Learning Leadership Management From Benson, A Park Manager from Regular Show
Regular Show is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. The series are about a park in mid-90s and revolves around the daily lives of two 23-year-old friends, Mordecai (a blue jay) and Rigby (a raccoon), who work as groundskeepers at a park. Their coworkers include Skips (a yeti), Muscle Man (of course a human-ish), Hi-Five Ghost (a ghost obviously), Pops (a lollipop-shaped man), and Benson (a gumball machine).
Mordecai and Rigby are often messy and always gets in trouble when they spends their days slacking off and avoiding work to entertain themshelves by any means. When Benson find out about all of their messes, usually he shouts on them and threatens to fire them (but never does).
This series offers valuable lessons in organizational management. The show’s characters work in a park under the leadership of Benson, a manager who reports to a higher authority. Throughtout the series, the characters face challenges, projects, and tasks that are similar to those in any real office or business environment.
One of the key takeaways from the show is the importance of not forcing employees to do tasks they don’t enjoy. Instead, managers should try to motivate their employees by rewarding them for important tasks. Take example from benson in season 3, he offered his unused hockey table as a reward to Mordecai and Rigby. This is a great example of how managers can use additional resource as incentives for their employees (low cost high impact).
Next is communication. It’s crucial in any organization. In regular show, Muscle Man explains how he is able to take breaks and enjoy lunches without any pressure from Benson by simply communicating his plans and ensuring that his tasks are completed by the end of the day. This highlights the importance of open and honest communication between managers and employees.
Benson also emphasizes the importance of having fun at work. While working, Mordecai and Rigby often take breaks to rap or play games. Benson doesn’t mind this as long as there are no pressing tasks to be completed. In fact, he sometimes even joins them.
In season 2, Benson demonstrates that everyone has the potential to be creative and that all opinions are valued equally. He asks his employees for ideas on how to raise money to fix the office. The best idea comes from the slackers duo, Mordecai and Rigby, who suggest hosting a “Zombie Night Movie” in a graveyard. This idea is a huge success and shows that even the least expected people can have great ideas.
Bensons always manages to conduct morning briefings and assign tasks, which is a good habit that has been lost over time as people rush into their offices without interacting with their coworkers. Even in season 8, when the park employees panicked because they had just been launched into space, Benson calmed everyone down and said “We start doing things just like we handle everything, with a morning meeting”
In the series, most communication is done face-to-face or by radio or phone. Benson usually sends emails after making sure to tell all his employees in person. This is a good example of how managers can effectively communicate with their staff rather tan spamming them with emails they may not read or appreciate.
Finally, the most important of all, Benson always shields his team and takes the blame for them when things go wrong. He believes that his management is the main issue, not just the employees. In a healthy working environment, blame should be shared by everyone rather than being placed on a single person. This is how a team works!
Throughout the series, Benson demonstrates various leadership skills and techniques that can be applied in real-life organizational management. Some include motivating employees through rewards, communicating effectively, and fostering creativity and innovation among team members. By analyzing Benson’s management style and actions, you can learn implement this effective leadership in your workplace.
Even though his leadership isn’t perfect, but we do know one thing; no matter how f-up your employees are, you need to give them a chance to redeem themshelves. I mean, look at Mordecai and Rigby, Benson never actually fired them even though they did dumb things that almost cost Benson’s life.
