The Energy Bus

Kelsey Backus

February 14, 2012

Lariscy ADPR 3510

Management/Leadership Book Review

Gordon, Jon. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007.

“The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon “gives ten rules to fuel your life, work and team with positive energy.” Gordon uses a fictional story of a man named George who is in a rut in both life and work and needs a spark of positive energy and inspiration in order to get his life back on track. George, on the verge of losing his job and his marriage, is forced to ride the bus to work one day when his car gets a flat tire. This “energy bus,” driven by the inspirational Joy, turns out to be just what George needed.

With the help of her fellow passengers, Joy teaches George how to take control and drive his own energy bus to change his life around. The 10 rules Joy teaches George can be applied to any management or leadership situation to ensure a successful and positive experience. The rules, simple and relatively easy, are as follows:

1. You are the driver of your bus.

2. Desire, vision and focus move your bus in the right direction.

3. Fuel your ride with positive energy.

4. Invite people on your bus and share your vision for the road ahead.

5. Don’t waste your energy on those who don’t get on your bus.

6. Post a sign that says No Energy Vampires Allowed on your bus.

7. Enthusiasm attracts more passengers and energizes them during the ride.

8. Love your passengers.

9. Drive with purpose.

10. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

George illustrates the effectiveness of using these 10 rules in the work place with his team of workers working to pitch a new product to management. George struggles at first with getting his team members aboard his bus but through his perseverance and, most importantly, positive energy, he successfully becomes the driver of his own energy bus.

This strategy, focusing on the influence of positive energy on productivity and the effectiveness as a team, is a refreshing approach to management and leadership theory. We have discussed in class how effective leaders not only have organization and management skills but also must have drive, passion and charisma. George shows how important and effective a leader’s positive attitude can be by inspiring his colleagues to embody his positive energy.

It is important to lead by example, just as George does, and focus on the people you are leading. Just as Arlene Blum made decisions that, at first, her team may not have agreed upon but in the end were the best for everyone involved, George insisted on using this “energy bus” theory to compel his team to work harder, even when this meant losing a few team members. Rule number 8, love your passengers, is sometimes one of the hardest, but arguably one of the most important rules, especially when you have what Gordon refers to as “energy vampires.” Caring about you passengers’ energy proves to be a crucial strategy in successful leadership. It takes a truly effective and motivated leader to overcome these obstacles and let positive energy prevail.

I would recommend this book for other PR students, as well as anyone interested in becoming a more effective leader. Gordon’s approach to explaining this leadership strategy is both captivating and inspirational. His rags to riches approach shows that even when you feel like everything in your life is going wrong and you have no motivation or little hope, it is still possible to succeed. Sometimes all you need is a spark of inspiration and/or positive attitude to transform yourself and your life and become the driver of your own energy bus.