Most people experience times when life seems to be falling apart. How you respond when you encounter adversity and challenges defines you. Author and motivational speaker Jon Gordon maintains that when you respond with positive energy, challenges become opportunities and you create success and happiness.
The Energy Bus illustrates how this works through the fictional story of George, a depressed middle manager at a lightbulb manufacturing company, whose negativity is ruining his career and marriage. When George encounters an ebullient bus driver, things begin turning around.
While this fable has a business setting, it’s written for everyone—the story’s 10 simple rules show you how to create positive energy and enjoy “the ride of your life.”
George, a middle manager at the NRG Company, a manufacturer of light bulbs, had all the things many people want: a nice house, new cars, a family, and a job that paid well. However, over the years, he’d grown negative and discouraged. Finally, his boss and his wife both gave him ultimatums: shape up or face losing his job and his marriage.
With his life in disarray, George needed to pull together his floundering team at work for the introduction of a new lightbulb, on which his and the company’s future depended. Yet another joyless work week began with car problems, which forced him to start taking a city bus.
When he climbed on bus #11, the driver, whose name was Joy, greeted him enthusiastically despite his obviously bad mood. She soon explained that hers was no ordinary bus—it was “The Energy Bus.” She was an “energy ambassador,” whose mission was to energize her passengers through positive thinking.
When it turned out that George’s car problems required a two-week wait for a new part and he’d have to take the bus during that time, Joy seized the opportunity to share her 10 rules for having “the ride of your life,” the bus ride being a metaphor for how you live your life. Since he didn’t have a better idea and needed to do something, George agreed to hear the rules, which she explained as follows.
1) You’re the driver
You create your life—it’s your bus, you’re in the driver’s seat, and you determine what kind of ride it will be. Once you take the wheel of your bus, or take control of your life, you need to develop a vision for where you want to go. Ask yourself: “What’s my vision for my life?” ”What’s my vision for my work and team?” “What’s my vision for my relationships?” Write down your vision.
2) Use vision and focus to set your direction
Turning your vision into reality starts with focusing your thoughts on it. There’s a law of energy (also known as the Law of Attraction), which says that by thinking about something, you attract it into your life. Your mental energy attracts a corresponding energy outside you. For instance, people often think of someone and then get a call from that person. Or after they buy a new car, they start seeing that model everywhere because that’s the type of car they’re thinking about. Focus on your visions for at least 10 minutes each day and visualize creating the results you want.
3) Power your bus with positive energy
While vision and focus point your bus in the right direction, positive energy is the fuel that powers it. Positive energy is high-octane fuel, as opposed to the sludge created by negative energy. You need to drive your life with positive energy if you want to be successful. Negativity will fill any void, so create positive thoughts and feelings, and take positive actions so there’s no room for anything negative. Positive energy will also get your team on track too, but you have to have it yourself before you can share it.
4) Share your vision and invite people on board
As a leader, you need to get your team on board and headed in the same direction. To do this, meet with each team member and share your vision and expectation that each team member will contribute positively. Then invite them to join you. To underscore their commitment, you can also email or print out bus tickets from The Energy Bus website and ask them to return their ticket to you when they’re ready to get on the bus.
5) Don’t waste effort on those who don’t want to join you
Don’t waste energy worrying about people who don’t share your vision or on trying to change their minds. There will always be people who don’t want to ride your bus, or be part of your team. Don’t take it personally—maybe another bus would be a better fit for them, or they’d be a disruptive presence on your bus anyway.
6) Ban “energy vampires”
The people you surround yourself with have a big impact on whether you succeed. Some people increase your energy and your team’s energy, and some people sap it. The latter are energy vampires, who will suck the life out of you and your projects if you allow them to. They’ll make everyone else miserable and even sabotage your bus.
You need to eliminate any negativity—including negative people—standing between you/your team and your goals. That means refusing to tolerate negativity: make clear to everyone where you’re going, that you need a positive team, and that anyone who’s negative is off the project. If the naysayers don’t change, kick them off your team.
7) Be enthusiastic: it attracts and energizes others
You need to project energy in order to succeed personally and professionally. Without it, you can’t inspire or lead others. Successful people are CEOs, or chief energy officers. They exude positive energy, optimism, and excitement about their lives and work. They aren’t discouraged by challenges, but welcome them as opportunities to grow.
Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which means inspired or filled with the divine. When you bring this level of inspired energy to everything you do, others feel it and want to be on your team.
8) Show you care about your team
To inspire others, you also need to become a “love magnet” by demonstrating caring and commitment to your family, company, employees, and customers. While it sounds trite, the truth is that what everyone wants most is to be loved. Your employees want your love too. You can give them awards, gifts, and raises, but these are soon forgotten. What sticks with them is a sense of whether you really care about them and are committed to their future. When they know you care about them, they respond in kind by being loyal and doing great work. In contrast, if you treat them as just a means to your next promotion, you’ll get cynicism in return.
9) Have a larger purpose
Purpose is the most important fuel additive for your journey. Knowing your purpose keeps you energized and focused and prevents burnout. For instance, Joy saw herself not only as a bus driver, but also as a life coach, helping people find their energy and change their lives. This gave her a sense of purpose that inspired her and her passengers. Purpose infuses your everyday life with passion.
10) Enjoy your ride
Since we have only one life, we should enjoy it. Often, people spend their lives stressing over small or unimportant things—for instance, emails, deadlines, arguments, and trivial inconveniences—and overlook the beauty around them. But on the day you die, you’ll still have a pile of unopened emails. So don’t worry about such small things—focus instead on finding joy in each moment. Live each day with purpose and joy.
To begin generating his own positive energy, George began “feeding the positive dog.” The “positive dog” metaphor came from a story that Joy shared of a man who felt pulled in two directions. It was as if there were two dogs inside him battling for dominance: a positive, kind, gentle dog and a negative, angry, mean dog. The man asked the village elder which dog would win. The elder replied, “the one you feed, so feed the positive dog.”
George fed his positive dog by listing what he was grateful for each day and reminding himself of his biggest success of the day before falling asleep, rather than obsessing about the things that had gone wrong.
To pull his team members together and get them moving in the same direction, he met with each person, shared his vision and expectations, and invited them to get on the bus. He handed out bus tickets from the Energy Bus website and asked each team member who wanted to join him to hand in their tickets once they’d decided.
Three team members refused to join and two others, who were problem employees, joined the team but tried to sabotage it. So George met again with each of these people. He realized the two troublemakers were energy vampires, so he gave them an ultimatum to be positive or to leave. One quit and he fired the other. Of the three who refused to join, one quit and the other two later relented.
After eliminating his energy vampires, George demonstrated caring for his team, particularly for a hardworking member, José, who’d become discouraged because George had never expressed appreciation for his efforts. José was one of the three who initially declined to join the team; he changed his mind when George sincerely apologized for taking him for granted.
Next, George worked with the team to formulate a larger purpose beyond successfully introducing the company’s new lightbulb. They decided their purpose was to bring warmth and brighten people’s lives. Motivated with new passion, George’s team achieved one of the most successful new product launches in the company’s history. They were even more enthusiastic about their potential for achieving more great things in the future. George kept his job and shared with his bosses the secret of spreading positivity.
George’s wife told him she’d noticed a big difference in him—for instance, she said that he complained less, showed his love by spending more time with the family, and was positive and enthusiastic. She felt she’d regained the man she’d married and their marriage was back on track. He resolved that, going forward, he would try to live each day with purpose and joy.
Everyone encounters adversity and “down” times in life. How you respond to these tests defines you. When you respond with positive energy, you create success and happiness for yourself and others.
The Energy Bus, a parable by consultant and motivational speaker Jon Gordon, asserts that positive people and positive teams create positive results. He shows how this works through the fictional story of George, a depressed middle manager at a lightbulb manufacturing company, whose negativity is ruining his career and marriage. When his car breaks down and he has to take the bus to work, George gets life-changing lessons in positivity from the driver and the other passengers.
The book isn’t about summoning superficial or fake enthusiasm, but about cultivating an energy that encompasses optimism, purpose, enthusiasm, and joy. Positive energy enables you to lead successful teams, surmount hurdles, and bring out the best in others. With positive energy, you can overcome negative people (referred to in the book as “energy vampires”) and negative situations that keep you from succeeding in your work and enjoying your life.
While this fable has a business setting, it’s written for everyone—the story’s 10 simple “rules” for creating positive energy can lead not only to business success, but also to greater happiness.
George was a gloomy middle manager for NRG Company, which manufactured light bulbs. He had the things many people want: a nice house, new cars, a family, and a job that paid well. However, over the years, he’d grown negative and discouraged.
At the start of yet another joyless work week, George had car trouble and had to take the bus to work. As he climbed on bus #11, the ebullient driver named Joy greeted him with a huge smile.
She immediately recognized George’s type: overstressed and zombie-like, lacking in energy, spirit, and purpose.
As George grumbled in response, she told him hers was no ordinary bus—it was “The Energy Bus”—and he was going to enjoy the ride. She was an “energy ambassador,” whose mission was to energize her passengers with positive thinking.
She told George she had a feeling he was on her bus for an important reason; he replied that the reason was car trouble. Undaunted by his grumpiness, Joy quoted author Richard Bach: “Every problem has a gift for you in its hands. You can choose to see the curse or the gift.”
Which you choose determines whether your life is a success or an ongoing drama or soap opera, she said, adding that he seemed to be making the wrong choice. She dropped him off at work with the parting words, “Choose wisely.”
After work, George got bad news from the car mechanic. The brakes were worn out and it would take two weeks to get a part they needed. The car problem felt like the last straw. The previous evening, his wife had told him his negativity was making her miserable and if he didn’t change, she would leave. At work, where he used to be a rising star, his team was falling apart, productivity was slipping, and he was in danger of being fired. He’d hit rock bottom and knew he had to change somehow.
Finally, his boss and his wife both gave him ultimatums: shape up or face losing his job and his marriage. With his life in disarray, he needed to pull together his floundering team at work for the introduction of a new lightbulb, on which his and the company’s future depended.
The next day, as George headed once more for the bus stop, he realized Joy was right: his life was a soap opera.
Joy was elated when George told her he’d be riding her bus for the next two weeks. While he viewed this as another problem on his ever-growing list, she was excited about the opportunity to share her 10 rules for living—one each of the next 10 days—which she said would change his life from a soap opera to a joy.
Since he didn’t have a better idea and needed to do something, George agreed to hear the rules. When the other passengers cheered, George realized they were all in on the lessons. Joy pointed to a sign at the front of the bus, which listed her principles for having “the ride of your life,” the bus ride being a metaphor for life.
10 Rules of the Road:
1. You’re the driver
2. Use vision and focus to set your direction
3. Power your bus with positive energy
4. Share your vision and Invite people on board
5. Don’t waste effort on those who don’t join you
6. Ban “energy vampires” from your bus
7. Be enthusiastic: it attracts and energizes others
8. Care about your team
9. Have a larger purpose
10. Enjoy your ride
Realizing you’re in the driver’s seat is the most important principle, Joy said, because if you don’t take responsibility for your life (drive your own bus), you can’t go where you want to go. Someone else will set your course.
Instead of taking charge, many people feel they have no control over their lives. It’s been said that more people die at 9 a.m. on Monday than at any other time. The implication, Joy said, is that some people feel so powerless that they'd rather die than start another work week.
(Shortform note: There isn’t any widely accepted research establishing 9 a.m. Monday as a time when more people die. However, a study in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that the risk of a heart attack was 20% greater for men on Mondays and 15% greater for women.)
In reality, you have the choice to create your life—it’s your bus, you’re in the driver’s seat, and you determine what kind of ride it will be. As Joy was explaining this, George remarked that other people, like his boss and his wife, seemed to be making most of his decisions for him. The power of choice is your greatest gift, Joy said. When you claim it, everything starts to change.
Understanding the role of energy is important to applying the 10 rules of the road in your life. Energy is always at work in life and the world around you.
For instance, Joy explained, some people increase your energy and some sap it; some foods increase your energy, while other foods make you sleepy; some projects energize you, and some burn you out.
Energy exists in crowds, music, and thoughts. Attendees at a sporting event can feel the energy of the players, teams, and crowd. Announcers often comment that a team is playing with a lot of energy or lacks energy. Coaches know when players are in sync (feeding off each others’ energy) or out of sync.
Thoughts also are a form of energy. People can sometimes sense what a friend or colleague is thinking or predict what that person will say by picking up on their energy. Conceiving a vision for where you want your bus to go (for the life you want to create) begins mobilizing your thought energy to get there.
Energy can be positive or negative; you choose your own energy and your energy influences others. For instance, choosing to smile can change your energy and someone else’s. When you choose to take the wheel of your bus, or take charge of your life, you’re choosing positive energy.
In The Energy Bus fable, the first rule of the road is that you’re the driver. You create your life—it’s your bus, you’re in the driver’s seat, and you determine what kind of ride it will be.
Do you feel as though you’re in control of your life, that you’re “driving your bus”? Why or why not?
What is your typical mood on Sunday night when you think about your upcoming week? In describing it, did you use mostly positive or negative terms?
Next Sunday, how could you frame things differently, as if you’re in charge and you get to determine what kind of ride you’ll have?
Once you take the wheel of your bus (take control of your life), you need a vision for where you want to go. Joy explained that first, you must decide what you want—then you can make it happen by focusing your thoughts on it. You have the power to create the world you want.
To help George determine his vision, she asked him to write down three things:
1. My vision for my life
2. My vision for my work and team
3. My vision for my relationships
For his personal vision, George decided he wanted to get back into shape. He had once been in great shape as a college athlete, but he’d gained weight since then. He also wanted to feel as happy and alive as he’d felt then. His vision for work was to pull his team together and successfully launch his company’s new product. For his family, he wanted to be a better husband and father. He wanted to bring love back into his marriage and have a positive influence on his kids’ lives.
Joy commented that it sometimes takes a crisis to motivate people to change direction in life. It takes seeing what you don’t want to make you realize what you do want. So a crisis is an opportunity to envision and create a better life.
Turning your vision into reality starts with focusing your thoughts.
Joy explained that there’s a law of energy (also known as the Law of Attraction), which says that by focusing on something, you attract it into your life. Your mental energy attracts a corresponding energy outside you. For instance, people often think of someone and then get a call from that person. Or after they buy a new car, they start seeing that model everywhere because that’s the type of car they’re thinking about.
(Shortform note: The Law of Attraction, which stems from the New Thought movement of the19th century, is the basis of much positive thinking advice. It holds that positive thoughts bring positive experiences into your life because thoughts are energy—and energy attracts like energy. For more on the Law of Attraction, read our summaries of Think and Grow Rich and The Secret.)
Simply put, thoughts are magnetic, Joy said. So she instructed George to focus on his visions for at least 10 minutes each day and visualize himself creating the results he wanted—for instance, revitalizing his marriage or uniting his team at work. Athletes often use this technique to visualize winning performances.
However, she noted that because thoughts attract like energy, it’s important to focus your thoughts on what you want, rather than what you don’t want or are afraid will happen because you don’t want to attract the negative. And don’t be a complainer because complaining brings you more things to complain about. It also uses up mental energy that you could spend creating what you want.
George didn't have a better idea so he decided to give visualization a try. The new lightbulb launch was looming.
Once you take the wheel of your bus (take control of your life), you need a vision for where you want to go in the three key areas of your life. Focus on your visions for at least 10 minutes each day and visualize yourself creating the results you want.
Write down your vision for your life.
Next, write your vision for your work and team.
Finally, write down your vision for your relationships.
Even though George had a vision for where he wanted to go, there were roadblocks standing in his way. Being positive isn’t easy when you have a lot working against you, he told the others on the bus.
Everyone has different challenges, Joy acknowledged. But in each case, the answer is the same: To change your situation, you need to change your thoughts. If you keep thinking the way you’re thinking, you only get more of what you’ve been getting.
There’s a formula for change: E (events) + P (perception) = O (outcome). While we can’t always control events, we can control the way we perceive them. How we perceive them and respond dictates the outcome. The “P” in this formula can also stand for positive energy.
You’ll always have hurdles, which can include people who don’t share your vision, and you’ll get discouraged at times. Choosing positive energy helps you deal with negative people and situations. It’s the way to keep your bus moving forward and avoid being run off the road. Positive people and positive energy create positive results.
While vision and focus point your bus in the right direction, positive energy takes it where you want to go. It’s high-octane fuel, as opposed to the sludge created by negative energy.
You can often turn negative energy into positive energy by being grateful. For instance, instead of reacting negatively when work piles up, be thankful you have a job or that you’re healthy enough to work. Where there's a negative, there’s almost always a positive side.
It’s important to drive your life with positive energy if you want to be successful. Negativity will fill any void, so create positive thoughts and feelings, and take positive actions so there’s no room for anything negative. Positive energy will also get your team on track too, but you have to have it yourself before you can share it.
To help George generate positive energy, Joy gave him a book of stories and exercises she often shared with passengers called The Energy Book. They read a story aloud before the bus reached George’s office building.
It told of a man who felt pulled in two directions. It was as if there were two dogs inside him battling for dominance: a positive, kind, gentle dog and a negative, angry, mean dog. The man asked the village elder which dog would win. The elder replied, “the one you feed, so feed the positive dog.”
George started using the book to generate positive energy (feed the positive dog). On the book’s recommendation, he took a Thank-You Walk around his building, citing things he was thankful for. As the book predicted, being thankful eliminated his stress because your body can’t be thankful and stressed at the same moment. Being grateful released endorphins and walking added even more energy.
He also read a story about golf, which pointed out that, after playing, golfers don’t think about their bad shots—instead, they focus on the one great shot they made. The good feelings make them want to keep playing and can make golf addicting.
In contrast, many people go to bed thinking about everything that went wrong that day. Instead, treat regular life like golf and savor a success each day that makes you look forward to more successes.
That evening, inspired by the golf story, George asked each of his children at bedtime to tell him their success of the day; they responded enthusiastically. Then he took the dog for a walk and thought about a success of his own: his boss had detected something different about him and told George: “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.” Whether you have positive or negative energy, people notice, George thought.
His next steps were sharing his vision with his team at work and inviting people to get on his bus.
George needed to generate positive energy for the new-product launch by getting his team on board and headed in the same direction.
Joy directed George to an Energy Bus website where he could generate “bus tickets” for inviting people on board, and email or hand-deliver them to his team members along with a message explaining his vision and expectations for the team. As Joy explained, you not only need to invite people to join you—you must tell them where you’re going and how you plan to get there so they know what they’re signing up for.
George’s plan for the day, Friday, was to:
We each have a positive and negative side, as if there were two dogs inside us battling for dominance—a positive, kind dog and a negative, angry dog. To generate positive energy, you need to “feed the positive dog.”
One way to feed the positive dog is to focus on what you’re thankful for in each situation, rather than on what’s problematic about it. For instance, when work piles up, be thankful you have a job. Take a walk around your office, thinking of things you’re thankful for.
How did you feel afterward? How did this exercise change your energy?
At the end of the day, many people obsess over the things that went wrong instead of focusing on the big success of the day. What was your big success today? How can you replicate it tomorrow?
On Monday, George felt a nervous excitement as his employees began handing in their tickets, indicating they wanted to get on board. Most of them were eager to join the effort. However, there were a couple of surprises.
The first was that Tom and Larry, who were usually difficult to work with, joined the team. He’d expected them to reject the invitation. Three others—Michael, Jaime, and José—walked in together without tickets and told him they weren’t participating. Speaking for the trio, Michael told George they believed the new-product presentation would be a failure and they didn’t want to be part of it.
After they left his office, George felt discouraged. He had two problem people on his team and three others he now thought of as wolves capable of sabotaging the project. He was especially disappointed to lose José’s support because José was a hard worker who had always come through in the past when George needed help.
The team meeting that day went badly, with Tom and Larry fighting with each other and the three wolves undercutting him at every turn.
Geoge got on the bus the next morning feeling discouraged, with only four days left before the new-product presentation. Joy told him that everyone faces tests and setbacks; the important thing is to keep getting up when you’ve been knocked down, like Rocky in the movie. You’re not a failure until you quit trying.
George’s three “wolves” weren’t the problem, as much as the negativity they represented, she said. Negativity surrounds us.
The research firm Gallup estimated in 2004 that there are 22 million negative workers in the U.S., costing around $300 billion in productivity a year. Negativity doesn’t just cost companies money—it’s bad for your well-being: doubt, fear, and negative energy drain and sabotage you. Everyone harbors negativity inside them—that’s why it’s important to “feed the positive dog.”
Regarding George’s three wolves—the people who declined to get on his bus—Joy told him not to waste energy worrying about them or trying to change their minds (Rule #5). There will always be people who don’t want to get on your bus. Don’t take it personally, she said—maybe another bus would be a better fit for them, or they’d be a disruptive presence on your bus anyway.
The more energy you expend on naysayers, the less you have for those who joined your team and for inviting new people. Successful salespeople understand this—they shrug off rejection and focus their energy on getting new customers.
George agreed not to waste energy on his three “wolves” who rejected his invitation—however, he still had to do something about the two troublemakers, Tom and Larry, who were already on his bus.
This was where Rule #6—ban ‘energy vampires’—came in, Joy told him. The people we surround ourselves with have a big impact on whether we succeed. Some people increase your energy and your team’s, and some people drain it. The latter are energy vampires, who will suck the life out of you and your projects if you allow them to. They’ll make your ride miserable and even sabotage your bus.
You need to eliminate any negativity—including negative people—standing between you/your team and your goals. That means you must refuse to tolerate negativity on your bus: make clear to everyone where you’re going, that you need a positive team, and that anyone who’s negative is off the project.
Joy advised George to tell Tom and Larry that they needed to contribute positively or be fired. He needed to meet with the three naysayers too, she said. Give them one more opportunity to accept the invitation; if they refuse, then isolate and exclude them from team activities and communications. After the product launch, George could consult his human resources department on what to do with them long term. George understood the need for tough action and felt ready to take it.
Before dropping George off at his office, Joy explained an energy principle, which she called the ultimate rule of positive energy: To succeed, your positive energy must be stronger than anyone’s negativity.
You can kick negative people off your bus, but you may have other negative people getting on. You may have to deal with an energy vampire, such as a boss, that you can’t oust. To handle these situations, it’s important to keep building your positive energy. Repetition is key: practice being positive until it becomes your natural response.
George resolved to be strong and get his bus moving. Before he stepped down from Joy’s bus, she handed him a small rock. Joy told him to look for value in the rock despite its dusty appearance and to keep it as a reminder to see his own value and other people’s.
George’s first meeting when he got to work was with his problem employee Larry, an energy vampire. He immediately told Larry he’d had enough of Larry’s negativity and if he didn’t start contributing positively to the team, he’d have to leave it. Larry was shocked and agreed to change his attitude, which George had expected since he knew Larry needed his job.
His next meeting, with Tom, was more difficult. George said he couldn’t afford to have Tom on the team if Tom kept undermining their efforts. Tom went on the attack, arguing that it was George’s fault that things weren’t going well and that George needed Tom’s talent to keep the bus from crashing.
George glanced at the rock in his pocket and realized Tom didn’t find him credible because George didn’t believe in himself or see his own value. George steeled himself and said he’d forgo Tom’s talent for the sake of having a positive team. Then he fired Tom and felt like a weight had been lifted.
George had planned to isolate the three wolves, but Michael charged into his office calling George crazy for firing Tom. He said the new-product launch and George were going to fail. George responded with “it’s my way or the highway,” and Michael quit.
Jaime, another of the naysayers, said she’d rather be on the team than lose her job. But she also explained why she’d initially rejected the invitation: George had been miserable to work for in the past. He knew she was right and thanked her for being honest.
When he met with José, George said he’d been surprised by José’s refusal to be on the team since they’d worked well together. José replied that George had never expressed any appreciation for his hard work. When he asked for a raise, George promised to get back to him but didn’t. José now expected to be fired—he thought everyone was getting fired—but George responded that José was right and asked for a chance to make it up to him.
José agreed and they headed into a team meeting that was one of the most productive in recent memory.
Some people increase your energy and your team’s, while others—energy vampires—drain it. You need to eliminate the energy vampires standing between you and your goals.
Think about the people you work with. Which ones are energy vampires?
How do they act? How do they affect the work environment and what gets accomplished?
Have there been instances where you yourself were an energy vampire? What were they?
What can you do to neutralize or eliminate energy vampires that keep you or your team from succeeding?
While George was relieved and excited to finally get his team on track, he still felt he was missing something. Jaime’s and José’s words had hit home and he wanted to convince his team that he’d changed; he wanted them to enjoy working for him and he wanted all of them to succeed.
He planned to ask Joy if there was a secret to being a better leader. But he had to put the question on hold—as the bus arrived at his bus stop, he could hear the passengers chanting, “I feel terrific!” Joy explained that they were charging themselves up.
The word emotion stands for energy in motion, she said; your energy determines your emotional state. Instead of letting negative emotions get a foothold, you need to take control and charge yourself up with positive energy.
Joy noted that when you’re happy and positive, those around you are happy and positive too. Your happiness is a gift to others. Instead, many people try to please others and end up feeling unhappy themselves. It’s better to focus on feeling good and let your happiness spread to others.
George realized he’d spent his life trying to please his boss, his wife, and others, only to feel more unhappy himself. Now, however, he was feeling good again and his team was on track.
He was a changed man—now he wanted to be a changed leader.
Joy explained that the key to being a changed leader was to start leading from the heart.
The heart is your power center, from which positive leadership flows, she said.
The Institute of HeartMath asserts that your heart communicates your feelings to cells throughout your body via the heart’s electromagnetic field. It also projects this energy beyond your body—up to10 feet away. Your brain has an electromagnetic field too, but your heart's field is 5,000 times stronger. (Shortform note: The Institute of HeartMath promotes “energy medicine,” which some researchers have termed pseudoscience.)
What this means, Joy said, is that we’re broadcasting positive or negative energy from our hearts and people are picking up on it. We can sense or feel people’s hearts (their true feelings) and know if they’re being sincere or fake. Similarly, employees tune in to the energy of their leaders.
Joy explained to George that to boost his team’s energy, he needed to broadcast his positive energy by tapping into the power of his heart. You lead from the heart by becoming the CEO, or chief energy officer of your workplace, she said. In fact, anyone in a business can be a chief energy officer by sharing positive energy with coworkers, employees, and customers.
Energy is an essential ingredient of personal and professional success. Without it, you can’t inspire or lead others. Emotional intelligence, which is a business buzzword popularized by a book with that title by Daniel Goleman, is another way of referring to energy from the heart. (Shortform note: Read our summary of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.)
Several studies have found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance, accounting for up to 80% of success in all types of jobs. When you act as a leader with emotional intelligence—communicating and sharing your energy with others—people like you and want to follow you. It’s the basis for Rule #7.
Chief energy officers tap the power of their hearts by cultivating positive energy and being optimistic and excited about their lives and work, Joy explained. They aren’t discouraged by challenges, but instead they welcome them as opportunities to learn and grow.
Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which means inspired or filled with the divine. When you bring this level of inspired energy to everything you do, others feel it and want to be on your team. People are drawn to you: You develop a reputation among coworkers and customers as someone others like working and interacting with.
The poet Walt Whitman described this power in “The Song of the Open Road”: “I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes, rhymes. We convince by our presence.”
George remembered how enthusiasm had helped him get his first job—the interviewers had loved his fire. Similarly, his enthusiasm won over his wife when he first met her and tried to get her to go out with him.
Somehow, he’d lost the enthusiasm he felt in his early days at NRG Company. He realized his team was floundering because he was projecting negative energy. Joy noted that negative people create negative corporate cultures, while positive people do the opposite.
In Emotional Intelligence, Goleman wrote that companies with positive cultures outperform those with negative cultures. Joy suggested that if you invested in the companies voted Best Places to Work, your returns would probably beat the market. A positive culture is good for a company’s bottom line. (Shortform note: Some studies have shown there is some truth to this—a portfolio of companies voted Best Places to Work outperformed the broader market. Some analysts note this may be more correlation than causation—the companies in a stronger financial position may also be able to afford the benefits that make them “Best Places to Work.”)
Besides practicing positivity and enthusiasm yourself, one way to spread it in your workplace is to let your team know that anyone can be a chief energy officer and inspire others.
Joy cautioned, however, that enthusiasm doesn’t mean acting manic or pretending to be excited. You can’t force it. You let your presence convince people to emulate you. Joy advised George to focus that day on radiating energy and enthusiasm from the heart and trust that others would pick up on it.
We project positive or negative energy in whatever we do, and other people pick up on it. When you project positive energy, it’s contagious and other people want to be around you.
Think of the person in your office whom you most like to work with. Describe the person. What kind of energy does he/she project?
Think of the person you most dislike working with and answer the above questions.
How would your colleagues describe what you’re like to work with? Where do you see room for improvement?
If you’re open to seeing them, signs or messages appear in life to guide you when you need them. As Joy was thinking of what else to tell George, she saw a road sign with the words, “Love is the Answer—God.”
The billboard was one of those messages. It told Joy what George needed to learn next. Enthusiasm is important, but love is the answer for your team’s success, she told him. It’s the basis of Rule #8.
To tap the power of your heart and lead with enthusiasm, you need to become a “love magnet” by demonstrating love for your family, company, employees, and customers. While it sounds trite, the truth is that what everyone wants most is to be loved, Joy said. Your employees want your love. George remembered how his lack of appreciation had demoralized José, and he realized Joy was right.
You can give employees awards, gifts, and raises, but these are soon forgotten. What sticks with them is a sense of whether you really care about them and are committed to their future. Your performance as a manager isn’t just about hitting your goals and satisfying your boss; it’s about your employees. When they know you care about them, they respond in kind by being loyal and doing great work. But if you treat them as just a means to your next promotion, you’ll get cynicism in return.
The more you demonstrate true commitment to others, the more you get commitment and loyalty in return. Enthusiasm will get your team on the bus, but caring will keep them on it. Your caring will also improve the performance and productivity of your team.
Love is the most powerful emotion we have. It can literally make you stronger. When people try to bench press a lot of weight, they’re stronger when they think loving, positive thoughts than when they think negative, angry thoughts.
As a starting point, Joy suggested that George focus on bringing out the best in each member of his team; he should help them discover the inner value they possess.
She asked George for the rock she’d given him. After he handed it over, she wiped it with a towel and the black coating came off, revealing it to be gold. The lesson was that everyone has valuable qualities under the surface. Part of caring is bringing out the best in others, or helping them to shine. When a manager discovers and allows employees to use their strengths, the individual’s and team’s value increase.
As George stepped off the bus at his office building, a fellow passenger handed him a sheet of paper listing five ways to love your passengers, or show people you care. He sat down on a bench to read it before going inside.
1) Make time for them: Spend time with your employees. Instead of isolating yourself behind a desk, come out of your office and get to know your team. Meet with them one-on-one and get to know them as individuals. Be engaged with them, rather than thinking of other things or multitasking. Focus your energy on them and they will feel it.
2) Listen to them: Employees and customers want to be heard. Employees who feel listened to rate their managers higher. True listening isn’t just applying an “active listening” technique (such as paraphrasing to show understanding), but listening with your heart and caring about what they have to say. It’s showing empathy. When people feel they've been heard, their eyes grow moist. Robert K. Cooper writes in High Energy Living that in more than 95% of daily interactions, no moistening of the eyes occurs, meaning there’s not a genuine connection. When you ask someone how they’re doing, you can show you’re listening to their response by waiting for the answer and making eye contact.
3) Recognize them: Recognize your employees as people, not just business professionals. Don’t just give awards or trophies—make your recognition personal. For instance, managers can recognize team members’ birthdays with a handwritten card/note. Praise people when they’re doing great work and you’ll encourage more of it by making the employee feel valued and appreciated. Feed the positive dog in each person and positivity will grow.
4) Serve them: The more you advance in your organization, the greater your obligation to serve the people below you rather than expecting them to serve you. The key is to nurture their development and passion so they enjoy work and being on your bus.
5) Bring out people’s best: This is the most important thing you can do for your team. When you’re committed to someone, you want them to be successful. For a leader, that means helping your employees discover their strengths and providing opportunities to use them. The more that individuals can shine, the more your team and company can shine as well.
Your employees and coworkers sense whether you care about them as individuals and they respond in kind. Ways to show that you care include: spending time with them, listening, recognizing them, nurturing their growth, and bringing out their best.
As a manager, how do you feel about your employees? As an employee, how do you think your boss feels about you?
How do you currently demonstrate your feelings about employees? How does your boss demonstrate his or her feelings toward you?
Thinking of a particular employee or coworker, what can you do to show caring and commitment to that person?
When George arrived at work, he was suddenly struck with doubt and fear that he'd be able to convincingly demonstrate commitment to his team and pull off the product launch successfully. He was caught between knowledge and action—between knowing what to do and making it happen.
As he stood in front of the elevator paralyzed, he suddenly noticed that Michael, who had quit his team earlier, was standing in front of him. Michael said he’d heard from Jaime that George was a changed man and the team was on track and moving. He wanted another chance. George agreed on the condition that Michael spread positive energy to the team by being a chief energy officer instead of a naysayer.
He realized Michael’s change of heart had been one of the signs Joy had talked about being open to on your journey. Maybe it was a sign the team was ready to follow him; maybe George’s instinct to give Michael another chance was a sign he was ready to lead.
In any case, Michael had appeared in front of the elevator at the right moment to get George’s attention and move him past his fear to embrace trust. He would trust Michael and move forward. If George had faith in himself and the team, then they could trust each other and him. His fear turned to faith and faith became resolve.
George had a team meeting and talked about what it meant to be a chief energy officer. He told José he’d give him a raise if he himself didn’t get fired; he promised to be a mentor and resource for José no matter what.
George shared his commitment and energy with the team and they were energized. They accomplished more in a day than they had all month. He continued working on the presentation through the night with Michael and José. His only concern was that more people hadn't stayed late to work with him—to be ready for Friday’s presentation, they’d need another all-nighter with more people helping.
Since George had worked late into the night, he overslept the next day and didn’t catch the usual bus to work. However, in his office, he found a letter from Joy, which had been delivered by one of the passengers. The letter explained Rule #9—Have a larger purpose—which turned out to be the key insight George was looking for.
Joy wrote that purpose is the most important fuel additive for your journey. Knowing your purpose keeps you energized and prevents burnout. She told a story about a visit President Lyndon Johnson made to NASA. Johnson is said to have encountered an energetic janitor in a hallway and remarked that the man was the best janitor he’d ever seen. The man replied that he was more than a janitor—by working on the NASA team, he contributed to the moon mission. The janitor was motivated to excel at his job because he felt part of a bigger purpose and mission.
Similarly, Joy saw herself not only as a bus driver, but also as an “energy ambassador,” helping people find their energy and change their lives. This gave her purpose, and her sense of purpose inspired her passengers. Purpose infuses your everyday life with passion.
Many companies and their employees lack this kind of spirit. Their cultures kill people’s energy and spirit, resulting in low morale, negativity, and poor retention and performance. While big projects can be inspiring, companies need to create lasting energy. Joy advised George to find the bigger purpose before the product launch and let it fuel and continue to carry the team after the launch.
As George wondered how to get people excited about lightbulbs, he found another page to the letter, which told a story about two airplane design teams. One team was given a mission to build the world’s most advanced airplane and was shown a model of the aircraft. The other team was divided into small groups and each group was given a component to design; the subgroups weren’t given an overall mission or shown a model of the end product. The team with a mission and vision of the airplane worked twice as long and hard and finished in half the time as the other group. This gave George an idea.
George’s idea was to let his team come up with a shared purpose together. He told them the stories about the NASA janitor and the airplane design teams, and the group started brainstorming their own ideas. They settled on three core principles. They would not only bring new lightbulbs to the market, but also:
Discovery of their purpose transformed the team members. Infighting stopped as they focused on contributing to something larger than themselves. They embodied positive energy. That final night before the presentation, every member of the team worked late with George to finish it.
Having a larger purpose beyond the specific thing you do every day motivates you and fuels your everyday life with passion. For instance, the NASA janitor mentioned in the story was passionate about his work because he felt he was supporting the moon mission.
Think about what you do every day, focusing on some specific things. What are some examples?
How do you feel about these daily tasks? Are they energizing, boring, or something else?
What difference do these tasks make to others or to your company? What personal or company goal do they contribute to?
How can you use the above answers to define a larger purpose that would motivate you each day?
George hoped Friday would be a new beginning and a new opportunity that would allow him to share the principles he had learned on the energy bus. Even though he’d been up working until 2 a.m., he felt energized. His wife had noticed a big difference in him—for instance, she said that he complained less, showed his love by spending more time with the family, and was positive and enthusiastic. She felt she’d regained the man she’d married and their marriage was back on track. So even if the presentation flopped, at least he had his family.
Today would be his last day on the Energy Bus. When it arrived the passengers were chanting, “Too blessed to be stressed.” He thanked Joy and the others for the letter and the positive energy. He said he was nervous but ready.
Joy commented that you succeed when your trust is greater than your fear. George should go into the meeting focused on his blessings rather than stresses. Among his blessings were: having a job, having a supportive family and team, having friends, and being healthy.
An elderly passenger gave him one more bit of advice about life in general: Have fun and arrive at your final destination as late as possible with a smile. This was, in essence, Rule #10.
Since we have only one life, we should enjoy it. Often, people spend their lives stressing over small or unimportant things—for instance, emails, deadlines, arguments, and trivial inconveniences—and overlook the beauty around them. But as Joy pointed out, on the day you die, you’re still going to have a pile of unopened emails. So don’t worry about such small things—focus instead on finding joy in each moment. Live each day with purpose and joy.
A professor asked 95-year-olds what they’d do differently if they could live their lives over. The top three responses were:
The bottom line is, you should enjoy each day and live with purpose and joy. Joy’s advice to George was that your best legacy isn’t possessions you pass on or your accomplishments, but a positive impact on others.
George was aware that today could be his last day with the company, but regardless of the outcome, he’d taken charge of his life and was ready to enjoy it.
The NRG Company’s leaders expected George’s presentation to be disastrous. His performance had been slipping, and after the presentation, they were prepared to appoint someone else to take over his team and get the product launch on track. It would be George’s last day.
George could see their doubt reflected in their faces. But as his fear started to build, he remembered Joy saying that his positive energy had to be greater than anyone’s negativity.
He pictured Joy’s smiling face and a calm came over him. He knew he would have failures in his life, but today’s presentation wouldn’t be one of them.
George and his team proceeded to deliver one of the best product launches in the company’s history. The leadership had been prepared to fire him, but now they were on his bus. They asked him what had changed. He responded that he’d decided to stop being just a manager and be a chief energy officer. Since his job was now assured, he’d have time later to explain what that meant.
In appreciation, he told his team they could take the rest of the day off, but no one wanted to leave—they wanted to celebrate together. So instead, he invited them all to lunch, where they began laying plans for future successes. They were excited about where their bus was going.
Two weeks ago, George’s life had been miserable. Now, he realized that things he thought were bad—his work and relationship problems, his car problems—had led to good things. He understood how adversity helps you grow. When facing a problem in the future, he would ask himself what he could learn from it. He’d stay positive and trust that he’d end up stronger and wiser.
The word “joy” stuck with him. He was determined that whatever happened, he’d live with joy by looking for the joy in each moment.
On Monday, when bus #11 pulled up to the stop, George shared the news of his team’s success. He also told them he’d decided, as one way to experience joy in the moment, to keep riding the bus to work. “While driving is great, it’s more fun on the bus,” he said.
To build a winning team, use these 11 principles based on Joy’s Energy Bus rules of the road:
1) Determine your vision: Work with your team to develop a vision. Ask: What are our goals; what do we hope to accomplish; what do we want for the future?
2) Tie your vision with a larger purpose: Ask: What do we stand for; how can we make a difference; what great things can we strive for; how can we benefit others; how will our vision help our team grow?
3) Write down your vision/purpose statement
4) Focus on your vision: Give each member of your team a copy of your statement. Ask each member to review it daily and visualize the team achieving its goals.
5) Identify goals and actions: Ask: What goals does our team need to achieve to realize our vision; what actions do we need to take to achieve these goals? Give each team member a copy of the goals and actions,
6) Invite others on the bus: Ask: Who else needs to be involved to help us achieve the goals and vision? Invite them to join the team by emailing them a bus ticket from www.theenergybus.com or print out the ticket and deliver it in person.
7) Cultivate positive energy and enthusiasm: Engage and energize each other daily so negative energy can’t take hold. Build a culture of positive energy.
8) Confront ‘energy vampires:’ Identify negative team members who are hindering the team’s success. Give them a chance to succeed, but if they continue to be negative, eliminate them from the team.
9) Learn from challenges: Expect to experience challenges. Ask: What can we learn from this; how can we grow from it; what opportunity does this challenge present?
10) Love your team members: Let your team know you care about them and are committed to their success. Ask: How can I bring out the best in them; how can I spend more time with them and listen better?
11) Enjoy the ride: Remember that teamwork doesn’t need to be painful—it should be fun. Ask: How can we have fun and accomplish more; teamwork isn’t only about reaching a goal—it’s about growing as individuals and a team in the process.