As he sat at his desk waiting for Larry to walk in, a feeling of fear and nervous energy enveloped him. It feels like game day, he thought as he remembered what it had felt like to have a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach before his big lacrosse games. With the crowds cheering and the anticipation building he remembered feeling like he was going to collapse and yet explode with excitement at the same time. He knew this feeling well and it was good. It made him feel alive and let him know he was ready. Plus his nervous energy had often become fuel for some of his best performances. It’s game day, he thought and for the first time in a long time he felt alive and ready.

As soon as Larry walked in and before he could make a negative comment to George for interrupting his creative thought process, George struck hard and fast. He told Larry point blank that he had had enough of Larry’s negativity and if he didn’t help move the bus forward in a positive manner, then he was off the bus, effective immediately. Larry, while in shock at George’s directness, responded with willingness and agreed to George’s demands for positive energy and positive contribution. George wasn’t surprised. He knew Larry had a family and couldn’t afford to lose his job right now.

Tom, on the other hand, was a completely different case. He had no allegiances to anyone especially to George. They had never liked each other and they both knew it. But this isn’t a matter of liking each other, George thought. It is a matter of getting things done and having the right team in place for the NRG-2000 product launch. So when Tom walked in, George was ready.

“I want you on my team, Tom. But I can’t have you on the team if you are going to prevent us from achieving our goals,” George said. “I can’t have you be a disruptive influence anymore.”

“Who are you kidding?” Tom responded forcefully. “The only disruptive influence is you. The problems we are having are not because of me. They are because you can’t lead. Don’t blame me. Blame yourself. I know we don’t like each other, never have, but the real problem is that I don’t respect you as a leader, and I’m certainly not going to say what you want me to say so I can go on your silly little ride with you. You need me, George. The team needs me and if you get rid of me now, then you’ll be driving your bus right off a cliff. So unless you have something important to say to me, I’d like to get back to doing my job.”

George’s shoulders slumped forward. He could feel his body getting weak as if the energy was being sucked out of him. He was wilting like a dying plant. He didn’t know what to say and was shaking from head to toe. “So why did you hand in your bus ticket?” George asked.

“I only handed my bus ticket in to you because I want a front row seat when I watch your bus implode,” Tom said with a big grin on his face. “You and I both know it’s going to happen and when it does no one will be happier than me.”

George put his hand passively into his pocket and felt the rock that Joy had given him. He took it out and looked at it as he tried to think of what to say next. He had never expected to be overtaken like this.

“What is that?” Tom asked. “Your pet rock?”

As George looked at the rock he remembered what Joy had said about finding the value in yourself. He realized Tom didn’t believe in him because George didn’t believe in himself. He was allowing himself to be pounced on and verbally assaulted by a grinning, arrogant, Energy Vampire who had no interest in helping his team succeed and certainly no desire to help George turn things around. And worst of all he was taking it, just as he had taken it the past few years from everyone and everything. Every day life had beaten him down a little more. Each day his confidence had shrunk. And each moment he became less of the person he admired and more of the person he pitied. George vowed he would not be weak today. He had vowed he would be strong, yet here he was being weak and beaten down again. Enough, George thought to himself as he clenched the rock in his fist. Enough, he thought as the word echoed throughout his entire body. Tom took a step back as he saw a transformation come over George.

No longer will I become a punching bag for life or anyone else for that matter, George thought as he took a step toward Tom. “You think I’m just going to sit here and let you talk to me like this?” George said. Before Tom could answer, George said, “Think again. Are you very talented? Of course you are. Could we use you for this product launch? You bet. But I’d rather have less talent and a team that is all moving in the same direction and striving for the same goals than a team with someone who has your attitude. So guess what, Tom. If the bus blows up, you won’t have to worry because you won’t be on it. Effective immediately you are off the bus. I didn’t want it to be this way but what you just said to me and your attitude give me no other choice. You are fired.” Tom’s jaw dropped as he stood frozen in shock. Then he turned, walked out of the office without saying a word, and slammed the door shut.

One Energy Vampire off the bus, George thought as he stood there still shaking from the argument. It wasn’t easy but he knew it was the right decision. Even though Tom was one of his most talented people, which is why he had put up with Tom for so long, it had to be done and the team would be better off for it. Personally George felt like a 200 pound weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt strong and free. Looking at the rock one more time before putting it into his pocket, he thought of Joy and smiled. For the first time in a long time he was proud of himself.

George’s plan for the three wolves included Joy’s recommendation of simply isolating them from the team since they didn’t want to be on the bus. But when Michael walked into his office with guns blazing telling George that he was crazy for firing Tom and that this surely meant the bus was going up in flames and so was George, he had no other choice but to tell Michael it was this bus’s way or the highway. Michael, too proud to succumb and too angry to retreat, quit and decided he would get on another bus traveling on another road. That makes two, George thought.

After the fireworks show George had experienced this morning he wondered what else could be next. He didn’t like conflict, fighting, or yelling. He certainly didn’t like firing people or losing two members of his team. But he had vowed to stay strong and true to his vision. It was either this or failure. He was ready for battle with Jamie and José but truly hoped they wouldn’t have to exchange blows.

When George told Jamie she was either on his bus or off it, she agreed to be on it but then hit him, not with negativity but with the hard truth. “I’ve worked for you for several years now, George,” she said. “And every year, every day for that matter, you seem to get grumpier and more bitter. We even had bets about when you would just implode, not show up one day, and give up. But every day you kept coming in making yourself miserable and your team miserable in the process. This team is a shambles not because of us, but because of you. None of us could believe they kept you so long. And so when you told us you wanted us to get on your bus, I’m like there is no way I’m getting on his bus. Why should I, when his bus has been trudging along aimlessly for the past year? But if you say I have to get on my bus to keep my job, I will. I’ll get on it but I want you to know why I didn’t get on it in the first place.”

George sat there stunned. He knew everything she had said was true and yet it was difficult to accept it. He didn’t know what to say or how to respond. He wanted to tell her about Joy, the Energy Bus, and what he had learned but he was paralyzed, and besides he didn’t have time to get into it. All he did was thank her for her honesty and for being on his bus and wait for José, who was about to deliver another blow.

When José walked in, George immediately said he was surprised that José didn’t want to get on his bus after all they had done together. José didn’t pull any punches either and came right back.

“That’s right, George,” he said. “I’ve given you my all. I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I stay late, I work weekends, I pick up everyone else’s slack, and not once do you say thank you. Not once do you tell me that you appreciate my hard work and loyalty. When I asked you for a raise you said you would think about it and never talked about it again to me. What’s that all about, George? You just walk around here worrying about you and your job, and you don’t really care about me. So when you all of a sudden ask me to get on your bus because you want to save your job, and don’t think we don’t know that if this launch fails you are gone because everyone knows that, I’m supposed to get all excited and go, ‘Whoopeeeeeeeeee I’m on the bus.’ It’s not happening. It’s hard for me to get on your bus when you surely haven’t been on mine!” he shouted.

Once again George was hit right between the eyes. He had been taking a lot of blows lately and this one coming from the person he liked and trusted the most was the hardest. But he knew José was right and there was nothing he could say to make José feel better at this moment. He was fired up and George understood why.

“You’re right,” George said. “You are right. That’s all I can say.”

José, who was expecting to get fired, was surprised at George’s response. He had seen Michael and Tom walk out of the office earlier and thought everyone was getting fired, so he was stunned and relieved at the same time that George was acting so calm. For a few moments George and José stood there in awkward silence, both not knowing what to say.

José spoke first. “Okay, now what?” he asked.

George stood silent considering “now what” as a thought popped into his head that said, You can’t change the past. Let it go. Create the future.

“Now we create our future,” George answered confidently as his eyes lit up. He had been knocked to the canvas again with two right hooks, but this time he got up. He wasn’t giving up this time. No, this time he was charging forward toward his vision. “Now I ask you to give me a chance to make it up to you,” he said. “I don’t know how yet but I’ll think of something. Just please help me with the launch and let me prove to you that I’m someone you feel good about working for. Let me show you I’m here for you.” José agreed and they walked out of his office together to gather the team for a meeting that would be the start of a very productive and positive day.