The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

Wednesday morning at the bus stop, George reviews what happened at work on Tuesday, going over every detail, searching for moments where he and his team can improve their performance. Something is missing; something eludes him.

George remembers what his lacrosse coach told him: “The goal is not to be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday” (91-92). George pulls the rock that Joy gave him from his pocket and stares at it, wondering what value lies within it that he is supposed to discover.

As George enters the bus, Joy has the passengers chanting, “I feel great. Yes. I feel great. Yes. I feel great. Yes” (95). She explains that emotions can be charged up through expression, calling it “E-motion,” or “energy in motion” (95). She suggests that it’s better to get to work feeling happy and a bit silly than closed off and unhappy. Joy also says that when a person tries to please others, it drains them. It’s far better to offer enthusiasm than need.

George tells Joy about Tuesday’s positive changes, but he admits that the team isn’t quite on track, that something is missing. Joy replies that what’s missing is his heart. Once he accesses that and shares it with the team, there’ll be no going back.

Joy explains that George’s heart has been closed off for a long time, and it’s only just beginning to open back up. The toughest challenges offer the greatest breakthroughs, and when all else fails, that’s when people realize they have nowhere else to go but to their own inner strength and spirit. For George, the time has come for him to lead, not just manage. And he must lead from his heart, the source of his power.

Marty says that a study shows that the heart is an “emotional conductor” that radiates feeling for up to several feet via an electromagnetic field. This field is “5,000 times more powerful than the brain” (100), through which others notice our emotions. By broadcasting his heartfelt feelings, George can energize his team. But how? George wonders.

Jack, a bald, middle-aged bus passenger with a radiant smile, has been quiet up to now, but finally he speaks. Jack says it’s time for George to become the CEO, or “Chief Energy Officer,” of the NRG Company. Anyone can become such a CEO, which involves sharing positive energy with everyone at work, from coworkers to customers.

Jack explains that emotional intelligence, or EI, is “tapping the power of your heart when you are leading, selling, and communicating” (104). Marty adds that EI is 80% of success in life.

As an ambitious and talented young corporate executive, Jack was considered the “Chosen One” by his fellows. However, he led by intimidation, and discontent among his employees resulted in near-bankruptcy for his company. His boss still supported him, but Jack decided to give up. That day he met Joy, who turned him around and taught him the 10 rules. Today his company follows those rules and is filled with Chief Energy Officers.

Jack wants to pass that positive energy to George by sharing with him the rule for leading with heart. He signals to Joy; she nods to Danny, who pulls out the next rule: “Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energizes Them During the Ride” (106).

Jack explains that Chief Energy Officers bring optimism and plenty of positive energy to their tasks. They’re not stopped by fear; they take challenges as opportunities for growth. Marty says the word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word for being inspired or “filled with the divine” (108). To Jack, enthusiasm generates divine energy that inspires and attracts people so that they want to get on the leader’s bus.

George remembers feeling fired up when applying for and getting his first job, and how his enthusiasm convinced his wife to go on their first date. He wants that feeling again.

Joy comments that enthusiasm isn’t annoying fakeness but a real feeling that comes from within. That enthusiasm will come out naturally, convincing others without the need to prove itself.

George’s task, then, isn’t to get his team to do particular things but for him to become the heart of the team. Then he can invite them to become Chief Energy Officers themselves, to become hearts of the team in their own right. Positive energy within the team becomes self-reinforcing, as each member contributes to everyone else. George’s old negativity reinforced itself within the team in a similar manner; he can now nurture positive enthusiasm instead, and it will grow naturally.

Marty announces that Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, claims that positive corporate cultures outperform negative competitors every time. What’s more, investing in positive corporations outperforms money in the stock market as a whole.

On being enthusiastic, Joy says, “When you have it, they’ll have it. When you get energized, they’ll get energized” (111).

Joy wants to add something. Just then, she sees a sign by the road that takes the words from her mouth: “LOVE IS THE ANSWER.—GOD” (113). Joy remarks upon how life sends signs at just the right moment. She asks Danny to reveal the next rule. Danny lifts a sign for the eighth rule: “Love Your Passengers” (113).

Joy tells George that he must become a “Love Magnet.” To George, love and business sound strange together. Joy explains that it doesn’t involve wearing cologne at “cheesy bars.” Rather, George must simply love his employees, customers, company, and family. This will pour energy into his enthusiasm.

George says that he values his best worker, José, and wants to do something for him. Jack says that a raise would be good, but prizes and trophies wear off. Knowing that the boss cares about them is what really matters to George’s team members.

George asks how to express love when hugs aren’t exactly appropriate in a business environment and love itself is considered a weakness.

Marty says that love is the strongest emotion and that feelings of love enable weightlifters to press heavier weights. Jack gives George a sheet listing a five-point plan for expressing love in a corporate setting. As the bus arrives at George’s company, he asks for one quick strategy.

Joy says he should start by helping each team member bring out the best in themselves. She asks him about his rock, the one in which he was to find value; George pulls it from his pocket. Joy gives him a towel and some water to rub the rock with. George does so and discovers that, under the dust and dirt, the rock is a nugget of real gold. Joy says that he and his team members have a lot of dust on their inner gold; he must help them uncover the gold. That is loving them.

Before he walks into the NRG Company building, George stops and reads Jack’s list of “Five Ways to Love Your Passengers” (122).

One: “Make Time for Them” (122). Get out from behind your desk and get to know your team. Take an interest in them; cultivate them like you would a garden.

Two: “Listen to Them” (122). Really listen with your heart, and care about what they say. Listen with eyes as well as ears so they know you’re present.

Three: “Recognize Them” (123). Find little ways to honor both their work and them as people; praise their achievements.

Four: “Serve Them” (124). Nurture their growth, career, and spirit. They, in turn, will help you grow.

Five: “Bring Out the Best in Them” (124). Of the five rules, this is the most important. Helping someone thrive is the strongest thing one person can do for another, and as such, it is the most powerful way to love them.

As George waits for the elevator at work, all his fears flood through him. Michael, who had quit, walks up to him and says he’s heard good things about the team’s turnaround and would like to come back to work. George thinks a moment then agrees. He adds, “I need you to be a Chief Energy Officer” (126). He tells Michael he’ll explain it later.

George recognizes Michael’s change of heart as the sign he needed that the process he is engaged in is on the right path: “fear he had felt earlier had turned into faith and faith had turned into resolve” (128). George is ready to take that leap of faith.

The team responds well to George’s enthusiasm and love, and it’s a very productive day. George, Michael, and José work until 3:00 a.m., and George doesn’t get much sleep. In the morning George wants advice from the bus passengers on how to convince more members of his team to stay late so the project can be finished, but he oversleeps and misses the bus. He decides to stay positive, think up a solution of his own, and await the next bus.

At the office, George finds a letter on his chair. It’s from Joy, who writes that when the passengers realized George missed the bus, Marty wrote out Rule 9 so George would have it on hand today: “Drive with Purpose” (131).

Joy’s letter continues, noting that purpose energizes people and prevents boredom and burnout; a big purpose makes small tasks worthwhile. Joy works as a bus driver, but her purpose is to help people transform their lives. She warns George that if his purpose is merely the new product launch, he’ll have nothing to aim for afterward. Instead, he must find the larger purpose of which the product launch is merely a portion. Then he must share it with his team. They’ll work harder and longer when they know the larger aim.

George finds one more sheet to read; it’s from Marty, who cites a study that gave one design team the goal of creating a new airplane and the other team a set of discrete airplane parts to design. The first team worked much harder and finished in half the time.

Marty’s letter gives George an idea for his team’s higher purpose.

George wants his team to decide what their shared purpose will be. He believes this will inspire them more than a purpose he simply hands to them. At a team meeting, the group runs with it, brainstorming ideas for a big purpose.

After hashing out all the ideas, the team, with George’s approval, draws up three purposes. First, they would strive for greatness in their ideas, marketing, and results. Second, they would inspire workers to become Chief Energy Officers throughout the company. Third, their products would not simply be light bulbs but would share the light, helping a student to read, an old person to find their medicine, or a working parent to get up early.

George notices that the team’s egos, personal agendas, and squabbles have disappeared. The group is pulling together toward a common goal. Every one of them stays late to continue the work.