Book: Move Your Bus

“Move Your Bus: An Extraordinary New Approach to Accelerating Success in Work and Life” by Ron Clark

• Runner:
  • “These individuals are working as hard as possible, and they essentially carry the load of the bus.”
  • “Unfortunately, Runners tend to devote so much time to their job that they often neglect their personal lives.”
  • “If you have a high-performing negative force in your organization, that can be even worse than a having a Walker on your team.”
• Jogger:
  • “They are steady and dependable; they do their jobs and have some amount of success.”
  • “Yet, invariably, if you ask a Jogger where she fits into the organization,, she will swear she is a Runner.”
  • “I’ve found that Joggers often desperately want to be recognized as Runners.”
  • “Sometimes it seems like Joggers absorb the energy around them, speeding up when surrounded by Runners and slowing down when surrounded by Walkers.”
• Walker
  • “These are the workers who do not contribute to any forward momentum at all.”
  • “Walkers love to point out everything that they see is wrong in the organization; they do this because they want to deflect any blame that could be placed on them.”
  • “They are trying to pull people down to their speed. If everyone is moving slowly, it doesn’t highlight that one individual isn’t pulling her weight.”
• “I make it point to treat my Runners differently from my Walkers, because as soon as the Runners realize they will receive equal treatment no matter how hard they work, they will begin to decelerate.”
• Riders
  • “They are dead weight, because they have picked up their feet and are sitting there cross-legged. They say the bus stinks, and they don’t like their seats. Regardless of what is happening, they choose to do nothing.”
  • “Essentially, Riders do not want to lose their jobs or their paychecks, so their main goal is to do just enough that they can’t be terminated.”
• “I had gotten a Rider to walk, but that type of marginal improvement really wasn’t going to change the speed of our bus.”
• “Getting a team of Runners to run long and hard with passion and energy is what moves the bus!”
• “When the Runners did begin to take my help, however, I saw a shift. They seems to have more energy and a renewed vision. When I praised their efforts and congratulated them publicly, they beamed, and when I found resources and other materials that they needed, they were shocked and grateful. For every ten minutes I spent on a Runner, the amount of effort they put forth grew exponentially.”
• “Having Runners maintain their speed is far more beneficial than having one Rider drop her feet and begin to walk.”
• “The reason that my Runners, like Mrs. Sanders, where making the most mistakes is because they were doing a hundred different things. They were in charge of teams, leading projects, making kids on field trips, dressing in costumes, creating phenomenal lessons, and uplifting the whole school. Their plates were full, and it made sense if they were trying a hundred things that they were bound to mess up three of them.”
• “I had to convince myself that it was perfectly okay and normal for them to mess up somethings, and I realized that if I pointed out their errors too often, that it would kill their spirits.”
• “Dear Runners, it is okay to allow yourself to make a mistake. Give yourself permission to forgive yourself and move on. You can’t run with a mistake on your heart. Let it go.”
• “I had to learn, however, that sometimes, even though I didn’t necessarily agree with the idea, I had to give it my approval in order to keep the spirit of my Runners intact.”
• “When you are consistently at least a few minutes early to arrive at work and to meetings, you give your boss great peace of mind, and that elevates your status on the bus.”
• “So, if you want a promotion, or to move forward, or to become more visible within an organization, you need to find ways to connect with the people who are already there. Say hello, be engaging, and let people know you are there!”
• “No matter where you work, if your boss comes to you and offers a suggestion for improvement, or if he has to point out something that you have done that is wrong, there is a magical way you can respond. It’s nine simple words that will sounds like heaven to your supervisor, and I learned them the hard way…”
• “I am so sorry. It will never happen again.”
• “If you aren’t going to be a Runner, at least you can take the menial tasks away from the Runners. By saving them from one hour of menial work, you are contributing a substantial degree of speed to the organization and doig a great service that does not go unrecognized.”
• “And I want to stress that it’s good to support people, to mentor those with less experience. But you don’t want to do it in ways that detract from your own performance.”
• “If you are participating in negative conversations, stop. If someone brings up a sour topic, change the conversation or quickly bring up points like, ‘How can we make things better?’ and ‘How can we make a positive change?'”
• “When someone tells you how hard their day was, quickly say, ‘I am so sorry to hear that, but can I tell you one great bright spot I had in my day?'”
• “My grandma always said that if you lift up the people around you, you lift up yourself as well.”
• “The number one rule of being credible is this: honor your commitments and don’t make commitments you can’t keep.”
• Common mistakes
  • “Don’t see and spread the negative”
  • “Don’t make excuses”
  • “Do’t let the drama on your personal bus affect your work bus”
    • “Riders can never run. Riders can’t even jog. “The most you will get is that maybe a Rider can walk, but Rider can never do more than that.”
  • “Don’t just be good, be efficient”
• “When you only have one Runner in your organization, you have to work hard to protect that individual because she is in a very vulnerable position.”
• “One of the main ways he recognizes his Runners is simply by rewarding them throughout the year with additional responsibility and giving them the opportunity to work on influential projects with the firm–projects they would ordinarily not have the opportunity to work on that particularly stage of their career. “
• “If you have several Runners on your team and only a couple of Joggers, it’s very likely the Joggers will be inspired to run just by the company they are keeping, and that can make a huge difference.”
• You may also be able to get a Jogger fired up by aligning her duties with whatever she’s best at or passionate about–in essence, giving the Jogger something she can run with.”
• “if you can give them [Joggers] that extra affirmation that they’re going in the right direction, they’re going to go faster.”
• “When you’re the Driver in an organization and you have a Walker on your team, you need to be veery clear about demonstrating your values. You have to show them, This is what I expect. This is how Runners perform. And for some of them, it may be like they’re seeing it for the first time.”
• “One of my favorite strategies for maximizing the contributions of Walkers and Riders is to delegate the grunt work to them.”
• “If you have a problem with someone on your team, go directly to hat person and ask to speak with him. Start out by explaining how something has made you feel, without accusing him of doing something wrong.”
• “And if you don’t have the courage to go directly to the source, then you need to keep that person’s name and the situation out of your mouth.”
• “My grandma always said, ‘He who doesn’t thank for a little won’t thank for a lot.’ Her point was that if you don’t show appreciation for the little things people do for you, those people are unlikely to make a larger effort on your behalf”
• “When your staff has fun a work, they work together more collaboratively. Every single day at work becomes a team-building activity.”

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