Move Your Bus
by Ron Clark
The book is parable-style. It gives four groups of people that ride on a bus (going through life) and then gives advice on how to be a better rider.
– Runners
• Those that move things along and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
• Those who work hard should be recognized for it.
• You must be careful not to break the spirit of your runners or they will not run anymore.
– Joggers
• Those that push some but want the credit for it. They remind everyone of their sacrifice.
– Walkers
• Those just taking their time and not in a hurry. Love to criticize and tell everyone the problems.
– Riders
• Those that are dead weight just sitting there. Do just enough to not get fired, definitely do nothing to help.
– It doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you don’t have a strong work ethic, you are just slowing down the bus.
– Dress sharp no matter what and you’ll make better decisions, be received better, feel better and look better.
– Keep your space clean. You might be fine with a messy workstation, but others might not be fine with it.
– Be happy and polite. Great people when you see them don’t walk around texting and ignoring people.
– Be around and sit with the right kind of people. Everyone needs someone to learn from and someone who can make them smile. Don’t hang around the depressive and bad-attitude people.
– Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You might accomplish more and arrive to the goal quicker if you will simply humble yourself and asked someone to help or explain something.
– Accept criticism well. When your boss corrects you or when you receive criticism, learn from it instead of trying to justify yourself or come up with a good excuse. Learn to be humble, open and willing to accept criticism.
– Keep your mouth shut unless you are going to ask a question or answer affirmatively to help out in a certain area.
– Stay in your lane. Do not try to run everyone else’s area or remind them what they are supposed to be doing. Don’t drift into other people’s lane, keep your eyes in front of you and accomplish your tasks and allow others to accomplish their own.
– Change the conversation. If negativity starts ruling a conversation, change it. When someone tells you how they have it and how horrible things are, tell them you’re sorry to hear it instead of trying to one-up them sharing how bad you have it. A positive conversation brings positive results and can empower others around you.
– No excuses, just solutions. Anyone can find a problem, but not just anyone will find a solution to get it fixed.
– Realize that you are not entitled to your job. We give everyone participation trophies they do not deserve, so we have created an entitled-attitude culture. We do not deserve anything, we must work for it. There’s nothing wrong with confidence, but it better match your performance.
– Be credible. Do not say something and not follow through with it. Honor your commitments, do not make commitments that you cannot keep.
– Pay attention to the details. It is the small things that make a difference to people.
– Don’t let your personal issues affect your work. Put them to the side so that you can work hard and do what you’re supposed to do.
– Don’t assume that you are awesome. You think people should praise you and that you’re doing a great job, but others might not think you are doing as good as you think you are.
– Don’t just be good at your job, be professional at it.
– Go right to the source when there’s a problem.
– Show appreciation. If you will not show appreciation for the small things that people do, you will never do it when bigger things happen to you. When someone does something special for you, show appreciation quickly and genuinely. How you handle appreciation will determine on future events being repeated.