Book Details & Major Themes

Jon Gordon’s 2007 self-help book The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy was a Wall Street Journal best-seller and tells the fictional tale of a man named George who, after a chance meeting with a unique bus driver, triumphs over serious career and marital problems using the power of positive energy. Both a work of fiction and a how-to manual on team-building, The Energy Bus describes how anyone can turn an unhappy life, filled with negativity, into a thriving, positive life of enthusiasm, joy, and love. Recurring throughout the book, and binding the 10 rules, are three themes: The Power of Positive Energy, The Power of Love, and The Power of Purpose. This study guide is based on the 2009 Wiley edition.

Author Highlights

Author, Jon Gordon, has published 20 books, several of them best-sellers. He gives speeches on positive teamwork and has consulted for companies and sports organizations, including Campbell Soup, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gordon released The Energy Bus Animated Training Program in 2015, an interactive course inspired by The Energy Bus. The following year, in 2016, he launched Positive University, an online platform designed to help individuals overcome daily challenges while fostering a supportive community of like-minded individuals.

Summary

The first six chapters introduce George, a hard-working, devoted family man who has fallen on hard times. His team at work, trying to produce an important product launch, is adrift, and George may get fired as a result. Bad luck seems to haunt him, he’s lost his cheerfulness around his family, and his wife threatens to leave him.

Forced to ride the bus to work for two weeks when his car breaks down, George meets the driver, Joy, a woman of high energy and enthusiasm, and her “Energy Bus” of cheerful passengers. At first, Joy’s ebullience annoys George, but her persistent warmth and uncanny understanding of his troubles slowly win George over. She offers to teach him her 10 rules for a more positive life. Cautiously, George accepts.

Joy presents to George the first few rules. She’s assisted by several passengers who have expertise in specific areas. Joy explains that every person’s life is like a bus, and Rule 1 is “You’re the Driver.” The outcomes in George’s life derive from him, not from luck or fate or other people. Rule 2, “Desire, Vision, and Focus Move Your Bus in the Right Direction,” is the first step in learning how to drive successfully.

Rule 3 is “Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy.” The usual approach to problems is to whine and blame others; this negative energy sucks the zeal out of people and leads to bad outcomes, whereas positive energy generates enthusiasm, joy, and success.

Next, George learns the specifics of transforming the results in his life. Rule 4 says, “Invite People on Your Bus and Share Your Vision for the Road Ahead.” Those who want to participate will add their energy in support of your goals. When, however, George invites the members of his troubled work team to “get on the bus” with him, three refuse, and two accept only to badger him and watch him fail. George feels devastated.

He learns that he must confront the doubters. Rule 5 admonishes, “Don’t Waste Your Energy on Those Who Don’t Get on Your Bus.” Moreover, Rule 6 instructs George to “Post a Sign That Says NO ENERGY VAMPIRES ALLOWED on Your Bus.” George confronts the doubters on his team, fires one of them, and loses another who quits, but he gets the rest to buy in. In the process, George learns how much his team has resented his negativity, and he realizes he must clean up the damage he has done to worker morale.

George’s attitude continues to improve, and the team gels around his newfound positivity. Together they work overtime for three days in a mad dash to complete their project. Next, George learns Rule 7, “Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energizes Them During the Ride,” and Rule 8, “Love Your Passengers,” along with a five-step system for cultivating the caring and consideration that nurtures great teams. Rule 9, “Drive with Purpose,” focuses George’s energies on goals even bigger than the upcoming presentation.

The next chapters chronicle the team’s successful presentation and excitement about their future together. George also revives his relationship with his wife and children, who are delighted with his new positive attitude. George also learns Rule 10, “Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride.”

When his car has been repaired, George decides to keep taking the Energy Bus to work so he can share his newfound wisdom with new passengers who may need it. The final chapter, “The Energy Bus Action Plan,” contains an 11-step process for generating the results George has achieved.

Though The Energy Bus deals mainly with issues involving teamwork, its principles can be applied to any problem or challenge.