Rule 4
Invite People on Your Bus and Share Your Vision for the Road Ahead
As a leader, you set the tone for your entire team. You must communicate your vision.
—Colin Powell
Positive passengers are wanted. The journey is much more thrilling, full, and rich when it is shared with others. Now that you have a vision to share, you need to communicate that vision and get people on your bus. To get people on your bus, you must communicate in a way that drives alignment and buy-in. I recommend you share your vision with potential passengers, and then invite them on board to join you.
It does not matter how big or how small your goal, your team, or your business is, you need a cohesive and dynamic team to propel your bus to its intended destination. Whether your passengers are your friends, your family, or a workplace team, they must understand and buy in to your vision for the road ahead. A team that is clear on the vision will find a way forward past all the potholes, roadblocks, and delays.
Questions to Help Get People on Your Bus
Answer the following questions.
- What kind of vision do you want to share with your team? Is it a personal vision, a family vision, a project vision, a team vision, or a company vision? Write down the vision. Be specific and paint a vivid, verbal picture of the vision you are headed toward.
- Who needs to be on your bus to be successful? Make a list of the different people that you want to invite first.
- Based on what you know today, who do you think will get on board? Who may resist? Why?
- When is the best time to invite someone on your bus? Will you invite your passengers at a launch event? If so, what will that event include?
- Decide how you will send your bus tickets. Email, printed, or both? (A link to downloadable and email bus ticket templates is provided later in this chapter.)
- Prepare your vision story to share with others. You can think of it as a vision commercial. Write down your vision and read it to yourself. Ask yourself, “Would I get on my bus? Is this vision inspiring? How can I make the vision more clear and powerful?”
Invite People and Share Your Vision: Team-Building Activities
Share the Vision
Sharing your vision is a simple process that involves clear communication. One of the best ways to get people on your bus is to tell them about your vision, and then ask them to be a part of it. Then, you keep asking.
Joy from The Energy Bus said, “Remember, you're driving the bus, George. But as you drive, you want to keep asking people to get on. The worst they can do is say no. If you don't ask, they won't know to get on.” It really is that simple to share your vision and invite people to join you on the bus.
How to Invite People onto the Bus
When you share your vision with the group, follow your description of the vision with a specific ask to get people on your bus right in that moment. This is a best practice I recommend. Asking people to join you immediately after sharing your vision is the ideal time to get more positive passengers. This is the perfect time to hand out a ticket and invite people onto the bus.
I created materials to help you invite people on the journey. There are bus tickets for you to give your passengers when you invite them to get on board and be a part of the vision. Sample bus tickets can be found here at http://theenergybus.com/tickets.html. You can pass out the bus tickets when you share your vision, or you can email them. Some leaders do both. Again, the most important thing is to ask, and keep asking. Another best practice I recommend is asking the people who accept your offer to turn their tickets directly back in to you. Turning the ticket back in signifies that they agree with your vision and have a clear desire to be a part of the road ahead. You can offer the group the opportunity to turn in their tickets right away, or you can give them a day or two to think it over and make their decision.
Remember that people want to be invited onto the bus. This can fuel you with confidence in sharing your vision and asking others to be on board. Inviting someone onto the bus makes them feel important, worthy, and valuable. Inviting someone onto your bus tells them, “I want you on this great journey with me. It is important to me that you're with me. Are you in?” People want to be a part of something special, and they want to be included. When you believe in your vision, share it with others, and ask them to be a part of it—you are telling them that you believe in them too. You believe they can make a difference and are valuable to your vision's success. This process is tribal in nature and very powerful.
Keep in mind that you may need to invite people more than once. Maintain a list of the people you have invited and the methods used for the invites. You may want to give people multiple opportunities to accept your invitation. This will also give you plenty of practice in sharing your vision with others and continuing to hone the best delivery of your vision message.
Also, make sure to invite your team on the bus each year. Do not assume they are on it because they were last year.
Best Practices
Keep Asking
I've already mentioned this, but it is worth reinforcing, that one of the best practices for Rule #4 that I cannot emphasize enough is to share your vision, invite people on the bus, and KEEP ASKING. Many leaders invite people onto their bus and then assume that once is enough. Your passengers need to hear your vision more than once, and some need to be invited many times. Once they get on board, they also need to be invited to stay the course on a regular basis.
Some teams and companies have a re-commitment event on a quarterly or annual basis. They don't necessarily call it a re-commitment event, but they set a time to bring current passengers together.
I recommend this approach. Bring your current passengers together, maybe add some new ones into the group, and recap where the journey has taken you so far. At the event, the driver shares the vision again, and then invites any new passengers on the bus, but also re-invites the current, committed passengers. This helps to keep everyone aligned with the same vision. It also helps the passengers to hear from the driver how much they are wanted and appreciated as a part of the journey.
Be Creative
It may sound obvious, but I wanted to call out creativity as a best practice, because I've seen so much of it with the successful individuals, teams, and companies I've worked with through the years. When you share your vision and invite people to be a part of it, using all your unique talents and creative ideas is a huge asset. It allows you to be you. It also highlights the things that make you and the journey ahead so unique. No two visions or journeys are exactly the same, and the way you use your creativity to share your vision and invite people to be a part of it makes a difference.
Every time I think I have seen all the ways to share a vision or all the different types of bus tickets people can create, someone surprises me with something new. This type of innovation energizes me. The creativity is exciting, and it is a best practice when preparing for a launch event, because it is another way to show your passengers how much you care. It shows that you are putting your heart and soul into the vision you are sharing. When people see your creativity in action, it makes an impression, and I encourage you to use your creativity in the way you share your vision and in the way you invite your passengers to join you.
Be Prepared
However you decide to share your vision and invite people to join the journey, make sure you are prepared. The materials on the Energy Bus website and the best practices and examples provided in this field guide were created for a reason. I've seen leaders launch Energy Bus programs for their family, team, or organization in many different ways, and the ones that have practiced sharing their vision and have a plan related to how they will invite their passengers get better results. Those are the type of results I want for you.
You can prepare on your own, or you can bring in other members of your team to help with the preparation. As a best practice, I recommend having a basic plan in place that includes two simple things:
- Practice sharing your vision a few times before your official launch.
- Determine what kind of ticket you want to use, and determine how you will distribute the tickets and how they will get turned back in.
Believe in Your Bus Ticket
This best practice is most effective for larger organizations or teams. Get a trusted group of your senior leaders together before asking the entire team or organization on your bus. Provide samples of the eight bus tickets from the Energy Bus resource page. You can project them on a screen, print them out, or post them on the walls. Have the group work individually, in pairs, or in teams up to five. The participants should review the eight bus ticket options and determine which one they would recommend to use for your organization when inviting people on the bus to share the vision for the road ahead. The recommendation should be the ticket they believe will do the best job of getting positive passengers on the bus. Give the participants time to review the options and prepare their recommendations. The recommendations and rationale are shared with the group. There are no wrong answers. This activity drives creativity and consensus around the right bus ticket, and it can create a bridge to discuss the invitation process overall. During the initial bus ticket review, the participants can also be given the option to customize their own bus tickets. What you are driving toward is an invitation process that creates the best belief and results to get positive passengers on the bus. I've seen some incredible, custom bus tickets and look forward to you sending more examples.