping into a leadership role. Whilst they may have carriage of the responsibilities, if they aren’t fully functioning in all aspects of being a manager or leader - it is likely other people will start to fill the void.
Management Styles
Bluey is now officially in a management role. But Bluey is a micro manager. She relies on command-and-control tactics to get the job done. This puts pressure both on staff to keep up but also puts a greater pressure on her to keep the jobs coming.
Micromanagement has been unpopular for years, yet it continues to be a common way to lead. You can see in this episode how ineffective this approach can be. Micro-managers are often easy to spot as they are generally stressed, burnt out and have lots of disengaged staff.
In keeping with her management style, Bluey terminates Bandit’s employment without warning, HR consultation or seeking legal advice. This may prove to be problematic in the future.
Whilst there is a positive outcome in this episode, the same cant be said for micromanagers. Its never too late to reorient your approach to leading people, but ultimately there must be enough willingness from the micromanager to make that happen.
Take home messages:
➡️ There are many different leadership styles and not one single, right way to lead. Leaders need understand their own style so they can see their strengths but understand what parts of their leadership they need to work on.
➡️ Advice from an employment lawyer is essential – not just when there is a problem.
There are a number of other themes in this episode, did you see? Let me know what you thought and any actions you plan to take from this episode.
Watch Work from season 1 of Bluey on your preferred platform to bring this insight to life.
Episode 3: Promises
Trust is critical to achieving success. But trust isn’t fixed.
Our level of trust with people we work with can move up and down. Each interaction we have with a colleague (or client) will either build trust or break it down.
Trust Building
There are lots of different ways we can work out whether we can trust others. One way is through reliability. In Promises, we see the impact of not doing something Bluey said she would do.
In a work context, being reliable will strengthen your relationship and increase trust levels. So, when you commit to an action that you don’t take, your trust level will go down.
Reliability can make or break a relationship. Over time, relationships can become strained, conflict can simmer and eventually there can be a fracture in the relationship. These are no ideal conditions for teamwork.
What I love about Promises is seeing how the family develop a shared understanding about the importance of trust, clearly explaining what it means, the impact of not being reliable, apologising when trust was broken and committing to a new way of behaving.
“If there is no trust, none of this is possible”. Chilli Heeler, Promises (season 3).
If you are experiencing difficulties with trust in your work relationships, Promises may just give you the push you need to start a conversation and follow The Heeler’s lead.
Bonus episodes: Trust is a theme in other episodes like Shadowlands, Charades and Army. Watch these episodes and let me know what you see as being a key takeaway.
Watch Promises from season 3 of Bluey on your preferred platform to bring this insight to life.
Episode 4: Octopus
Have you ever worked with someone who has the completely opposite perspective to you?
Different values.
Opposite sense of humour.
Contrasting work practices.
In Octopus, Chloe’s dad has a completely different way of playing the game Octopus.
When Bluey and Chloe play the game with Bandit it’s easy and heaps of fun. The rules and objective are clearly explained and together the 3 make a great team. Working together is easy and without challenge.
But when Chloe wants to play the game with her dad, it proves to be very difficult.
Communication Styles
Chloe’s Dad appears to be a steady communicator which means he is cautious, logical and reserved. He has a systematic way of approaching the game which makes it difficult for him to spontaneously jump into the role of Octopus. His logical approach doesn’t translate into the fantasy land of the game.
Chloe appears to be more of an influencer in her communication. Chloe is enthusiastic, lively and optimistic. When she tries playing the game with her dad, his approach is difficult for her to make sense of. He is following the rules, but his approach is completely different to what she played with Bluey so it becomes a completely different game. A small conflict unfolds and the game stops because it is not meeting Chloe’s objective of having fun.
Resolving Conflict
What is great about this episode is seeing how Chloe and her dad come back together to better understand each other’s different point of view about what went wrong. Chloe’s dad explains he is researching so he can be better at playing the Octopus game. Once Chloe understands this it opens her point of view to see the game from a different perspective.
Another great part is seeing Chloe and her dad offer each other a genuine apology accepting accountability for the game not going according to plan.
At some point, everyone experiences working with someone who has the completely opposite approach to you. It can be difficult to know how to find a shared understanding to make it possible to work together effectively. Octopus not only shows you the possibilities, but it also gives you a script for a difficult conversation to move forward with a better and shared understanding about how you can work together.
Watch Octopus from season 2 of Bluey on your preferred platform to bring this insight to life.
Episode 5: Bin Night
Bin Night shows the value of consistent check-ins, sharing concerns and getting the support you need.
Each week, as the bins go out for collection Bandit takes the opportunity to check-in with Bingo.
There are mixed views about the value of check-in meetings. The purpose of meeting with staff in a planned and regular way offers an opportunity to track progress, solve problems, monitor wellbeing, build connections, receive feedback…the list goes on. But the important thing to remember is considering, communicating and demonstrating what the true purpose is. Without a shared understanding of the purpose, these meetings can drift, feel pointless or can become a source of frustration.
In this episode we can see the value of consistency for check-ins. Same location, same time and same opening question “how was kindy Bingo?” Over time, we see the benefit of maintaining consistency and this allows Bingo to start sharing her developing concerns about a classmate’s behaviour to her. When people have this consistent opportunity, it can provide a container for their worries so rather than escalating concerns to you the leader/manager immediately it can actually allow people some time and space to think before they (re)act.
We can also see a great demonstration of validation and how to provide emotional support to someone who is upset. When Bandit asks Bingo about her worries, she is able to jump straight into the story as they have developed a shared understanding about the issue as it has evolved. Bandit doesn’t try and solve the problem. He provides something that can be far more powerful and effective. He shows curiosity by asking open questions, validates Bingo’s feelings, offers some reassurance and thanks her for sharing because getting worries of your chest can be helpful.
Consulting for Support
Behind the scenes, it seems Bandit (manager) has consulted Chilli (Human Resources) for advice. Chilli then meets with Bingo to provide her with guidance and support about a potential course of action. This consultation is helpful for Bingo and she is able to take action herself with positive effect. Bingo is able to demonstrate a sense of agency as she follows the advice and feels a sense of mastery as she has successfully resolved the conflict with her peer.
As a leader, you will find yourself hearing about other people’s worries, concerns and challenges. But what about you? Who do you share your worries with? And do you feel better for doing so? Are you feeling supported? And do you receive helpful advice that you can enact with positive effect?
The ongoing need to provide your team with emotional support can take its toll. It is critical to your success of being an effective leader to develop your own version of Bin Night where you can share worries, track your progress, monitor your wellbeing and attend the range of needs you have as a manager. Engaging a professional external to your organisation can be beneficial in speaking more freely about your challenges without the filter of bias. The challenge of talking to someone who is actively involved in the same challenge can often dilute the support you are receiving. Your challenge is to identify your own Bin Night and if you don’t already have one, design the one that works for you.
Watch Bin Night from season 2 of Bluey on your preferred platform to bring this insight to life.
This was the final installment of Lessons about Leadership from Bluey. I’d love to know if you found it valuable or maybe even took action. You can share your reflections with me here. If you enjoyed this series, you will value The Friday Fundamentals - a weekly leadership journal sent direct to your inbox. You can subscribe below.